Creativity, Inc.

"As a management advice book, “Creativity, Inc.” doesn’t add much to the conversation. As a history of Pixar, it’s fascinating.<br/><br/>Catmull pitches the book as a guide for managing a creativity-focused workforce. His central tenets come down to “sh*t happens, take risks, embrace failure, communicate well” Not exactly mind-blowing stuff. The most original idea was to have a “Brain Trust” that offers advice but has no authority to enforce its decisions (this prevents bad dynamics with the director and helps focus on solving problems rather than playing political games)<br/><br/>What is really interesting is hearing the backstory of LucasFilm and Pixar, the acquisition by Disney, Catmull’s relationship with Steve Jobs, and how Catmull applied his principles to very specific problems on films that we all grew up with like Toy Story and Finding Nemo.<br/><br/>Some of my favorite quotes below:<br/><br/>####################<br/><br/>What makes Pixar special is that we acknowledge we will always have problems, many of them hidden from our view; that we work hard to uncover these problems, even if doing so means making ourselves uncomfortable; and that, when we come across a problem, we marshal all of our energies to solve it.<br/><br/>We start from the presumption that our people are talented and want to contribute. We accept that, without meaning to, our company is stifling that talent in myriad unseen ways. Finally, we try to identify those impediments and fix them.<br/><br/>Experimentation was highly valued, but the urgency of a for-profit enterprise was definitely in the air. In other words, we felt like we were solving problems for a reason.<br/><br/>George had a fondness for folksy analogies that sought to describe, neatly, the mess of life. He would compare the often arduous process of developing his 4,700-acre Skywalker Ranch compound (a minicity of residences and production facilities) to a ship going down river … that had been cut in half … and whose captain had been thrown overboard. “We’re still going to get there,” he would say. “Grab the paddles and let’s keep going!”<br/><br/>This was my first encounter with a phenomenon I would notice again and again, throughout my career: For all the care you put into artistry, visual polish frequently doesn’t matter if you are getting the story right.<br/><br/>There is nothing quite like ignorance combined with a driving need to succeed to force rapid learning.<br/><br/>Around this time, John coined a new phrase: “Quality is the best business plan.”<br/><br/>People who take on complicated creative projects become lost at some point in the process.<br/><br/>The second difference is that the Braintrust has no authority. This is crucial: The director does not have to follow any of the specific suggestions given.<br/><br/>Frank talk, spirited debate, laughter, and love. If I could distill a Braintrust meeting down to its most essential ingredients, those four things would surely be among them.<br/><br/>A good note says what is wrong, what is missing, what isn’t clear, what makes no sense. A good note is offered at a timely moment, not too late to fix the problem. A good note doesn’t make demands; it doesn’t even have to include a proposed fix. But if it does, that fix is offered only to illustrate a potential solution, not to prescribe an answer. Most of all, though, a good note is specific. “I’m writhing with boredom,” is not a good note.<br/><br/>There’s a quick way to determine if your company has embraced the negative definition of failure. Ask yourself what happens when an error is discovered. Do people shut down and turn inward, instead of coming together to untangle the causes of problems that might be avoided going forward? Is the question being asked: Whose fault was this? If so, your culture is one that vilifies failure. Failure is difficult enough without it being compounded by the search for a scapegoat.<br/><br/>Part of the answer is simple: If we as leaders can talk about our mistakes and our part in them, then we make it safe for others.<br/><br/>While we don’t want too many failures, we must think of the cost of failure as an investment in the future.<br/><br/>I often say that managers of creative enterprises must hold lightly to goals and firmly to intentions. What does that mean? It means that we must be open to having our goals change as we learn new information or are surprised by things we thought we knew but didn’t. As long as our intentions—our values—remain constant, our goals can shift as needed.<br/><br/>Which brings us to one of my core management beliefs: If you don’t try to uncover what is unseen and understand its nature, you will be ill prepared to lead.<br/><br/>If we start with the attitude that different viewpoints are additive rather than competitive, we become more effective because our ideas or decisions are honed and tempered by that discourse. In a healthy, creative culture, the people in the trenches feel free to speak up and bring to light differing views that can help give us clarity.<br/><br/>The differences arise because of the ways our separate mental models shape what we see. I’ll say it again: Our mental models aren’t reality. They are tools, like the models weather forecasters use to predict the weather. But, as we know all too well, sometimes the forecast says rain and, boom, the sun comes out. The tool is not reality. The key is knowing the difference.<br/><br/>Candor, safety, research, self-assessment, and protecting the new are all mechanisms we can use to confront the unknown and to keep the chaos and fear to a minimum.<br/><br/>The second is that we don’t typically see the boundary between new information coming in from the outside and our old, established mental models—we perceive both together, as a unified experience. The third is that when we unknowingly get caught up in our own interpretations, we become inflexible, less able to deal with the problems at hand. And the fourth idea is that people who work or live together—people like Dick and Anne, for example—have, by virtue of proximity and shared history, models of the world that are deeply (sometimes hopelessly) intertwined with one another.<br/><br/>Craft is what we are expected to know; art is the unexpected use of our craft.<br/><br/>As John often says, “Art challenges technology, technology inspires art.”<br/><br/>One technique I’ve used to soften the process is to ask everyone in the room to make two lists: the top five things that they would do again and the top five things that they wouldn’t do again. People find it easier to be candid if they balance the negative with the positive, and a good facilitator can make it easier for that balance to be struck.<br/><br/>Here’s my approach: Measure what you can, evaluate what you measure, and appreciate that you cannot measure the vast majority of what you do. And at least every once in a while, make time to take a step back and think about what you are doing.<br/><br/>But the purpose of P.U. was never to turn programmers into artists or artists into belly dancers. Instead, it was to send a signal about how important it is for every one of us to keep learning new things. That, too, is a key part of remaining flexible: keeping our brains nimble by pushing ourselves to try things we haven’t tried before. That’s what P.U. lets our people do, and I believe it makes us stronger.<br/><br/>there is a sweet spot between the known and the unknown where originality happens; the key is to be able to linger there without panicking.<br/><br/>coping mechanisms used by Pixar and Disney Animation’s directors, producers, and writers draw heavily on visualization. By imagining their problems as familiar pictures, they are able to keep their wits about them when the pressures of not knowing shake their confidence.<br/><br/>“People want decisiveness, but they also want honesty about when you’ve effed up,” as Andrew says. “It’s a huge lesson: Include people in your problems, not just your solutions.”<br/><br/>What made Notes Day work? To me, it boils down to three factors. First, there was a clear and focused goal. This wasn’t a free-for-all but a wide-ranging discussion (organized around topics suggested not by Human Resources or by Pixar’s executives, but by the company’s employees) aimed at addressing a specific reality: the need to cut our costs by 10 percent. While the discussion topics were allowed—even encouraged—to stray into areas that might seem only vaguely related to this goal, the fact that it was there was key. It provided a framework—and it kept us from falling into confusion.<br/><br/>When looking to hire people, give their potential to grow more weight than their current skill level. What they will be capable of tomorrow is more important than what they can do today.<br/><br/>Always try to hire people who are smarter than you. Always take a chance on better, even if it seems like a potential threat.<br/><br/>If there are people in your organization who feel they are not free to suggest ideas, you lose. Do not discount ideas from unexpected sources. Inspiration can, and does, come from anywhere.<br/><br/>It isn’t enough merely to be open to ideas from others. Engaging the collective brainpower of the people you work with is an active, ongoing process. As a manager, you must coax ideas out of your staff and constantly push them to contribute.<br/><br/>There are many valid reasons why people aren’t candid with one another in a work environment. Your job is to search for those reasons and then address them.<br/><br/>Further, if there is fear in an organization, there is a reason for it—our job is (a) to find what’s causing it, (b) to understand it, and (c) to try to root it out.<br/><br/>There is nothing quite as effective, when it comes to shutting down alternative viewpoints, as being convinced you are right.<br/><br/>In general, people are hesitant to say things that might rock the boat. Braintrust meetings, dailies, postmortems, and Notes Day are all efforts to reinforce the idea that it is okay to express yourself. All are mechanisms of self-assessment that seek to uncover what’s real.<br/><br/>If there is more truth in the hallways than in meetings, you have a problem.<br/><br/>Careful “messaging” to downplay problems makes you appear to be lying, deluded, ignorant, or uncaring. Sharing problems is an act of inclusion that makes employees feel invested in the larger enterprise.<br/><br/>The first conclusions we draw from our successes and failures are typically wrong. Measuring the outcome without evaluating the process is deceiving.<br/><br/>Do not fall for the illusion that by preventing errors, you won’t have errors to fix. The truth is, the cost of preventing errors is often far greater than the cost of fixing them. <br/><br/>Change and uncertainty are part of life. Our job is not to resist them but to build the capability to recover when unexpected events occur. If you don’t always try to uncover what is unseen and understand its nature, you will be ill prepared to lead.<br/><br/>Similarly, it is not the manager’s job to prevent risks. It is the manager’s job to make it safe to take them.<br/><br/>Failure isn’t a necessary evil. In fact, it isn’t evil at all. It is a necessary consequence of doing something new.<br/><br/>Trust doesn’t mean that you trust that someone won’t screw up—it means you trust them even when they do screw up.<br/><br/>The people ultimately responsible for implementing a plan must be empowered to make decisions when things go wrong, even before getting approval. Finding and fixing problems is everybody’s job. Anyone should be able to stop the production line.<br/><br/>The desire for everything to run smoothly is a false goal—it leads to measuring people by the mistakes they make rather than by their ability to solve problems.<br/><br/>Don’t wait for things to be perfect before you share them with others. Show early and show often. It’ll be pretty when we get there, but it won’t be pretty along the way. And that’s as it should be.<br/><br/>Be wary of making too many rules. Rules can simplify life for managers, but they can be demeaning to the 95 percent who behave well. Don’t create rules to rein in the other 5 percent—address abuses of common sense individually. This is more work but ultimately healthier.<br/><br/>Imposing limits can encourage a creative response. Excellent work can emerge from uncomfortable or seemingly untenable circumstances.<br/><br/>Engaging with exceptionally hard problems forces us to think differently.<br/><br/>An organization, as a whole, is more conservative and resistant to change than the individuals who comprise it. Do not assume that general agreement will lead to change—it takes substantial energy to move a group, even when all are on board.<br/><br/>New crises are not always lamentable—they test and demonstrate a company’s values. The process of problem-solving often bonds people together and keeps the culture in the present. <br/><br/>Excellence, quality, and good should be earned words, attributed by others to us, not proclaimed by us about ourselves.<br/><br/>Do not accidentally make stability a goal. Balance is more important than stability.<br/><br/>Don’t confuse the process with the goal. Working on our processes to make them better, easier, and more efficient is an indispensable activity and something we should continually work on—but it is not the goal. Making the product great is the goal.<br/>"

"Listened to an audio version of this book. What a rollicking ride this book is! Thoroughly enjoyed. This book appeals to three core aspects of me:<br/><br/>1. A startup enthusiast building products with awesome teams - Many of us have brilliant and innovative ideas. But to get them executed and build it with a team is a different level challenge. Pixar guys have done it again and again. It worth paying attention to their wisdom in managing the team, building a culture to foster creativity, giving feedback with candour in brain trust meetings. <br/><br/>2. Thriving in complex systems: We all have a few mental models of work. When things are different from our perception and many of factors (more team members/stakeholders) come into play, one can easily lose the plot. Ed Catmull's stoical suggestion of embracing uncertainty and trusting the team while failing/experimenting is really refreshing to hear.<br/><br/>3. Steve Jobs fan: Ed Catmull has known Steve for 20 years and has seen the transformation of Steve from a brash-bullying-brilliant man to a sensitive-observant-thoughtful man. That alone is worth the money."