“Only while sleeping one makes no mistakes.”
“Bara den som sover gör inga misstag” – Ingvar Kamprad
💡 This quote perfectly captures a mindset rooted in curiosity, courage, and continuous learning — and it was a pleasant surprise to stumble upon it where I did.
After a vacation in Finland, we were driving back through Sweden and decided to make a stop in Älmhult to visit the IKEA Museum. We expected to see a nostalgic collection of furniture through the decades — and we did — but there was much more to discover:
📌 An exhibition on women in design
📌 A biographical section about Ingvar Kamprad
📌 And, perhaps most interestingly, a deep dive into IKEA’s design and production philosophy
Kamprad’s quote reflects a culture that embraces experimentation and sees mistakes as part of progress. And it made me reflect.
Back in the 2000s, when I was actively engaged in the Agile and Lean movement, most of the origin stories pointed to Toyota — and how their production principles emerged from post-war scarcity in Japan.
So it was fascinating to see a parallel story in Swedish furniture design, also born out of scarcity — in the rural region of Småland — where resource constraints, pragmatism, and ingenuity shaped a culture of continuous improvement and value-driven design.
In that sense, the story of IKEA is a brilliant complement to understanding Lean and Agile thinking — and a reminder that innovation often begins where resources are limited, but mindset is expansive.
If you’re ever driving through southern Sweden, the museum is well worth a visit. And yes — there are cinnamon buns and Swedish meatballs in the restaurant 🇸🇪
This was first posted on LinkedIn