Lego Case Study

Innovation at the Lego Group Case Study

Executive Summary

While many organizations face the challenge of adopting the right innovations process for its culture and products, Lego’s Jorgan Vig Knudstrop, a deeply process-based thinker, was able to incorporate a next gen approach to stage-gate that enabled Lego to meet its goal of creating great play experiences, incorporating clear profitability targets, increasing innovative product development while incorporating customer experiences and needs into each toy produced. In doing so Lego was able to shorten its product development timeline and costs, reverse its downward spiral of sales and boost sales and market share in such a way that is now seen as the “Apple” of toys.

Next Generation Stage-Gate Process: Altering the Lego Development Process (LDP) for Success

Knudstorp’s innovative approach to Lego’s product development process is very much aligned with Cooper's thoughts for the next generation of stage-gate. Lego’s new LDP included two key elements of the next generation stage-gate noted in the “What’s Next After Stage-Gate” article. Those are:

1. A1 - Adaptive and Flexible: Although Lego’s four major gates (P0, P1, P2 and P3) seem to align with the old stage-gate process, its incorporation of “spiral or iterative development” with its three phases approach to preparation of each gate – exploring, development, and validating – align it more with the next generation of stage-gate. Lego is now able to get products in front of both and internal and external group “early and often through a series of build-test-revise iterations.” Lego’s products now may be “less than 50 percent defined when it enters development, but it evolves, adapting to new information, as it moves through development and testing.” (Pg. 21, What’s Next After Stage-Gate, Cooper) The latest example being the process supporting Lego Fusion where Lego has placed a product in front of customers that is far from complete. However, they are...