Book Review: Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull

Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull, former president and co-founder of Pixar Animation, is described as “a management tool to effectively build a creative culture for long-term success and sustainability,” and it skillfully succeeds. However, whether you want to lead the next Fortune 500 company or build your own entrepreneurial enterprise, Creativity, Inc. is also a page-turning inside scoop on anything you ever wanted to know about Pixar – from how Steve Jobs became involved to what worked and what didn’t – and everything in between.

Why are we reading this book?

Many of today’s writers concur that creativity is an essential skill in management, marketing and technology–that a sustainable creative culture is the foundation of a successful company. Catmull has an exceptional track record that authenticates being an authority on this topic with hits such as Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Up and WALL-E. The backstories of these films and other experiences substantiate his guidance for how to create and work in an environment that fosters creativity and problem solving.

Backstory:

Catmull’s 20-year dream to make the first feature film animated entirely on a computer came true in 1995 when Toy Story premiered. After several more film successes, Catmull was eager for a new challenge. He realized that many successful companies eventually made management mistakes like his neighbors Sun Microsystems and Silicon Graphics—both hugely successful technology companies, until they weren’t. Catmull’s new mission was to study these missteps and create a sound management philosophy to avoid costly errors at Pixar—the impetus of Creativity, Inc.

Challenge:

After the success of Toy Story, producing a sequel was an easy decision. However, the creation of Toy Story 2 was not so easy. The story went through multiple iterations, the directors didn’t gel and had to be replaced, deadline pressures mounted, and costly production mistakes were made. Catmull knew he had to figure out what was getting in the way and fix it starting with two widely-accepted beliefs that the “story Is king” and to just “trust the process.”

Solution:

Catmull learned that people are what make the story king—“Give a good idea to a mediocre team, they’ll screw it up. Give a mediocre idea to a brilliant team and they’ll either fix it or throw it out and come up with something better.“ Also, that “people are the ones to fix things; processes are just a tool.” For Catmull, true success is realized when people take responsibility for the process with exceptional self-discipline and goal-setting.

Summary:

There’s a story about Steve Jobs, an integral component of Pixar, that demonstrates this book’s essence. Jobs was an avid fan of wearing Levis 501s; however his jeans featured an additional pair of small holes near the outside bottom of each pant leg. Without saying a word, Jobs used the holes to insert two fingers and pull up his socks. Worth millions, Jobs was still creatively solving a simple problem. Likewise, Creativity, Inc. will help you creatively solve the unseen forces that stand in the way of true inspiration…and knock your socks off doing it.