Creativity Inc
May 2019
Creativity Inc
Catmull, Ed, Wallace, Amy. Creativity, Inc. Random House Canada, 2014.
Is it possible to create a formula for creative success? If any one company has done it, it is Pixar Animation under the leadership of Ed Catmull and John Lassiter. Not only are they continually pioneering innovative animation technology, they also consistently create powerful and well crafted stories that make audiences laugh, cry and come to a greater understanding of humanity. If Pixar had only created one hit film it would be easy to overlook their business model, but Pixar consistently stands out in the Box office, and even their weaker films will not be called bad by critics or audiences. Creativity, Inc. is the story of what makes Pixar stand out, told by the man who has been there from the very beginning.
After telling the rocky origin story of Pixar Animation Catmull goes on to talk about what he believes has lead to the companies success and what they had to do when faced with failures. His strategies revolve around an absolute dedication to excellence in storytelling, the importance of trusting his people and creating an environment of collaboration and experimentation, and constantly being able to pivot and to never become “too big”
Their dedication to excellent storytelling drove them to create the first ever animated short by applying their breakthroughs in technology to a simple story, and to completely rewrite Toy Story 2 even after Disney executives said it was “perfectly fine for a sequel. Because Catmull trusts his people, Pixar has something called the “brain trust” which is a group of decidedly honest directors who constantly tear each storyboard to shreds several times, and a company that is known for Battle of the Bands and pottery classes as much as it is for excellent animation. When Pixar realized it was spending too much money per film, Catmull knew that a pivot would be necessary for future projects, so he created a “notes day” where every single employee at Pixar was able to give advice for what changes might make the most impact.
Just these few small examples show what a strange and beautiful machine Pixar is, and to me they also show the humility of Catmull, both in his writing and leadership of the company. He thought that the advice he had to offer from Pixar’s successes and mistakes was what would educate people on how to run creative businesses, but I was much more struck by the man himself than by the methods he developed. The reality of this book is that Catmull never once gives himself praise for his work at Pixar - he speaks in glowing appreciation for John Lassiter and for Steve Jobs, but does not speak of his own role very often. It is also completely clear that Catmull loves the people that he works with. This humility and desire to see people flourish is what makes the Pixar business strategy work, not every president of a company could be so bold in their ability to let other people advance past them, but that is exactly what Catmull did again and again.
This book was an inspiration and I know I will be returning to it again to continue to learn from Pixar Animation and from its humble leader, Ed Catmull.