Lessons from Lego for the workplace

As we head into Summer, I’m looking forward to taking some time off to re-connect with my family and myself, working on completing my “man-cave” project in the backyard, going for a spin on my jet-ski, and generally just having fun with my children. A big part of this involves planning activities that would resonate with my toddler and my teenagers alike, and LEGO® came to mind.

As a child, I loved playing with LEGO® – I still do – and so do my children. In fact, I think you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn’t have fond memories of that famous yellow brick. Even soccer icon David Beckham has said that he plays with LEGO® pieces to control stress.

Much has been written about “How Lego Became the Apple of Toys” and its phenomenal turnaround from the brink of bankruptcy, to its market-leading position today where there are now more LEGO® minifigures than there are humans in the world. I’m struck by how the LEGO® brick is inherently un-sophisticated, yet it is this simplicity that has been the foundation to their longevity, allowing them to remain relevant for over half a century, even in today’s digital age.

LEGO®’s inspirational re-invention got me thinking about how GSK’s Classic and Established Products (CEP) business which I head up, can also maintain relevance and perform at the leading-edge. 

Here are five lessons I think we could learn from LEGO® to improve the way we operate:

1. Be Yourself

Know what your brand stands for, stay true to your core, and don’t forgo the fundamentals.

In a digital age marked by speed of change, the brand more than ever, provides an anchor of stability, familiarity, and reliability. When LEGO® failed in the late 1990s/early 2000s after initially successful tie-ups with Star Wars and Harry Potter, it was because their toys were “un-Lego-y”. In my world where we have brands that are 10, 20, even 50 years old and hundreds of generic competitors, we should never underestimate the connection of our brands to healthcare professionals and patients.

Our brands are symbols of trust and consistency and as we conduct our business and look to evolve the way we do things, there is one thing that should not change and that is our brand integrity. So take risks and try something new, but stay mindful and respectful to what led to your success in the first instance. 

2. Dream big and start over

The basic tenet of LEGO® is to buy the bricks and go creatively wild, but also, to knock your build down and start over from scratch.

When it comes to innovation, we need to ask ourselves: Are we providing sufficient freedom or a safe space for our teams to experiment? Do we have the right building blocks in place to create a virtuous circle of inspiration and ideas to fuel the business for the future? Can we accept that not all attempts will be successful and importantly, do we have the discipline to know when we are lost with an idea and need to move on? 

Hitting a wall is part of the process of chasing a dream. We just need to be clear when pushing on will be unproductive. 

3. Stay simple to be nimble

The LEGO® brick is the foundation of a system that allows you to scale up, down, sideways in a continuous loop of creativity. A while back, I wrote about the need to add lightness in a digital age and I continue to advocate this. 

In the business of manufacturing, it is very easy to get consumed by complexity in the bid for newer products. However, innovation at its core is about going back to the basics of how to make something faster and/or better, and this means continually taking out complexity in our processes even as we embark on new projects.

As part of LEGO®’s restructuring, it “cut the number of pieces it made in half, keeping only those ‘universal’ pieces that were used in many different sets” (thus enabling them to produce in higher volumes).

In the workplace, can we translate this approach into a philosophy and environment where our teams are guided by a clear set of values and operating principles (and fewer complex processes), set in a culture of passion for our product or service, and equipped with enough empowerment and trust that they will gravitate to the right decisions that stay true to our brand?

4.  Connect with your communities

LEGO® has AFOL (Adult Fan of LEGO®), the Lego Ambassador Programme, LEGO® Ideas, even LEGO® Life – an online space for children under 13 to share their LEGO® creations – all avenues to connect with new ways of thinking and using the product. 

LEGO® doesn’t talk to their customers, they create with them. While this may not be possible for every industry or product, the commitment to the customer and to acting on the insights they provide is something that is applicable to all businesses. If anything, this closeness to your customers can actually “help reduce the risk of experimentation”.

A brand is a collection of conversations, and not a soliloquy from the company. LEGO® gets that right. My expectation is that we have that same recognition of and commitment to our communities as well.

5.  Make play a part of your day

Just as LEGO®’s Serious Play programme – where participants build his or her own 3D LEGO® model in response to the facilitator’s questions – is “a process which deepens understanding, sharpens insight, and socially “bonds” together the group as it “plays” together”, having fun not only strengthens relationships, but rejuvenates creativity, and fuels passion in the work that we do. 

In fact, an experiment conducted by the Social Market Foundation at the University of Warwick’s Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy, showed that individuals who received “happiness shocks” (in the form of a series of 10-minute comedy clips or refreshments) saw their productivity increase by an average of 12 percent and, in some cases, as much as 20 percent.

As children, we developed our creative, emotional, cognitive and physical skills through play; it seems a shame to let this beneficial activity end with childhood. In short: Have fun!

Recently, I saw a LEGO® version of a Caterham Seven 620R online (I am a passionate fan of the real version). I’ve since placed an order and am looking forward to building it with my children over the summer, and having it as a daily desktop reminder of the lessons we can all learn from LEGO®.