Adults Saved the Toymaker Lego, Plus Different Types of Fatigue

Photos by Nathan Dumlao, Carson Arias, and Jon Tyson

I stray slightly from my goal of trying to keep this series as a strictly factual information share simply because the last item led me to a deep conversation with a friend. First, however, an actionable item on short vs long-term fatigue, and how Lego changed course to embrace their adult user population.

Recovering From Short and Long-Term Fatigue

This makes complete sense after reading about a study from the University of Birmingham, but recovering from short-term fatigue is easier than recovering from long-term fatigue. They were even able to detect these types of fatigue in two different parts of the brain.

The most actionable takeaway is that rest can help manage short-term fatigue, but once it starts being processed in the brain as long-term fatigue, rest no longer has the same effect. 

Adults Saved Lego

Of course, I’ve always looked at and thought of Lego sets as a kid's toy. But reading about the history of Lego taught me the adult population actually saved the company from going bankrupt. 

It also wasn’t until they were close to bankruptcy that Lego started to embrace their adult users after years of intentionally ignoring them because of their goal of being a top kids toymaker. Telling me, I shouldn’t let my goals impede growth. 

Do Clocks Measure Time or Create It?

One of the most thought-provoking articles I’ve read in quite some time is on the history of clocks and the question of, do clocks measure time, or create it? If you’re interested (or obsessed like me) in time, this long-form article is worth a full read.

For the slightly interested people who don’t have 20 minutes, what really got me thinking is how central time has become to our lives and if clocks are as precise and “correct” as we’ve been led to believe. 

How valuable is measuring climate change milestones in terms of years when the Earth is constantly changing and thus forcing us to adjust the “correct” timetables? The Earth clearly has its own sense of time.