However, this time round, my inner 9-year-old was awakened with the discovery of a Technical Lego replica of the Mercedes Formula 1 car! This was not so subtly communicated to Liz as my top present of choice this year.
Being the absolute trooper she is, she didn’t lay her trust in a random website, she went to the Trafford Centre in Manchester and ran the assault course that is Christmas shopping in person (old school).
I was then informed that I could get custom stickers printed – and so that’s what I did, before setting about to build the car you see below.
The companies chosen have been of great help to ITAM Accelerate over the years, so we felt it only fair to give them a shout-out while I had some fun at the same time.
So, in no particular order:
Thank you so much for your goodwill and tenacity in sticking with us.
It also got me thinking about the lessons that could be applied from my experience in building the car and transferring this to ITAM, so again – in no particular order, here are five lessons from my Lego building experience that I think are worth noting:
- Work to a vision: the great thing about Lego is that you can build it to represent whatever your imagination desires; however, in this instance the long-term goal was a replica of a Mercedes Formula 1 car – plenty of pictures on the box and in the instructions pointed me towards what I should be aiming for: ITAM can also benefit from a “what does good look like” vision.
- Pedal to a plan: Thankfully, I didn’t just receive a box of Lego and the best wishes of the press machinery in Denmark. A super-comprehensive instruction manual showed me what I should be doing – piece by piece, step by step. In fact, the manual was so thick it rivalled the page count of the car manual for my own Merc on the driveway!
- Practice Patience: While the pictures on the box and in the instruction book provide many examples of where you should end up, a set of this size is not a sprint. Take pleasure in the progress that you are making as you make it. Don’t be afraid to share such success as you go with other Lego-nerds you might know! (and even some non-Lego-nerds – joy is infectious!)
- Get your “mods” in early: Tool providers will have very clear ideas of where you should be heading with their technology – make sure they are attuned to your unique business requirements with as much lead-time as you can muster. At this point I would like to give a shout out to Will Johnson of Ultimate Collector Stickers – His customer service and attention to detail in getting the logos on the custom stickers just right was exceptional!
- Stock Management: This particular build came with 1,643 pieces – a great temptation might have been to empty all the Lego bags on my desk and to dive in (there were 15 bags). Considering the size of many of the connecting rods and fiddly pistons (yes, it has a clear plastic engine so you can see the pistons interact as the rear axle rotates) I found my anxiety levels vastly reduced if I inventoried the bag pieces before I started building. Lego randomly include the odd extra piece here or there (which I didn’t know) so equally, don’t assume everything has a “home” in the final build. The parallel to ITAM here might be that just because something is on your IT estate, doesn’t mean that you have to manage it.
I appreciate that some vendors have not been included in this post, and I will give them a shout-out through other social media outlets.
But here’s the really good news: 3 other F1 Lego models are on order (Ferrari, Mclaren and Red Bull) so I will be calling on the services of Will Johnson for more custom stickers 😊