Godtfred

"Godtfred attended evening school for four years at the Technical School in Grindsted after the mandatory seven years of primary school, and at 19, in 1939, he had a short stay at the Handicraft School in Haslev, which was especially recognized in the construction field. The older brothers, Karl Georg and Johannes, trained as carpenters, while little brother Gerhardt became a dairyman. Ole Kirk actually preferred Godtfred to stay at the factory and help out, but the son insisted that he wanted a journeyman’s certificate like his brothers."

"Still, Godtfred was not convinced about the future of plastic toys. In an interview with Fyens Stiftstidende in 1949, he said: “You can make nice and neat things in plastic, but wood is undeniably the most solid.”"

"In fact, Godtfred was so concerned about his father’s lack of interest in finances that he asked the closest employees to do what they could to “restrain the old man” and his almost “unfortunate urge to build, build, and build.” At the same time, Godtfred had his bookkeeper calculate the cash balance every day before closing time so he knew exactly how much money they had."

"Godtfred hired two sales representatives solely to travel around and sell LEGO Bricks and explain to toy retailers the possibilities of the bricks. They did so without success. The representatives’ poor results led Godtfred to spend time himself traveling around and selling toys to retailers. This gave him an understanding of the importance of how the toys were displayed in stores and warehouses. He thought that the bricks should be seen as fully built models so that people could see what could be done with them."

"The resignation didn’t last long, however. Instead, Godtfred went to Norway, where he had a contact, and established production there for the Norwegian market. The foreign expansion was not planned. It purely stemmed from a necessity to create more sales, so the new factory investments could be covered."

"Similarly, Godtfred rejected ideas of buying other toy companies. Whatever it would bring to LEGO, it would not fit with LEGO’s platform and core idea – or what one would today call a “brand.” He believed that a consistent focus on the core idea and its possibilities was the way to create a strong position in the market and in the consciousness of consumers."

"When Godtfred became junior director in 1950, he changed the name of Automatic Binding Bricks to the Danish LEGO Mursten."

"The conversation made Godtfred think about the requirements the ideal toy for children worldwide should meet. In the following months, he formulated a series of “LEGO characteristics,” which he believed the company’s products should fulfill to have a future: 1. The toy must have a limited scope without restricting the free unfolding of the imagination. 2. It must be affordable in purchase price. 3. It must be simple and durable yet offer rich possibilities for variation. 4. It must be relevant for children of all ages and both genders. 5. It must be timeless, i.e., a classic among toys that does not need renewal. 6. It must be easy to distribute."

"The rule about being international meant, among other things, that LEGO could not be marketed as a Danish product. According to Godtfred, the best thing that could happen was for the Germans to believe that the company was German and the French to think the products were made in France. They succeeded. Over the years, many countries took credit for being the birthplace and homeland of LEGO."

"In a way, the statement about the vast possibilities was completely correct. LEGO has calculated that two eight-stud LEGO bricks can be combined in 24 ways. Three bricks in over a thousand ways. And six bricks in over nine hundred million ways. The combinations are indeed, as Godtfred put it, endless. Only imagination sets the limits."

"His two brothers, Karl Georg and Gerhardt, who also worked at LEGO, did not agree with the decision. It ended with Godtfred buying them and younger brother Johannes out of the company they had inherited together."

"Even though LEGO’s system bricks caught on internationally and were successful, Godtfred was not satisfied with the bricks. They didn’t bind properly to each other. To solve the problem, he established a new working group headed by himself. They concluded that if they molded hollow tubes at the bottom of the bricks, they could connect them much more securely and in new ways. This created LEGO’s famous “coupling principle.”"

"Godtfred therefore formulated the so-called 10 LEGO rules: 1. Be objective and truthful 2. Be positive and simple 3. Be economical 4. Be international 5. Generate enthusiasm 6. Inspire imagination and activity 7. Adhere to LEGO characteristics 8. Prioritize company interests over personal concerns 9. Follow up on matters 10. Follow the company’s core idea"

"In Denmark, the factory in Billund expanded significantly. LEGO bought both its own trucks and planes, and Godtfred ensured that Billund got its own airstrip so that factory personnel could quickly reach new markets—and customers could easily visit the small Danish village. Relocating the company was out of the question. It would have been a betrayal to the people who dedicated their lives to LEGO, and a catastrophe for the local community, which Godtfred would not entertain."

"In 1960 – at that time there were 450 employees at LEGO – the wood warehouse burned down. Until then, LEGO had continued the production of wooden toys. The day after the fire, Godtfred made a far-reaching decision. He discontinued the production of wooden toys. This would give Godtfred and everyone at LEGO the freedom to focus all resources on the internationalization of LEGO bricks."

"The focused commitment to LEGO bricks alone meant, among other things, that LEGO spent 5 million kroner on advertising in 1960 – more than the total advertising budget in all the years since the LEGO brick was developed. Godtfred believed it was necessary to unfold the potential of the LEGO system:"

"Godtfred himself was action-oriented and intuitive. He expected others to be the same. Therefore, he did not appear as the traditional authoritarian leader who gave orders on what people should do. That was otherwise the management tradition of the time. The boss orders, the next in the hierarchy executes. Just like in the army. Godtfred insisted that people should and could do things themselves."

"Godtfred himself explained his leadership style by saying that 100 percent trust is necessary to achieve mutual respect, so that people listen to each other and everyone is held accountable for whether they do “the right thing” or “the best thing.”"

"Godtfred once expressed his leadership philosophy in a speech to entrepreneurs: 1. Find the right idea and create the right foundation for it. 2. Be satisfied, but never completely satisfied, because then you stop creating. 3. Explore the depth and breadth of the idea, so others cannot catch up to you – and keep going. 4. Find the right employees and show them 100 percent trust from the start – it releases positive energy. 5. Do not make serious working employees afraid of making mistakes – they learn from their mistakes. 6. Never aim to be the largest, but make sure to be the best. 7. The leader’s most important task is product development. 8. Ensure to become self-financing – and beware of the volume syndrome. 9. As an entrepreneur, you are never finished – or you are finished."

"The attitude of being self-reliant also extended to financing. When success really began to bring in money in the 1960s, Godtfred made LEGO self-financing and largely independent of the goodwill of banks. The money was placed in a finance company, which later became Kirkbi, or commonly known as the “LEGO-bank.”"

"Godtfred consistently maintained the play system’s core idea. New products were about exploring depth and breadth with the bricks – not about developing entirely new toys. Such ideas were scrapped."

"Godtfred consistently maintained the play system’s core idea. New products were about exploring depth and breadth with the bricks – not about developing entirely new toys. Such ideas were scrapped."

"LEGO’s success garnered much coverage in the press, and already in the early 1960s, schools, organizations, and businesses visited Billund every week to see how the famous bricks were made. Godtfred had his cousin, the artist Dagny Holm, build a series of large models with LEGO bricks, depicting houses, castles, and animals. The exhibition became a major attraction, and the queue kept growing. In 1963, Godtfred had the idea for a permanent exhibition area. The plan was to use an area the size of a football field and build a small cafeteria. He approached the local bank for backing for the construction. The answer was no. The bank refused to believe that 300,000 visitors would come to Billund each year, which was the condition for the project to be profitable."

"Another consequence of the LEGO values was that Godtfred insisted on doing most things themselves – from development through production to marketing and sales. For example, from the beginning, Godtfred opposed having the LEGO system sold by wholesalers along with thousands of other types of toys. They would not be motivated or have the time to explain the principles behind LEGO well enough. Therefore, LEGO systematically built its own staff of salespeople. Typically, they did not have a background in the toy industry because Godtfred did not consider LEGO to be a toy. LEGO was much more – it was about children’s development and learning, and therefore LEGO should not be sold with words and concepts derived from the toy industry."

"The focus on the core idea of LEGO was linked for Godtfred with a great respect for LEGO’s customers or users – the children. In a speech in 1959, he said:"

"His empathy for children’s world often led Godtfred to sit on the floor with his employees and build and think about new systems – to get the children’s perspective. When new constructions were on a table, he often went down on his knees to see them from a child’s perspective, not from above, which is the adult’s perspective."

"Godtfred hired Arnold Boutrup, the then chief decorator of the department store Anva, who spent two years developing a plan for a 100,000 m2 family park with attractions, a hotel, and decorated with LEGO models."

"Undeterred by the rejection, Godtfred continued working on the idea and only made it even bigger. If Walt Disney could captivate people to visit Disneyland, which was a huge success, why shouldn’t LEGO be able to do the same with the great interest there was? It was also one of the last times he asked a bank for assistance."

"His empathy for children’s world often led Godtfred to sit on the floor with his employees and build and think about new systems – to get the children’s perspective. When new constructions were on a table, he often went down on his knees to see them from a child’s perspective, not from above, which is the adult’s perspective."

"By the threshold of the 1980s, LEGO had grown so large that neither Godtfred nor anyone else could manage to explain the quickly growing number of new employees about the values and attitudes in LEGO culture. Kjeld Kirk therefore hired three employees tasked with arranging a series of seminars for the leaders, called LUP (LEGO Univers Partners), thereby strengthening self-understanding and culture. This later became a leadership course—“The IMD Experience”—which created a common understanding of strategy, organization, market situation, and LEGO’s unique foundational ideas."

"In 1965, LEGO established a proper development department. It was necessary, but Godtfred was nervous about the construction. He feared that entirely new product ideas would sneak in, which had nothing to do with the LEGO system—because in the department, it would likely be reasoned that it was too vulnerable to build the company on just one idea and that it would be good to spread the risk."

"First and foremost, Godtfred focused on whether LEGO’s values were being followed—he repeatedly warned against the disease of volume and too rapid expansion. He thought everything was happening too quickly. At a gathering in Switzerland in 1981, he said: “I have never wanted LEGO to become big. I just wanted LEGO to become good. And I tell my people, we should never strive to be the biggest, but we should always strive to be the best.”"

"Kjeld Kirk supported the new ideas of a broad push into a range of new areas with the LEGO brand as the waving battle banner, making it possible to create new revenues that could replace the loss on the bricks. With growth as a guiding star, LEGO’s marketing people set out to develop a wide range of new product areas where LEGO could leverage its brand. Video games, movies, the internet, clothing, action figures - everything suddenly became relevant and was being developed for enormous amounts. One of the major decisions was to accelerate the rollout of LEGOLAND parks worldwide. Godtfred himself had been part of the decision to build the first LEGOLAND outside Denmark in London, but he wanted to see it operate for a few years before moving on – he wasn’t sure about the concept. Now the decision was to open a new LEGOLAND every three years and not wait for the experiences from London. The investment in the new parks was enormous. Most of it was done in LEGO’s own management, because it was still a LEGO value to preferably produce things themselves to have control over the quality."

"Godtfred insisted, however, that the focus should be on the bricks and the system around them. If the focus shifted, Godtfred feared that competitors would catch up and overtake LEGO."