1. @davidcrob www.robertsoninnovation.com/brick-by-brick
LEGO SALES (DKK Billions)
Birth
Growth
Innovation
Stagnation
Acceleration
Recovery
Crisis
199319791932 1998 2003 2007 2012
2
4
6
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14
The LEGO Group’s history in one slide 23.4

2. @davidcrob www.robertsoninnovation.com/brick-by-brick
Birth
Growth
Innovation
Stagnation
Acceleration
Recovery
Crisis
19931932 1998 2003 2007 2012
2
4
6
8
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23.4
LEGO SALES (DKK Billions)
LEGO was founded in 1932 by a
Danish carpenter, Ole Kirk
Christensen. The company
initially made only wooden
products. It purchased its first
injection molding machine in 1947
1979

3. @davidcrob www.robertsoninnovation.com/brick-by-brick
Birth
Growth
Innovation
Stagnation
Acceleration
Recovery
Crisis
19931932 1998 2003 2007 2012
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
23.4
LEGO SALES (DKK Billions)
Ole Kirk’s son Godfredt took over
the company in 1956 and patented
the iconic LEGO brick two years
later. The company grew slowly
and steadily until Godfredt’s son
Kjeld Kirk took over in 1979
1979

4. @davidcrob www.robertsoninnovation.com/brick-by-brick
Birth
Growth
Innovation
Stagnation
Acceleration
Recovery
Crisis
19931932 1998 2003 2007 2012
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
23.4
LEGO SALES (DKK Billions)
Kjeld Kirk introduced the LEGO
minifigure and the first fantasy sets
around the themes of Castle and
Space. The company began a fifteen
year period of double-digit growth,
doubling in size every five years
between 1978 and 1993.
1979

5. @davidcrob www.robertsoninnovation.com/brick-by-brick
Birth
Growth
Innovation
Stagnation
Acceleration
Recovery
Crisis
19931932 1998 2003 2007 2012
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
23.4
LEGO SALES (DKK Billions)
In 1993 sales stagnated. In
response, LEGO tripled the number
of toys it introduced into the market.
Profits plummeted and the company
suffered its first loss in 1998. Kjeld
Kirk stepped away from the company
and appointed an outsider, Poul
Plougmann as President.
1979

6. @davidcrob www.robertsoninnovation.com/brick-by-brick
Birth
Growth
Innovation
Stagnation
Acceleration
Recovery
Crisis
19931932 1998 2003 2007 2012
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
23.4
LEGO SALES (DKK Billions)
Between 1998 and 2002, LEGO
began innovating in every way it
could think of. The number and
range of products they created
expanded rapidly. Driven by the
success of LEGO Star Wars, LEGO
Harry Potter, and Bionicle toys, the
company set new sales records in
1999 and 2001.
1979

7. @davidcrob www.robertsoninnovation.com/brick-by-brick
Birth
Growth
Innovation
Stagnation
Acceleration
Recovery
Crisis
19931932 1998 2003 2007 2012
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
23.4
LEGO SALES (DKK Billions)
In 2003, crisis hit. Sales of LEGO Star Wars
and LEGO Harry Potter toys only did well in
years in which there was a movie. Star Wars
movies came out in 1999, 2002, and 2005.
Harry Potter movies appeared in 2001 and
2002. With no movies in 2003 nor the first half
of 2004, sales of those two toys plummeted.
With the exception of Bionicle, all the other
LEGO products were losing money.
1979

8. @davidcrob www.robertsoninnovation.com/brick-by-brick
Birth
Growth
Innovation
Stagnation
Acceleration
Recovery
Crisis
19931932 1998 2003 2007 2012
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
23.4
LEGO SALES (DKK Billions)
LEGO fired its President and appointed a new
management team. Over the next few years, it
put in place a new way of managing innovation.
It changed its innovation process, formed new
departments, appointed people to new roles,
and created tools to guide and focus teams.
1979

9. @davidcrob www.robertsoninnovation.com/brick-by-brick
Birth
Growth
Innovation
Stagnation
Acceleration
Recovery
Crisis
19931932 1998 2003 2007 2012
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
23.4
LEGO SALES (DKK Billions)
Since 2007, LEGO has been growing sales at
24% per year, every year, and profits at over 40%
per year. It is now the fastest growing and most
profitable company in the toy industry, and one of
the best performing companies in the world.
1979

10. @davidcrob www.robertsoninnovation.com/brick-by-brick
Birth
Growth
Innovation
Stagnation
Acceleration
Recovery
Crisis
19931932 1998 2003 2007 2012
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
23.4
LEGO SALES (DKK Billions)
What LEGO learned was that it’s not enough to
boost innovation. To get profitable innovation, you
have to focus and direct your teams’ effort. You
have to give your teams the space to create and
the direction to deliver. For more on how LEGO
reinvented its innovation management system, see
David Robertson’s book “Brick by Brick: How
LEGO Rewrote the Rules of Innovation and
Conquered the Global Toy Industry”
1979