This tool is adapted from David Robertson’s brilliant book  “Brick by Brick: How LEGO rewrote the rules of innovation…”

Robertson describes how LEGO nearly went bankrupt after a period of runaway innovation that pushed costs up and profits down in the early Noughties. On the edge of extinction, the senior team went back to basics, asking “Why does LEGO exist? What would the world miss if LEGO went away?” Their answer was that people would miss the brick and the system that allowed kids to build by the instructions or create their own masterpieces. LEGO had found the core of their mission around which they could rebuild a profitable company.

This exercise asks you to imagine a world without you – or at least, without the project you are working on. What would people miss?

You need: 20 minutes, a pen and paper.

Watch this video

Download this worksheet:

Credit: This technique is inspired by LEGO, thanks to David Robertson’s magnificent book Brick by Brick.