Bricks by the River
HCMC, Vietnam
April 12-16, 2026
Following the success of Bricks by the Beach Danang 2025,
we invite you to come experience the magic of the LEGO® Serious Play® method in the dynamic metropolis of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Learn new skills, activities, and applications of LSP to use in your sessions while networking and learning from other LSP facilitators and enthusiasts.
Experience Vietnamese culture and savor the amazing cuisine
Leave with memories that will last you a lifetime
Experience the Bricks by the River Adventure
Become Certified as a LEGO® Serious Play® Method Facilitator
Two days of intense yet playful training with an international team of trainers.
Gain a hands-on experience as a participant, and then reflect on the process with the trainers, before designing and leading your own LSP practice activities under the guidance of experienced LSP trainers.
12 - 13 April
Build on your LSP knowledge and skills
Two days of workshops, master classes and UnConference-type sessions covering a wide range of themes to support your LEGO® Serious Play® facilitation practice through hands-on learning and practice. Theres even an opportunity to bring a question or something to share with your peers.
We will provide the LEGO®. You bring your curiousity and willingness to have fun.
14 - 15 April
Build on your expertise
Advanced Certifications: Hands-On Thinking Coach with Paul Sanbar, and Team Psychological Safety Practitioner training with Dr. David Newman & Lan Anh Nguyen. Both of these trainings will have an online component following the retreat for full certification and to receive ICF CCE credit.
16 April
Certification as a LEGO® Serious Play® method Facilitator
12th & 13th April, 2026
Gain an internationally-recognised certification in LEGO® Serious Play® methods through LSP Method in this Bricks by the River HCMC special offering.
What is LEGO® Serious Play® Methodology?
LSP is a facilitated process led by trained facilitators or educators. Developed as a strategic planning tool in the LEGO Group in the 1990s, the method spread into large multinational companies. Many Fortune 500 and global companies use LSP including: Google, Facebook, Coca Cola, IKEA, Ernst & Young, eBay, Shell and Prudential Assurance. It is also used in many universities internationally, along with NGO’s, governments, and by coaches. LEGO Serious Play Methods is a powerful system for participants to create representations of their inner world and ideas (as opposed to building representations of the physical world). This improves the communication and ideation process as they externalise internal ideas through the building of metaphoric representations. This creates a more psychologically safe environment for sharing and discussion of ideas and issues. Through the process of building physical representations of abstract ideas, meaning and sense emerges, along with stories. There is a reflective aspect both in the building and in the sharing that follows. As everyone builds and shares, the method is very democratic, creating a level playing field for everyone to contribute.
LEGO Serious Play (LSP) methodology is a 3D thinking and sensemaking system that uses the LEGO system to access a wider portion of our brain than reading, speaking, thinking, or writing do on their own (our hands are connected to about 70% of our brains). It is a form of physical thinking that uses the LEGO brick system to create metaphors, and then through storytelling, insights and understanding.
Learning Outcomes of the Facilitator Certification Training
Gain competency in running a LEGO Serious Play method session or integrating it into your current meetings and offerings, gained through an experiential process, with reflection, discussion, and feedback at each of the stages
Introduction to the neuroscience and learning theories underlying the effectiveness of LEGO Serious Play methodology, along with sharing of different use cases and where it could be applied.
Development and feedback on a session plan for your first use of LEGO Serious Play methods.
You will also experience running a portion of a LSP session as part of the 2nd day of training. Feedback and coaching will be provided as part of this session.
What does the training look like?
The training will begin with a Zoom session about a week ahead of the in-person training in Danang. We will schedule this at the most convenient time based on time zones of registrants (we may even have two sessions if there are vastly different time zones). This session will provide you an introduction to LEGO Serious Play methods, the background to its development, and some of the neuroscience and theories underpinning its power as a methodology.
The first day of in-person training will be focused on you gaining hands-on experience of the LEGO Serious Play process as a participant, alternating with reflection and discussion of the facilitator role in the process. At the end of the day we will explore the process of designing a workshop (which you will also work on). This first day is intense, but there will be a lot of laughter and fun as part of it. We will begin at 8:30am. Take a break for lunch, and then continue to about 4:30pm. The second day will begin with discussion and feedback on your draft workshop plan, and then an introduction to system-level builds. Then we will move into practice sessions, which will be the main focus of the day. Everyone being certified will run a LEGO Serious Play session during the day and receive feedback from their colleagues and the trainers. With successful completion on the second day, you will be certified as a LEGO Serious Play methods facilitator through LSP Methods. Our schedule will be similar to the previous day.
Who will be leading the training?
The LSP Facilitator certification will be led by an international team of Trainers of LSP facilitators, with experience in the use of, and facilitation of, the LEGO® Serious Play® method in a variety of contexts.
Miriam O Donoghue is based on Ireland, and facilitates and conducts training internationally. Dr. David Newman has been using LSP in an educational context and trains educators and facilitators in North America and Asia. Lan Anh Nguyen is an experienced Human Resources leader and coach who has been using LSP in her corporate work and is the first trainer of LSP facilitators in Vietnamese. Michael Fearne will likely make a guest appearance via Zoom on the 2nd day of the training.
Bricks by the River Retreat
14th & 15th April, 2026
Sessions confirmed so far. More coming. Watch this space
We will have two days of workshops, masterclasses, and sharing among LEGO® Serious Play® facilitators. The workshops and masterclasses will receive a certificate and be recognized by LSP Method as courses counting towards the LSP Expert Facilitator and LSP Master Facilitator levels (see here https://bit.ly/4asAA9g for more details).
Build your Name, Build Your Connection
Miriam O Donoghue
Kick off the conference by creating a LEGO® name badge and turning it into a conversation starter. Create a badge that says a little more about you and makes it easier to connect, be playful and talk from the very first brick.
Bricks of Awareness: Enhancing EI Through LEGO® Serious Play®
M Azeem Saheer
This 3-hour masterclass blends Emotional Intelligence with the power of LEGO® Serious Play® to help participants explore themselves in a deeper, more meaningful way. Through hands-on building and guided reflection, you will uncover the emotions behind your decisions, recognise personal triggers, and develop strategies for managing reactions with clarity. The session also enhances social awareness by revealing how your behaviours influence others. This playful yet profound experience moves beyond theory, offering practical insights and tools to strengthen self-awareness, self-management, and interpersonal understanding one brick at a time. Takeaways from this session include: • Clearer self-awareness of thinking patterns, behaviours, and emotional triggers • Practical tools to manage emotions and responses in real work situations • Improved interpersonal understanding and communication • The ability to turn abstract ideas into clear, shared understanding
The Art of Questioning in LEGO® Serious Play®: Mastering the Focused Conversation Method
Miriam O Donoghue
The art of good questions and meaningful discussion is where LEGO® Serious Play® insights really take shape. This masterclass explores the ORID Focused Conversation Method, a powerful framework and process developed by the Institute for Cultural Affairs (ICA). It supports facilitators to guide groups from storytelling to insight to action. On completion of the Masterclass Participants will: •Understand the four stages of the ORID Focused Conversation Method and how each supports deeper meaning-making e.g. after LSP® builds, at the end of LSP sessions etc. Plan and ask better questions that move groups naturally from describing their model to exploring emotions, uncovering insights, identifying themes, and deciding what matters. •Facilitate richer, more focused discussions without dominating the conversation or drifting off-track. •Use ORID as a consistent, reliable structure that enhances confidence, especially when conversations become complex or charged. •Apply ORID immediately in LSP® sessions, from quick model debriefs to longer leadership, strategy, team, or wellbeing conversations
Thinkering Styles - A Team & 1:1 Diagnostics
Paul Sanbar
How you build anything is how you build everything. We all understand the value of the initial Skills Build, but what if we can use it to go deeper with a team or individual to begin an engagement? Building (literally) off of the evergreen "Build a Tower' activity, you will learn eight ‘how you built’ (process) and ‘what you built’ (content) continuum questions, and the following debrief activity, which can be done both in-person and virtually. The team will learn valuable information about how each other constructs their world, and you might learn how they align (or don’t) with how they build their team coaching or individual coaching engagement goals. Make your Skills Build more than just a Skills Build with the Thinkering Styles Activity.
Integrating LSP into Action Learning for Problem Solving
Lan Anh Nguyen
This masterclass provides a framework of combining LSP with Action Learning. Action Learning is a problem-solving process, typically undertaken in a group of 4-6 people with either a multiple project action learning (MPAL) or single project action learning (SPAL). The problem presenter/owner shares the challenge or problem they have, and therest of the team will bring their ‘fresh eyes’ to the situation, asking questions that help the participant clarify their objectives, plan a course of action and reflect on the effectiveness of their actions. This will follow the LSP process of” Challenge – Build – Share – Reflection. Upon completion, the team or problem presenter will have some action steps as the outcome, and there is collective sharing of observations and learnings from the process.
Quack, Create and Connect with the LEGO® Duck
Miriam O Donoghue
What can six simple bricks unlock? What can we learn from the LEGO® duck? This engaging and playful workshop will explore a series of creative activities based around the LEGO® duck. Through individual and shared moments of building, participants will discover how a small, familiar object can open up big insights, rich metaphors, and meaningful conversations with ideas that can be implemented or adapted for LSP facilitation practice.
Using LSP to Explore Values Within the Workplace
Dr. Nada Al Moosa & Dina Aladdin
The workplace environment is facing an increasing need for strong, cohesive teams. A common challenge is finding the time for in-depth discussion. This session blends LSP with the Live Your Values deck to help identify core values and how they align within an organisational team and workplace. Participants will experiment with individual and group builds to explore where values are in alignment or diverge, and how they support their roles, and the role of the team. Included will be space for contextualized experience sharing from LSP facilitators enabling broader experiences to be shared with insights on how the tools can be applied across a variety of contexts.
Ask Us Anything about the business of LSP
Dr. David Newman & Miriam O Donoghue
We will have an open roundtable discussion exploring the different aspects of running a facilitation business using the LEGO® Serious Play® method. Everyone in the room will be invited to share their experience, ideas, and wisdom.
Advanced Certification
16th April, 2026
Certified Hands-on Thinking Coach
Paul Sanbar, MCC, ESIA, EIA-SP
This training begins with 8 hours of in-person training in HCMC, followed by 7 hours of online training via Zoom in subsequent weeks (23rd & 30th April, 8am HCMC /22nd & 29th April, 6pm PST). This will be followed by a recorded LSP-LS coaching session with a client and a 1:1 Mentor session with Paul. Upon completion you will receive 16 ICF CCEs: 13.5 Core Comp. & 2.5 Res Dev [+4.0 CCEs-SUPERvision 1st year). Prerequisite is either be trained as a LSP facilitator OR some coach training through a recognised coach training programme.
If you can see the invisible, you can do the impossible.
As coaches, we all have clients that get stuck in their heads. They come to us with cluttered minds, and we help them separate out what isn’t working or connect with what is. And sometimes we need a hand – which the philosopher Kant called the human’s outer brain and the window to the mind.
Coaching with LSP is play with a purpose. In this experiential coach training designed by an ICF Master Certified Coach (MCC) and EMCC Accredited Coach Supervisor (ESIA), you will: ✓ Deepen your understanding of the hand-mind connection and the power of the meaning-seeking mind with LSP, then experience and learn how to deliver an LSP group coaching session. ✓ Engage in, then learn how to deliver and debrief a proprietary Thinkering Styles Activity with your clients, from individuals to teams because how we build anything is how we build everything. ✓ See the LSP - Liminal Spaces™ 1:1 coaching framework, then delve into the theory and practice. ✓ Learn how to engage your clients in a full LSP coaching session using the or a brief in-session LSP activity using the Moments of Lead/Lag theory and have opportunities to practice because hands-on experience is the key to learning. Expanding on constructionism learning theory, Gestalt psychology, systemic constellations work, clean language and the power of metaphor, coaching with LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® [LSP] methods using the Liminal Spaces framework will support your clients to think and build with their hands enabling them to make tangible what was once invisible.
INCLUDED with TRAINING:
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Training Materials: LEGO® kits & materials for you + 1 coaching kit for your 1st client
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1- Year access to Hands-on Thinking Coach Community including:
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Bimonthly Learning Labs - deepen your knowledge, connect with other hands-on thinkers
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Monthly Drop-in LSP Liminal Spaces™ Coach SUPERvision (for 1-year
Team Psychological Safety Practitioner certification
David Newman, PhD, ACC, ITCA-P + Lan Anh Nguyen, MBA, CPHR, SHRM-CP
This training begins with 7-8 hours of in-person training in HCMC, followed by 6 hours of online training via Zoom (dates to be confirmed shortly and will be on either a Saturday or Sunday). Upon completion you will receive 28 ICF CCEs (16 Core Competencies & 12 Resource Development).
Google's Project Aristotle identified Team Psychological Safety as the most critical factor for high-performing teams. Harvard Professor Amy Edmondson's foundational research was further developed by Peter Cauwelier into this certification programme (endorsed by Amy Edmondson).
This training provides a comprehensive understanding of Team Psychological Safety (TPS), its core elements, and foundations. You'll learn to administer and interpret a TPS assessment tool, with LEGO® Serious Play® method integrated throughout to design interventions that increase and sustain team performance.
Upon completion, participants will:
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Become certified TPS Practitioners authorized to deliver TPS programmes and use the TPS assessment with teams
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Receive 28 ICF CCEs (Core Competencies = 16, Res. Dev. = 12)
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Gain an additional tool for using LSP with teams
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Join a global community improving and enhancing Team Psychological Safety (over 1000 certified in 28 countries).
Location & Venue
Bricks by the River Danang will be based at the Liberty Central Saigon Riverside in front of the Bach Dang Ferry Terminal. Aside from the views of the bustling Saigon River, the hotel is in close proximity to many District 1 attractions, such as the Ben Thanh Market, Nguyen Hue Walking Street, Bitexco Financial Tower, and Saigon Opera House.
We invite you to stay at the Saigon Riverside hotel, but you are welcome to stay at one of the other hotels close by.
Session Facilitators
(confirmed so far)
Meet the Organizing Team
What does this cost?
Get a discount by registering early
Certification as a LEGO® Serious Play® Method Facilitator USD2,400
Super Early Bird (Registration by 12th January, 2026) USD1,800
Early Bird (Registration by 16th February, 2026) USD2,100
2-Days of Bricks by the River Retreat USD1,800
Super Early Bird (Registration by 12th January, 2026) USD1,200
Early Bird (Registration by 16th February, 2026) USD1,500
Advanced Certification USD1,000
Early Bird (Registration by 16th February, 2026) USD800
Bundle - LSP Facilitator Certification + Bricks by the River Retreat USD3,200
Early Bird (Registration by 16th February, 2026) USD2,700
Prices do not include VAT, hotel accommodations or flights.
Lunch and dinner along with any transportation costs related to the River Cruise are included in the registration costs.
Options and costing of local tours will be advised later.
International registrations will receive a Stripe link for payment upon registration.
Vietnam-based registrations will receive a draft contract and invoice, along with bank details for payment (or contact us for credit card payment details).
Images & Testimonials from Bricks by the Beach Danang
In April 2025 we ran a highly successful pilot Bricks event in Danang to test the format. This informed our planning for Bricks by the River HCMC.
