Creativity, Inc. (The Expanded Edition)

Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration

By: Ed Catmull, Amy Wallace - contributor

Narrated by: Ed Catmull

The co-founder and longtime president of Pixar updates and expands his 2014 New York Times bestseller on creative leadership, reflecting on the management principles that built Pixar’s singularly successful culture, and on all he learned during the past nine years that allowed Pixar to retain its creative culture while continuing to evolve.

“Might be the most thoughtful management book ever.”—Fast Company

For nearly thirty years, Pixar has dominated the world of animation, producing such beloved films as the Toy Story trilogy, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Up, and WALL-E, which have gone on to set box-office records and garner eighteen Academy Awards. The joyous storytelling, the inventive plots, the emotional authenticity: In some ways, Pixar movies are an object lesson in what creativity really is. Here, Catmull reveals the ideals and techniques that have made Pixar so widely admired—and so profitable.

As a young man, Ed Catmull had a dream: to make the first computer-animated movie. He nurtured that dream as a Ph.D. student, and then forged a partnership with George Lucas that led, indirectly, to his founding Pixar with Steve Jobs and John Lasseter in 1986. Nine years later, Toy Story was released, changing animation forever. The essential ingredient in that movie’s success—and in the twenty-five movies that followed—was the unique environment that Catmull and his colleagues built at Pixar, based on philosophies that protect the creative process and defy convention, such as:
• Give a good idea to a mediocre team and they will screw it up. But give a mediocre idea to a great team and they will either fix it or come up with something better.
• It’s not the manager’s job to prevent risks. It’s the manager’s job to make it safe for others to take them.
• The cost of preventing errors is often far greater than the cost of fixing them.
• A company’s communication structure should not mirror its organizational structure. Everybody should be able to talk to anybody.

Creativity, Inc. has been significantly expanded to illuminate the continuing development of the unique culture at Pixar. It features a new introduction, two entirely new chapters, four new chapter postscripts, and changes and updates throughout. Pursuing excellence isn’t a one-off assignment but an ongoing, day-in, day-out, full-time job. And Creativity, Inc. explores how it is done.

©2014 Ed Catmull (P)2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“The most practical and deep book ever written by a practitioner on the topic of innovation.”—Prof. Gary P. Pisano, Harvard Business School

“In Creativity, Inc. Ed reveals, with commonsense specificity and honesty, examples of how not to get in your own way and how to realize a creative coalescence of art, business, and innovation.”—George Lucas

“Business gurus love to tell stories about Pixar, but this is our first chance to hear the real story from someone who lived it and led it. Everyone interested in managing innovation—or just good managing—needs to read this book.”—Chip Heath, co-author of Switch and Decisive

Best book on creativity or business

One of the best books on creativity or business I’ve ever found. Every chapter was full of practical insights and captivating stories/examples. It’s evident that Ed’s wisdom, which often challenges conventional workplace culture, has been deeply informed by experience and ego-free reflection. I’m so glad that he narrates this new edition!

Great insights

Such valuable and practical insights on nurturing a culture of creative risk taking and fostering innovation while still “feeding the beast”

nostalgic and creative

The storytelling on the pages of this book illustrated the Pixar story and the journey of so many great people responsible for bringing to life some of the best movies of my childhood. As an adult and professional it illuminated the creative and innovative process in a way that compels me to consider my approach to my work. I laughed, I cried, I was taken back to good days and even challenges. Great read.

Listening to uncover unseen forces

Ed writes about unseen destructive forces and the need to listen to and attend to the context, environment, and people around you to uncover those problems. He also shares his own confrontation with achieving a dream (not unlike how Joe encounters his in the movie Soul). He makes excellent points about trusting others not only in the absence of problems, balance as a dynamic process, driving out fear, and the interconnectedness of creativity. I loved his references to Edward Deming and quality. I enjoyed learning how brain trust meetings focus on uncovering issues and placing responsibility on one person. At first, the first three parts compelled me, and then I lost my enthusiasm in “Testing what we know”, but I always felt that Ed was trying to extract the most meaning from his experience in every sentence for our benefit. Thank you for sharing this wisdom and making great movies.

Wow!

Every company should be able to take a piece of this and apply it to the everyday workspace.

Mandatory reading.

This is an excellent leadership guide for team-building and piecing together parts of the whole. Essential for entrepreneurs and anyone tasked with dream-building.

Ode to culture of creativity

Pixar reinvented animation through transformative technology but even more through a recommitment to the art of story telling.

Author Edwin Catmull was a new name to me but he was there through it all.

I've heard the story of Pixar through the vantage point of Steve Jobs the entrepreneur and product leaders and John Lasseter the director and story teller but Catmull gives us a relatable vantage point to understand what made Pixar so great.

Some of the principles, lessons, and commitments that Catmull and the team at Pixar committed to can be widely applied.

1. Commit to the truth and candor
2. Hire for potential not current skill
3. Make it safe to take risks.
4. Make it safe for the lowest status people in the room.
5. Great people are more crucial than great ideas.

worth reading.

A MUST READ

I will definitely be listening again- probably multiple times. A wonderful/ honest insight on the making of such a magical company.

I can see why this is so highly rated

This is the kind of book that can be read once a year as a refresher on how to lead an engaged and motivated team that performs to its utmost potential. The notes in the final chapter are a brilliant summary (definitely write them down). Those who liked this would also like No Rules Rules by Reed Hastings.

Amazing insight into Pixar

First time listener (reader) of this book, but glad I did with the expanded edition. Ed Catmull gives great advice for people to be leaders when they aren’t the Steve Job type of person. Will try and take some of these lesson in my career.