Title: Creativity, Inc.

Recommendation: 8.6/10

Summary:

University of Utah graduate Ed Catmull, heralded as the “father of computer graphics”, shares the first-hand account of Pixar’s development, growth, and journey to success. From working closely with Steve Jobs, who was a major stakeholder and owner of Pixar for many years, to the numerous pivots they had to make to be successful, selling to their competitor Disney, this is a delightful blend of sound business principles and stories.

Highlights:

What makes Pixar special?

Acknowledging we will always have problems, many hidden from view. We work hard to uncover problems even if doing so makes us uncomfortable. When these problems are identified we marshal all our energy to solve it.

Be wary of non-advice; for example “focus, focus, focus” doesn’t tell you what to focus on or how to determine what to focus on. Or, “trust the process”, which often means “assume that the process will fix things for us.”

The best way to predict the future is to create it.

Craft is what we are expected to know, art is the unexpected use of our craft.

Getting the team right is a necessary precursor to getting the idea right.

Trust doesn’t mean you trust someone won’t screw up, it means you trust them even when they do screw up.

Photo by laura adai on Unsplash.