Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen: President and CEO of LEGO

Imagination: Napoleon claimed that it ruled the world, Einstein insisted it was more important than knowledge and John Lennon sang about it until the day he died. Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, the boss of the Danish toy giant Lego describes it as that defining ‘aha’ moment – when we are able to see things not as they are, but as they could be. But unlike many who have endorsed the concept of imagination Kristiansen has embarked upon a crusade to inspire and challenge creativity among children. Which is good for Lego and kids alike.

Cast your eyes over any list of the world’s super rich. There are geniuses and innovators of all kinds: supermarket tycoons rigorously shaving off that extra penny, Gates-esque software stars transforming electronic data into bright and shiny dollar signs. But business brilliance is seldom synonymous with serving humanity. After all, how many billionaires have left the world an indisputably better place than they found it? Ole Kirk certainly earned that rarest of distinctions – for he gave the world Lego – and in so doing demonstrated that imaginative play could be both educational and fun. Combining the Danish words LEg and GOdt (‘play well’) it was only discovered at a later date that in Latin two meanings of Lego include ‘I put together’ and ‘I read’. Two generations down the line Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, grandson of the innovative Danish carpenter who founded the group back in 1932, is determined to follow in his grandfather’s plastic bricks, so to speak, by continuing to demonstrate that business and benevolence do indeed go hand in hand.

"Children are our role models", Kristiansen explains. "They are curious, creative and imaginative. They embrace discovery and wonder. They are natural learners. These are precious qualities that should be nurtured and stimulated throughout our lives. I firmly believe that children learn best when they are having fun. The natural urge to learn is simply the key to thrive in a challenging world."

One might be forgiven for thinking that this is no more than Lego marketing hype. And it is certainly undeniable that sounding the horn of children’s creativity has served the interests of Lego’s shareholders well. Not to mention Kristiansen himself who is ranked among the wealthiest men in the world with a net worth of over $2 billion. Although the Danish group has had to pull its socks up during recent years (ask a group of lively 10 year old boys to choose between Lego and Nintendo) it continues to sell brightly coloured plastic bricks in 130 countries around the globe, and is ranked as one of the world’s largest toy companies with sales over $1.5 billion. Based in their Billund headquarters, the group employs over 10,000 people in some 50 countries around the world. In Europe, where Lego enjoys its greatest popularity, almost three-quarters of families with children have purchased a Lego product. Impressive statistics about, including – and especially – the production of some 203 billion Lego elements in the fifty years following the Second World War. So play well, one can see all too easily, can certainly pay well too.

Yet Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen (the first to admit that his initials are unlikely to be a major vote winner in the United States) has been able to deliver a couple of broadsides to his those who might cynically point the till-ringing finger at him. How? By the seriousness of his purpose and genuine commitment to the cause of children’s creativity. For actions, as KKK will remind you, speak louder than words. Which is precisely why, in September 1998, he took a series of global public awareness initiatives to vitalise children’s own active imagination both now and in the future. Launching an international forum of experts with a brief to find new ways of promoting children’s development, Kristiansen’s initiatives come amidst a growing public debate about whether or not new technologies are helping children to fulfil their potential.

"There are concerns that TV, point-and-shoot video games and even the internet are hindering children's imaginative development in all parts of society", says Dorothy Singer, professor of Psychology at Yale University and co-author of the book The House of Make Believe: Children's Play and the Developing Imagination. "It is time for all of us adults to see what we can do to make sure our children are getting the stimulation they need. Children who actively use their imagination tend to do well in school, play more co-operatively, become leaders, handle anger better than other children, and can amuse themselves when waiting, or when alone. That is why I warmly welcome Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen’s gathering of global expertise." Announcing the foundation of the Next Generation Forum, Kristiansen has set himself an ambitious agenda: a global meeting point for the world’s most advanced knowledge about children’s development, including a summit to be held annually with a view to setting a global agenda for assessing children’s creative needs. Mitchel Resnick, Associate Professor at the Media Laboratory at the MIT, has likewise given Kristiansen’s initiative an enthusiastic seal of approval.

Aware that learned papers, summits and research might appear to be remote from what is actually taking place on the ground, the energetic 53 year old Lego boss knows only too well that theory alone is not enough. Right from the outset he know that it would be necessary to underwrite and recognise practical people carrying out practical schemes in the real world.

This was the reasoning behind his personal initiative - the creation back in 1981 of an annual Lego prize. Since its inception almost 30 individuals and institutions in 18 different countries have been recognised by Kristiansen, his funding of 1 million DKK often proving a lifeline to those involved. The criteria for winning the award were drafted by Kristiansen himself – "to a person or organisation that in any outstanding or extraordinary way has contributed to the development of children". Morocco and Great Britain shared the first award, with projects run by the international Save the Children fund and a School for the Handicapped – (particularly polio victims) in Khemisset, Morocco. Kristiansen has also singled out the Italian Mario Lodi, a truly pioneering educationalist – who used his share of the Lego prize to establish his "Casa della Arti e del Gioco" (House of Art and Play) for children on the Padana plain on the banks of the River Po. More recently, in 1996, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward were recognised, having opened a special summer camp for incurably ill children. (They named the camp, in Connecticut, "The Hole in the Wall Gang", after one of Newman’s most successful films "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid".) "Sick children can also be happy children – if they are given the right conditions", Kristiansen said at the time.

Having apparently been born with bricks of Lego flowing through his veins, it may come as no surprise to learn that Kristiansen is something of a Lego expert himself. Although he boasts an MBA degree from the IMD in Switzerland, he grew up playing with Lego products. Having become a true master-builder with the bricks, he continues to be an enthusiastic test-builder of each and every new Lego product. And since part of his company’s core values is to ‘nurture the child within’, at least no one can accuse the President and CEO of not living up to the carefully drafted Lego charter.

But not everything, alas, has been milk and honey in Toyland. Even though Lego was chosen both by Fortune Magazine and the British
Association of Toy Retailers as "Toy of the Century". For Kristiansen found himself obliged to undertake an ambitious restructuring of his company as sales began to stagnate. He responded with a somewhat quixotic text referred to internally as The Fitness Challenge. And before you could build a multi-storey plastic garage the company was churning out CD-ROMs and opening Theme Parks around the world with great gusto. In typically flamboyant style the Lego boss signed off the document saying not only was he determined to bounce back in terms of profitability – but that he also aspired for the group to become the world’s Number One brand world-wide for families with children by the year 2005.

"Our brand statement", Kristiansen concludes, perhaps addressing his remarks to Mickey and his friends, is Just Imagine. "I’m telling you – for children and adults alike - that’s where it all begins."