• “It's estimated that each year between eighty and ninety million children around the globe are given a box of LEGO, while up to ten million adults buy sets for themselves. Yet LEGO is much more than a dizzying number of plastic bricks that can be put together and combined in countless ways. LEGO is also a vision of the significance of what play can mean for humanity. This book tells the story of a global company and a Danish family who for ninety years have defended children's right to play — and who believe grown-ups, too, should make the time to nurture their inner child… This isn't a traditional business book, but rather a cultural history and biographical chronicle of three generations of the Kirk Kristiansen family, all of whom created and shaped LEGO into the company it is today, as the fourth generation is poised to take over: the world's largest producer of play materials and one of the most beloved brands in the world.” - intro
• Started 90 years ago in the depths of the Great Depression, LEGO has become THE ultimate toy company, with 10x greater profits than the next biggest toy company Hasbro and an internationally recognized brand…

Ole Kirk the Carpenter

• The story of LEGO starts in 1916 in a tiny Denmark town called Billund, where Ole Kirk financed 10,000 kroner to buy a woodworking shop on the outskirts of town → WW1 gave Kirk an inflow of new business as the town was making money in selling meat and grains, but things slowed down once that ended in 1918
• He faced numerous setbacks in the beginning of his carpentry business journey, struggling with debt at times because he wouldn’t push for immediate payment and lost his first workshop to a family fire… “Debt collecting had never been Ole Kirk's strong suit. He usually sent ten-year-old Godtfred with the bills when they were due to be renewed because, unlike his father, his son rarely came home empty-handed. But on this day Ole Kirk - now threatened with bankruptcy -needed to step up and protect the Lion House and the workshop from the law.” (As you can imagine, it got particularly bad after the Great Depression hit in 1929)
• “Ole Kirk was in a precarious position, indeed. Still, at the beginning of 1932, he was optimistic, perhaps due to his faith that God would help him in all aspects of his life. Little Knud, an apprentice who'd been with Ole Kirk since 1928… helped the workshop produce various wooden items that the family hoped to sell during the Christmas season: stepladders, stools, ironing boards, Christmas tree bases, and a few toy cars, about which the boss surveyed his four boys for ideas. Making these small toys was a source of tremendous enjoyment for Ole Kirk.” → Even in the depths of the depression, Ole Kirk was a family man and valued time spent playing with his kids, so he started to see the value of these little wooden toy cars and planes firsthand

Going from Ladders & Stools to Wooden Toys

• A fortuitous meeting with two lumber merchants reshifted his entire focus: “The two men praised Ole Kirk for the level of quality that distinguished his ladders, stools, and ironing boards. They were especially enthusiastic when shown all his beautiful toy cars, several of which were painted in gorgeous, shiny colors. Olesen ordered a large consignment of Ole Kirk's merchandise on the spot, for delivery in August. He could easily find a market for them among the shopkeepers and co-op managers across the countryside, all of whom needed to stock potential Christmas presents for the whole family. These may have been trying times, but children shouldn’t be the ones to pay the price” (Greenlights the worst of times may lead to the best of times) - they told Ole Kirk about a new Danish trade fair called Kobesraevnet that allowed him to set a true production system solely on toys (despite being looked down upon by family and town members)
• Remarkable persistence even in the face of unbelievable pain, when his wife and unborn child died only when he was 41 years old: “I was sitting there one night brooding on all the setbacks I'd been through. My creditors had sent lawyers after me, and my family and friends reproached me for "not doing anything useful." What should I do? It felt as though help was so far away that it could never reach me in time. And then something wonderful happened, something I will never forget. As though in a vision, I saw a large factory where busy people were bustling in and out, where raw materials were brought in and finished goods dispatched. The image was so clear that I never again doubted I would one day reach my goal: it was the factory that today is a reality. It's funny how you can gain faith and confidence in the middle of something so hopeless. I'm certain that it's God who gives us visions like that. The God I learned to believe in as a child.” (Visualization like Arnold and Goggins and MJ)
• Staring down the face of bankruptcy and ready to give up when Ole met a new housekeeper, Sofie Jorgensen, to bring stability back into the house: “For the rest of his life, Ole Kirk often repeated that if Sofie hadn't come to Billund in 1933, and if she hadn't allowed him to use her savings, LEGO would never have existed.” (He married her after only 7 months and used the 1,000 kroner she had to avoid bankruptcy!)

LEGO’s Founding

• He soon renamed the company LEGO, a shorter version of the Danish words “leg godt” which means play well → one interesting thing about Ole Kirk is his parallel to Musk, where he was constantly on the brink of bankruptcy because he always felt the need to invest more into the business (like buying a 4K manufacturing device or writing checks he can’t cash…)
• “The boss had a low tolerance for idleness, and if you were of a lazy disposition, you wouldn't keep your job at Christiansen's for very long. If, however, you were willing to make a sustained effort, to really put your back into the work, then you'd be in good, thoughtful hands.” - Musk on the Tesla factory floor
• “Only the best is good enough” - Ole Kirk
• By the early 1940s it was clear his son Godtfred would be the one to take over LEGO, with his skilled designs of Ford and Chevy cars, but WW2 got in the way → his woodworking shop burned down yet again(!!!), but similar to Rockefeller, Ole Kirk had a deep belief in God and felt it was his mission to build quality toys for children, so he just went and rebuilt a new and improved LEGO Factory

Discovering Plastics After WW2