Genius Corporation (Creativity, Inc)

I’ve spent the last couple of days studying creativity, innovation, and marketing as part of an MBA, and so I decided to think of this Ed Catmull co-founder and former president of Pixar Animation, who also got the chance to become a member of the MBA. 2019 ACM Turing Award for Computer Graphics. In his book, he tells the story of Pixar and raises some very interesting questions about creating and sustaining a culture that encourages creativity.

The book begins with the introduction explaining his lifelong journey and how and why Pixar came to be, and towards the end of the introduction, the author says that “the main message of this book is that the path to creativity is fraught with many obstacles, and several active steps should be taken to protect the creative process.” Further, the author, in four parts and the afterword dedicated to Steve Jobs, talks about what steps help Pixar to live up to the proud title of the king:) At the end of the book, 5 Pages with principles titled “How to Start.” These pages contain a squeezing of the author’s ideas and you can use this list for in-depth reflection on how to do the same in your company:)

Here are a few quotes from there: Give a good idea to a mediocre team and they'll ruin it. Give a mediocre idea to a great team and they will either improve it or drop it and offer something different. When hiring people, pay more attention to their growth potential than to their skill level. Always try to hire people who are smarter than you are. ...

• Don't try. (casually) Make stability their goal. Balance is more important than stability. “Do not confuse process with purpose. Working to make processes better, easier and more efficient is a must-have and ongoing activity, but it is not a goal in itself. The real goal is to make the product great.

#Creativity #Innovation #Management #Leadership