We all have them. They bring a warm feeling to our hearts when they come to mind. They have become, and will remain, part of us. Ingrained. A favorite brand from our childhood. For me it's Lego.
OK, I'll say it... Lego made me who I am today. Lego taught me how to look at a seemingly random bin of parts and build something beautiful. Something cool. Something that goes fast. Something or anything I desired. I had a very good friend growing up by the name of Gabe. (I am very lucky that he remains a very good friend even today.) Gabe and I used to spend hours, days, weeks building things out of Lego. We started with the basic sets with generic parts and graduated to the Space Lego and finally the Expert Builder sets. Our abilities to create and design graduated as well. In the days of kickball and sleep overs we would build cars and houses made up of only a few blocks and bolstered by our strong imaginations. Later, we would construct cars with working transmissions, and houses with working lights, built using literally thousands of intricate pieces.
Through the years my learning grew... not only of the blocks and their technical workings, but of the broader life lessons the practice of Lego represents:
1. No what how crappy the pieces in your bin, you can always build something if you really try
2. If it breaks, fix it
3. Mixing colors can create some pretty amazing things
4. Following the directions leads to the expected... Creating your own directions lead to something new
5. If you have a vision of something amazing, build it
And now I watch my 19-month old son wrestle with his first Lego set... a general Brio blocks assortment. He knows how to pull them apart, he knows how to throw them, but doesn't yet know how to click them together (which is the reason why they are thrown more than anything). I build him a car; four blocks that represent a vague silhouette of a body and wheels. This is where he'll start his journey and soon he'll begin to learn the school of thought that is Lego. If he sticks with it he'll learn quite a lot beyond how to make a better car, or house, or boat. He'll learn an approach to life that encourages creativity, determination and open-mindedness.
Gabe used to say to me, "it seems you can always make something cool... no matter what pieces you have." No compliment could have been greater for a Lego aficionado to hear. And no skill could have lent itself quite so well to becoming a brand strategist, a good husband, and a great father later in life. Gump's mom was close. But life is really like a box of Lego. It's up to us to build something cool.
