how lego stopped thinking outside the box and innovated inside the brick

Posted by yy on November 5th, 2019

Few toys attract children\'s imagination around the world more than Lego. the multicolorful plastic blocks that can be combined to build houses, castles, spaceships, or characters in fantasy. 

Danish company,Its roots were a failed carpenter named Ole Kirk Christansen, who decided in 1932 to use his skills to make wooden toys. 

In the late 1940 s, Kristianson invested in-

Making plastic blocks requires risky injection molding techniques. 

At the end of the 1950 s, Oliver Kirk\'s son, Godfred, came up with an interlocking door-nail --and-

Pipe design that makes the company a household name. 

But part of the company\'s story is rarely told, says Wharton practice professor David Robertson, which can serve as a guide to the importance and risk of innovation in today\'s global market. 

In his new book, \"one brick and one tile: How Lego can rewrite the rules of innovation and conquer the global toy industry,\" Robertson wrote the book with reporter Bill Breen, about the crazy innovation that almost broke Lego. -

And how the company recovered from the edge by returning to its roots. 

Christian Sen did experiments with different types of plastic toys. 

He built some stackable bricks, though not really interlocking, but he gave control of the company to his son Godfred Kirk Kristianson, who conducted experiments on different configurations, eventually launched interlocking bricks with nails and tubes, and was patented in 1958. 

Along the way, Godtfred did something very interesting: he was talking to a department store owner at a major department store in Denmark who told him, \"What we need is not another toy, it\'s a game system. 

If you buy a second set you will not add to your toy and you will add possible things ---

These things can be locked to each other and you can do more and more. 

Chances multiply when you buy more sets. Godtfred Kirk kristanson went back and looked at the Lego launch of all the different products. 

He realized that 90% of them are not in this category of gaming systems, and that only these stackable bricks can actually do that. 

He made a very big strategic decision to actually cut the inventory of the product by 90% and focus on the brick. 

It was a big move, but it turned out to be very successful.