Ole kirk christiansen quotes

The children were saved, but the Ole Kirk Kristiansen's future looked bleak. Ole Kirk was a religious man; his optimism and sense of humour were well-known far beyond the local boundaries. Where others would have folded their hands in their laps and accepted their fate, he did not give up. With the courage born of desperation, he rebuilt his business on a larger and more expensive scale than it had been previously - and more so than he could afford: Many rooms had to be sublet, and the Kristiansens themselves only used a small part of the building.

Apprentices were no longer paid, but received board and lodging instead. The business shifted to producing plastic bricks after the acquisition of a plastic moulding injection machine in Following his death in , the company's management was handed over to his son, Godtfred. In , when Christiansen was 14, he began working as an apprentice for his older brother, Kristian Bonde Christiansen.

In , Christiansen returned to Denmark and settled in Billund. In , Christiansen's business was almost destroyed when his sons, Karl Georg and Godtfred, caused a fire to break out by accidentally setting fire to wood shavings in the workshop while trying to light a hot glue machine. Consequently, both the workshop and the family home burned down.

The construction of the house, which is situated on Hovedgaden in Billund, was completed in with two stone lions placed at its entrance. They married in and had four children. During the early s, Christiansen's business was impacted by the onset of the Great Depression in Denmark. The drop in farming prices resulted in many of his customers being unable to afford his products.

This decline in business forced Christiansen to lay off staff in early until only seven employees remained. Eventually, Christiansen had to dismiss his last worker. With the business slipping into bankruptcy, he refused to stop producing toys when his siblings requested this as part of a bailout loan. Christiansen's company moved primarily to the production of wooden toys, such as yo-yos, pull-along animals and trucks.

He consequently decided to focus his products on the development of children. With this decision, Christiansen defined the core philosophy of the company, which was expressed in its name in Lego is a shortened form of the Danish word Leg godt , meaning "play well". Christiansen made his toy products from birch wood that had been cut from the forest, dried out for two years and then dried in a kiln for three weeks.

The toys were put together, sealed, sanded and primed before being painted with three coats of varnish. Although he struggled to sell his household products and wooden toys due to the poverty levels of people living in the local community, he continued to produce toys, sometimes exchanging them for food. By , the toy range included a variety of animals, including a pull-along wooden duck, which has since seen numerous variations.

In , the company experienced another setback. I've learned what it feels like to lose, believe me. But I think, in the end, that is just going to make winning that much better. Modesty is the artifice of actors, similar to passion in call girls. Once leaders embrace the role of coach, they realize the weight of leadership is now balanced between themselves and their direct reports.

Is Coors Field a good park to hit in? The bricks are seemingly indestructible. Anyone who has ever stepped on a LEGO brick knows this to be true. But, the tradeoffs for those short moments of pain is incredible. What other toy enables a child to have such open-ended play, building a city-scape, sorting through options, and using their creativity?

Many adults are also big fans.

Ole kirk christiansen quotes

And, for good reason. A toy of this importance is deserving of more focused attention. For the basic sets, the user is challenged with a blank slate. You might have hundreds of bricks and pieces of various colors but no set plan. The sky is the limit — create anything you want. By being repeatedly faced with this challenge, a user learns to be creative the old-fashioned way — through trial and error.

Applying the right amount of pressure to connect the bricks and putting them in just the right place requires some finesse and practice. Using indestructible game pieces is a great place to practice. When playing with other children, players learn to take turns, share pieces, and work together. Instead of a competition, a spirit of togetherness can be fostered.

Trying to translate the vision in your head of what you want to create to the bricks in front of you requires some thought.