A great interview this morning with our CEO Jorgen Vig Knudstorp elaborates on something frequently misunderstood – the difference between a turnaround and transformation. He explains the profound changes that the LEGO Group have undergone since its days of crisis in early 2000 and what it took to get there, yes – you guessed it, our fans and consumers are at the heart of it.
Category Archives: Business
Drive – the surprising truth about what motivates us
An excellent book by Dan Pink, this follows nicely after my previous post about Creativity as a basic human need. Of course, if you like things short, the best way to enjoy this book in less than 10 minutes is to watch this excellent RSA animation of Dan’s talk.
Creativity as a basic human need
Picasso is quoted as having said that “every child is an artist” and I would agree, the challenge is how to remain one when you grow up. What is particularly troubling is all the talk about creative people, like they are somehow a class of their own and different from the rest of us. Depending on who you talk to of course the definition of and membership of this group differs. Advertising executives talk about creatives, designers think of themselves as creative, scientists sometimes call each other creative as a derisory term, suggesting that if one is creative, one is somehow not following scientific practice to the letter. All of us have also heard about ‘creative accounting practices’ that doubtless lay behind the woes of Enron and other malpractice in the financial sector.
Regardless of the public views about creativity, I cannot help but arrive at the conclusion that not only is creativity one of the factors that sets us aside from our closets cousins in the animal kingdom, but it is also a human need. Maslow talked about the need for self-actualisation as being the most elusive and enduring human needs after all our basic needs of food, shelter and love have been satisfied. Self-actualisation sounds broader than creativity and it is, making a mark on the world can take many shapes, but I would like to argue that specifically doing it as an outlet of one’s creativity is the key.
As head of the LEGO Learning Institute I have the opportunity and privilege to work closely academic experts in such varying fields as developmental psychology, cognitive and neuroscience as well as media and communications to name but a few, and what has really struck me from all the work we have done together how wide-spread the myths about creativity still are. What is known in academia about creativity today, especially as recent findings really have increased our understanding of creativity enormously, is still at odds with how misunderstood creativity is in general. As adults we are amazed at how children engage in creative activities without as much as a thought, whereas when we grow up we become concerned about degrees of creativity, comparing creativity with the ability to use the the tools and techniques those more capable than ourselves use to express their creativity and leading us to the conclusion that we therefore are not very creative anymore.
Not only is creativity a human need, a desire to see the world afresh and rejoice in the act of generating ideas and things that are new, surprising and valuable to us, it is something we are all capable of, if we put our minds to it. Creativity can be found in virtually every field out there, but equally there is something to the fact that when creativity becomes work, it’s not nearly as fun as when we engage in something for its own sake. The closer our creative explorations are to play, the more we enjoy it.
The whistlestop tour of the economic crisis
Have recently started an executive MBA course, this one called Trium, a joint programme by the London School of Economics, NUY Stern, and HEC Paris. It specialises in three elements that to me are critical for business education these days: a global point of view supported by a diverse cultural mix of students, an in-depth focus on emerging markets where the future of the world economy really lies, and a balance of backgrounds and experience of the students itself: MBAs are not just for stockbrokers and traders. Our first module took place in September at the London School of Economics, where we dived into the depths of the macro-economic picture, the dynamics of the various international institutions that govern the international economy, the origins of the financial crisis and also the political and economic background to emerging markets.
A highly thought-provoking module, this presentation by David Harvey illustrates a part of the things we learned: the convoluted and difficult picture behind the current economic crisis, enjoy!
Loyalty versus an emotional bond
As one of the speakers at the Customer Experience Exchange conference here in Monaco, I found myself in a panel discussion this morning that touched on the topic of loyalty. A lot of comments were exchanged around whether loyalty is a term companies should use at all, and whether it is even possible to say that customers are loyal.
Some recognised that loyalty may be nothing but an expression of convenience, the unwillingness to go through the hassle of switching – whereas others touched on the willingness of loyal customers to be advocates for a great experience they had enjoyed.
To me, I must admit I find the whole discussion about loyalty quite confusing. For me it is about the depth of an emotional connection people have with your product and company. The deeper the emotional bond, the greater the willingness to recommend the experience, be part of a community, the more products are bought and equally, the higher the expectations of you as a company.
It also means that in return, you as a company have to be willing to do something different to recognise that you are indeed dealing with someone who cares very deeply about what you do. These are people who want to be part of innovating the products you do, and they want to have a say in where the company is going. If you are willing to play your part in that, then you are worthy of such a deep emotional bond from people who really love what you do. If you don’t – perhaps the discussion about loyalty isn’t really a genuine one either.. as it takes two to tango.
