Nye's Digital lab is a weekly scribble on creativity at the intersection of AI & distributed networks.

I think the meme of "the LEGO system" powers everything. This is a special two-parter while I am on vacation!

I built LEGO transformers as a kid.

Spaceships and bridges of course. But also infinite structures that had no rhyme or reason. I'm not joking when I say LEGO was a pretty big deal for me. Yes, follow along to create what was on the front cover, but it's adding to the collective pool which made it the best. The better I got with LEGO, the more I craved space kits.

Space kits were very valuable to my pool. Some pieces, like hinges, were key to successful transformer designs. Others, like the classic 6-stud block, were a sort of "stability currency," guaranteeing your skyscraper could reach at least head-high before toppling over. Sets were fun, sure. The real value lay in the mixing different pieces and combinations.

This combination philosophy might be the most elegant design principle ever created.

When artists take parts of other things and put them together, they're sometimes seen as derivative. I think this mindset needs to change. A DJ hunting in a record shop puts time and effort into finding the right break that will drop perfectly with another beat. Why is this not art?

Lego maniacs search to the bottom of each of their lego bins, scraping ruthlessly to find a blue three skinny. Because they know, that if it works, that satisfying connection will be awesome.

Because I am a nerd, I read everything I can about LEGO. I really recommend Brick by Brick, How LEGO rewrote the rules of innovation and conquered the global toy industry. It's such a great read.

But for the speedy version ...

LEGO was started as a company in the 1930's. In 1946, the Christiansen family bought an injection molding machine. By 1949, they were producing the "Automatic Binding Brick," inspired by British inventor Hilary Fisher Page's stackable cube design. The Christiansens modified Page's concept, and by 1953, these evolved into "LEGO bricks."

At first they sucked.

Initial sales were terrible because the bricks weren't sturdy and barely stuck together. Lego began discussing mounting complaints about the bricks' lack of "clutch power." So they began to concentrate on that critical grip that holds pieces together without making them impossible to separate.

The resulting design was patented on January 28, 1958.

Three tiny tubes creating the perfect balance of "grip and release" became the modern LEGO brick and established a universal rule: every LEGO element would follow the same connection standard, forever.

Those first perfected bricks from 1958 still connect flawlessly with any LEGO piece made today. Your city police set will likely click right into the latest Millennium Falcon.

LEGO called this patented design system "The LEGO System in Play," transforming simple plastic bricks into a universal creative language.

Pretty awesome right? Yeah...

Then, why did they almost go bankrupt?

Did LEGO go on to rule the toy world? Yes, eventually. But even with this genius system-wide philosophy, they forgot how to use it. They actually forgot about their magnificent system.

By 2003, the company was mired in debt to the tune of US$800 million and facing bankruptcy. Despite being one of the most beloved toy companies in the world, they were hemorrhaging money.

When organizations tune themselves for growth, they start chasing trends. LEGO launched video games that had nothing to do with building. They opened theme parks that barely featured actual bricks. They created clothing lines, watches, and perfumes. It was all stamped with the LEGO logo but none able to click together in any meaningful way. By partnering with Star Wars, they continued to sell sets for the holiday rush, but the company began to flag, and no one knew exactly why.

The company had abandoned what made it special: the system that let everything connect.

Jørgen Vig Knudstorp became the new CEO and quite dramatically declared that LEGO was "standing on a burning platform."

His solution was to strip everything back to the core. He realized that the company was straying too far from what had made it successful in the first place: The systems for building blocks. The company fired employees, halved the number of different brick types, and refocused entirely on making pieces that clicked together perfectly.

And it worked.

Knudstorp achieved his dream of becoming 'Apple for toys' as LEGO's profits quadrupled during the 2008-2010 financial crisis, rising even faster than Apple's. While the 2008 financial crisis brought down giants like Lehman Brothers, LEGO thrived.

Constraints don't limit creativity, they amplify it. When you know the rules of how things connect, you're free to focus on the infinite possibilities those connections create.

Musicians don't invent new notes for every song, they use the same 12 notes everyone else uses. Within that constraint, they create everything from Beethoven to Usher's Yeah. The constraint isn't limiting; it gives them a common language that other musicians can understand and build upon.

Two 2×4 bricks can be joined together in 24 different ways.

And Claude tells me that number goes up exponentially as you add more bricks (with 915,103,765 different combinations that are possible with just six 2×4 bricks).

Your creative work can follow the same principle. Whether you're building an virtual environment, creating a portfolio of works, or starting a YouTube channel, ask yourself:

what are your connection points?

Maybe it's a consistent visual style that runs through all your work. Maybe it's a recurring theme or technique that makes your pieces recognizable as yours. Maybe it's a way of approaching problems that others can understand and contribute to.

The key is thinking beyond individual pieces to the consistent system that holds them together. I'm really zoning in on that principle that saved LEGO applies to all creative work.

Ok, let's hold there. Next week, tune in for part 2!

We'll explore how this LEGO-like modular philosophy applies to other things like networks, and everyone's favorite disruptive technology!

I do this every week (even when I am on vacation by a lake!) If you vibe to the ideas I write here, please consider subscribing and sharing with friends. Appreciate it.

Nye Warburton is a systems designer and educator who improvises with Otter.ai and manages prompting systems in Obsidian while using Claude, Deep Seek, and Manus.

For more information visit https://nyewarburton.com

• Analogous Connections of the Mind, June 2025

• Godlike Tools, Creative Stagnation, April 2025

• A Love Letter to the Commodore 64, May 2025