Understanding LEGO’s Core for Radical Innovation
LEGO, the Danish company that makes the world’s most beloved toy bricks, has embraced open innovation as part of its strategy to stay relevant in an age where playtime is increasingly dominated by screen time.
LEGO is a team of 35 very international diverse people trying more new platforms, spread globally across China, US, UK and Denmark. There is integration of agile processes at LEGO, merging physical and digital experiences, and how to become a diplomatic rebel within large organizations.
Their process stands with understanding of what goes around the world. They focus on the changes happening in the insights of consumers, parents, kids and also the retailers. They focus on the mission of the company that is to inspire and develop children to think creatively, reason systematically and release their potential to shape their own future. Things are becoming digital so are the toys, which makes it more engaging and customizable. They experiment and gather lot of experiences of people because that is where real world is. They bundle up to three things that are desirability, feasibility and viability when they portray their products. They aim to recruit personnel who are experienced, have new ideas and entrepreneurs but at the same time have patience for slow giant super tankers.
LEGO embraces digitalization and emphasizes knowing its customer base. By staying true to the brand identity it has established in its inception and merging it with modern marketing techniques, LEGO has managed to keep at the forefront of the competition. LEGO Mindstorms is a classic example of the “outside in” open innovation model where the company has allowed customers to create designs.
LEGO believes when there’s a great deal of quality in the product, it celebrates both LEGO and the IP or the experience that can be portrayed and in turn there will be high conversion rates. As the most successful and innovative platform for open innovation in the toy industry, LEGO Ideas has a remarkable track record of launching successful products through a tightly managed open innovation process.
