Three lessons I learned from the Lego House

Over the Christmas break, I was lucky enough to visit the Lego House in Billund, the new-ish museum and experience centre, with my Lego-fixated son. It was a fantastic experience and we ended up spending all day exploring, learning and generally having fun. If you get the chance to visit, I fully recommend it.

One of the best moments was visiting the Lego archive in the basement, which presented the history of the company and the Christiansen family, who founded and still run the company today. I was struck by both the strong identity of the company, but also the ups and downs it has gone through over the years.

Three takeaway aspects for me were:

1.??????Lego has always had a clear Purpose

Long before Purpose became a buzzword in management circles, Lego was very clear about why it existed and what its overall rationale was. The founder Ole Kirk Christiansen set this out very clearly back in 1932 where he defined both the Vision of ‘playing well’ and the Spirit of ‘Only the best is good enough’. A lot of this was shaped by his experience of being a single father of three boys and needing to entertain and educate them at the same time. The purpose has been tweaked numerous times over the years but still remains the key element of the Lego identity, and consequently, the culture. I have worked for, and with, numerous companies during my career and in my experience it is rare to find a company that has not only managed to retain its original ethos, but has actually used it effectively to drive a high-performing culture.

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2.??????Lego is genuinely Customer-centric

Many companies say that they are customer-focused, but in reality, only use customer insight as an additional input into their strategy and only pick out those elements of customer data that align with their existing thinking. Not so at Lego, where I was struck by how much the company has put the customer’s voice at the heart of its business. From killing off unpopular product ranges (goodbye Nexo Knights!) to crowd-sourcing ideas for the Lego Ideas, to actively supporting customer groups such as the AFOLs (Adult Fans of LEGO). I recognise that as a B2C company, this is something you would expect, but few companies of this scale successfully leverage their customers in this way, achieving such a high level of CX (Customer Experience). As someone who has solely worked in B2B industries, I see this as a gold standard to aim for in terms of strategic marketing.

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3.??????Lego has learnt to have a clear Focus

Going round the museum and seeing the almost 100 years of corporate history unfold, it was clear that Lego has had its fair share of challenges over the years. Of particular interest, was the years in the 1990s where it lost its way and felt that it needed to compete with the rapidly expanding videogame market by diversifying into lots of different products ranges outside of its core business. What was clear was that the company learnt the hard way that it was at its most successful when it sharpened its focus on its core offering and how to make that as attractive as possible. Rather than rushing towards every opportunity, it ensured that all new business had a clear link back to the core value proposition, and even built upon it in a reinforcing way. Many businesses fail to see the risk of losing focus and I have seen countless examples, especially in B2B sectors, where the strategy is not clear enough and the business becomes opportunistic and reactive, rather than focused on the areas they can compete in most effectively.

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I love the Lego brand (almost as much as my son!) and I wish it all the best for the next 90 years.

SF.

With thanks to Glen Carrie and Jida Li for the images from Unsplash.