Creativity, Inc.

Outline

Creativity, Inc. (2014) shares the lessons behind Pixar’s long record of creative success. Ed Catmull, the studio’s co-founder, explains how Pixar built a culture of honest feedback, including its Braintrust meetings, and how leaders can protect new ideas, learn from failure, and remove the hidden barriers that stop people from doing their best work. The book offers practical insights for anyone who manages creative people.

• Pixar's long record of creative success rests on a culture of honest feedback, not on talent alone.
• The Braintrust meetings are one way Pixar gives its filmmakers candid input on their work.
• Leaders can protect new ideas so they have room to grow before they are judged.
• Failure is something to learn from, and teams grow stronger when they treat it that way.
• Hidden barriers often stop people from doing their best work, and a good manager's job is to remove them.

Ed Catmull with Amy Wallace combine the story of a creative pioneer with experienced storytelling. Catmull is an American computer scientist who co-founded Pixar Animation Studios and led both Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios, and he received the Turing Award for his contributions to computer graphics. Wallace is an American journalist and magazine writer.