What do Ingrid Bergman, business, and the Viking word “Lagom” have in common?

by Alice Alessandri and Alberto Aleo  

Ingrid Bergman was a Swedish actress with an international reputation. She was often considered the first modern diva, representing a type of beauty and lifestyle that influenced all her colleagues in the years to come, and she is still very relevant today. In an interview, her son, Robin Rossellini, defined his mother’s behaviour, including her fashion choices, as being inspired by an ancient concept rooted in traditional Scandinavian culture, which might even have Viking origins: Lagom.

Let’s find out more together and draw valuable insights for our personal lives and our work.

The meaning of “Lagom”.

Here’s how Rossellini described it in the interview: “It’s an untranslatable word. In a nutshell, it expresses the art of living in a Scandinavian way, a life based on simplicity and moderation. It’s the rejection of ostentation, of showing off. Elegance lies in sobriety.” It’s clear that this concept was relevant to Ingrid Bergman, but how can we translate it into practical tips for our business and our work, especially during this delicate phase of getting back on the treadmill?

Much has been written about Lagom, and some have even published books on the subject. In the following paragraphs, we will try to provide a personal interpretation based on the idea of seeking balance between two opposing forces, which we believe is at the heart of it. A balance that, while avoiding the extremes, does not exclude the different aspects of the forces guiding our lives but instead seeks to integrate them. Let’s focus, then, on these dynamics of opposition/coexistence in 3 areas where Lagom can be applied.

Social responsibility and individuality thanks to Lagom.

This year, we spent an extended period in Sweden to work and, later, to rest, bringing along Ark, our consultant dog (@arktheconsultantdog), who follows us everywhere. Many don’t know that Sweden has beautiful beaches where, in summer, you can swim, often with your pet, as long as… you take full responsibility for what they do. To be clear, it’s not that there aren’t rules in Sweden about bringing your dog to the beach, but the relationship that Swedes have with these rules is mediated by Lagom. It’s a balance between “doing” and “not doing”, between respecting other swimmers and enjoying a dip with your wagging friend, guided by a sense of responsibility. If you’re respectful, measured, and good-natured, no one will complain, and you’ll even see a look of approving satisfaction on your neighbours’ faces.

Social objectives and collective interests in our life are often in contrast with the personal objectives we have in business, so we find ourselves forced to make a choice and prioritise one over the other.

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Lagom teaches us that it’s possible to strike a balance between them through individual responsibility, reminding us that what is good for others can also be good for us, and vice versa. We just need to focus on similarities rather than differences.

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Combining Efficiency and Leisure through Lagom. 

In summer, we visited the “World of Volvo” center, an innovation lab where the car manufacturer showcases its research on safety and its overall vision for mobility. One thing that caught our attention was a car from the 50s: the Duett, the first real station wagon in history! The advertisers of the time described the Duett as a vehicle which could reliably be with you five days a week for eight hours a day in your work life, but which, in the evenings and on weekends, could transform into an elegant companion for fun and relaxation.

In Sweden, the 6-hour workday was introduced some time ago, albeit not in every company. On average, people are at the office until 5 p.m. at the latest, and shops rarely close later than 6 p.m. On Saturdays, most shops are closed in the afternoon and are completely closed on Sundays, except for very rare cases, so people dedicate their time exclusively to family and relaxation. Needless to say, productivity is unaffected; in fact, it ranks among the highest in Europe and is definitely higher than in Italy.

Work culture leads us to believe that efficiency conflicts with quality of life, and that time devoted to productivity is gained by sacrificing time meant for leisure. 

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Lagom teaches us to be like the Duett, i.e., capable of merging efficiency and quality of life and shaping our lives so that both these aspects can support each other. It also convinces us that sometimes reading a book under a tree can be much more enlightening and productive than participating in a “late night brainstorming session” with colleagues who are tired and bored.

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Finding simplicity and wealth in Lagom.

Along the western coast of Sweden, just above Gothenburg, lies a small fishing village called Fjallbacka. Just off the coast is the tiny island of Dannholmen, reachable only by small private boats, which was once owned by Ingrid Bergman and now by her heirs. Dannholmen is not much larger than a granite rock over which a simple wooden house was built, and which later expanded while maintaining a modest size. No one would imagine that an international star, a well-known and admired diva, spent a lot of her time here.

When we arrived in Fjallbacka, knowing it was close to where Bergman spent her “holidays”, we expected a glamorous place full of VIPs, with an atmosphere like many other cool locations. Nothing could have prepared us for the simplicity of the place, the unchanged local fishermen’s houses, and the essential lifestyle. A place where everyone knows each other, but no one is intrusive, where you might mistake the CEO of a Swedish corporation for a fisherman, and where the dress code in the best restaurant in town is rubber boots. This is not applied minimalism or a fun and temporary reversal of roles, where the rich pretend not to be wealthy.

Those who choose to visit such a place do so to reconnect with the essence of this country, made of fjords, cold seas, vast spaces, and frugal living. They seek a balance, or in other words, Lagom, which comes from prioritising who we are over what we have, reminding us that only what is functional to our true essence is useful to us. The rest is an entropic occupation of our vital personal spaces.

Overcoming the contradictions between social responsibility and individuality, integrating efficiency and quality of life, treating yourself to the liberating luxury of empty space and simplicity: this is how we could conclude our short journey of discovering Lagom. But it wouldn’t be honest if we didn’t say that all of this seems a bit utopian, if not downright boring, considering our Italian identity. Our lifestyles are dense, hectic, and baroque, like the nature and culture of the places we live in.

What do we have in common with Lagom, and why should we consider it if we risk losing our essence? We don’t have a logical answer to this question, which we imagine Ingrid Bergman also asked herself, from the opposite point of view, when she married director Roberto Rossellini, having fallen in love with him while shooting a film on an island which is completely different from Dannholmen: Stromboli. Perhaps, this poetic image of irreconcilable reconciliation should be a source of reflection to deeply understand the philosophy of Lagom.

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