“I've learned a lot on the fly, and I think, actually, my academic and ...” — Jorgen Vig Knudstorp Quote

I've learned a lot on the fly, and I think, actually, my academic and management consulting background has enabled me to quickly pick up on a lot of disciplines.

I don't like stuff that can only go into one set; I want stuff that can be applied across sets. It's a more real Lego building experience. And, of course, it's the same from a manufacturing point of view. I want elements that are universal; that gives me the best economics and best utilisation of the mould.

What basically happens is that when a company becomes great, and I'm being a bit rude here, people think they're some kind of genius. So now we can move into all sorts of other businesses because the net bottom line is, it's because we're just geniuses. They become overconfident and expand too far.

There's the famous quote that if you want to understand how animals live, you don't go to the zoo, you go to the jungle. The Future Lab has really pioneered that within Lego, and it hasn't been a theoretical exercise. It's been a real design-thinking approach to innovation, which we've learned an awful lot from.

The Trump phenomenon is in large part a reaction of Middle America to attacks on its values by intellectual and academic communities. There are other reasons, but this is a significant one.

I came from an anxious, overly intense East Coast academic family. That was the way of our tribe.

What passes for political realism may make for lively academic debates. But it often functions, ironically, as a tool of social control, rendering us passive with an analysis that overwhelms and paralyzes us.

Drama at Bristol was an academic course: you were judged on your A-levels, and there were no auditions. I did a BA General degree.