Written by long time Pixar leader Ed Catmull, Creativity Inc. chronicles the rise and evolution of the animated film studio from inception to industry leader. The central question the authors explore is how to maintain creativity and inspiration through unending and constantly shifting obstacles. Let’s dive into some key takeaways.

1. Clearly define your north star. Pixar placed story above all else and believed that if they developed a great story, the other pieces could then fall into place for a successful film. It’s not to say that detailed animation, other production work, marketing and promotion, or other areas weren’t essential to the commercial success of a film. Rather, none of those areas could salvage a film if there wasn’t a story that resonated with audiences underlying it all.

From a product development perspective, there are a couple of layers related to this topic. First, companies have a defined mission and vision, which serves as an organizational north star. Product leaders and their teams should consistently evaluate and prioritize the broader problem and potential feature set based on the most efficient path to realizing that vision.  

In the context of a specific feature, PM’s should narrowly define the problem they are solving and how they will evaluate whether the feature is successful. This allows for a highly focused approach to determining the scope of the feature.

2. Develop a consistent process. Pixar developed its storylines in an interactive fashion over several months. The director would present a low fidelity reel to “the brain trust,” a group of experienced storytellers and leaders, who would then provide candid feedback which the director could incorporate into the next version. This process would repeat until the director and the brain trust felt confident about moving into full-scale production.

Creative outlets, which includes developing new products, can benefit from some consistent process, as demonstrated by Pixar. However, those processes should tend to be more adaptable and flexible rather than rigid. From an operations perspective, I have seen that a very rigid process tends to limit creativity. Loose structure can facilitate progress without snuffing out that creative spirit. 

I was curious how well the “brain trust” approach could scale over time. After Pixar was acquired by Disney, the Pixar leadership also led Disney animation and instituted a similar process there. However, because the Disney participants in those sessions were very different in terms of personality and background, the review meetings and the overall process had a distinct look and feel and evolved according to the challenges they saw directly. This distinct version of the brain trust approach was also successful, as Disney animation developed a series of popular films, which demonstrated the importance of adapting processes to the people and the problems at hand.

3. Empower employees. Pixar leadership sought directors that would take full ownership of the stories that they were telling. The stories would be much more genuine that way, which audiences can feel. All feedback and notes provided were therefore optional, although it took alignment on storyline to move into full production. Beyond directors, Pixar wanted employees to feel they could identify problems and go ahead and solve them without leadership approval or intervention. Empowered employees proactively resolved a wide range of issues without leadership intervention, which was a massive help in keeping films on time and on budget.

In a previous article (linked here), I touched on the importance of empowered product teams having some level of autonomy to pursue established business outcomes as they see fit. While I believe this approach will generally lead to better customer and business outcomes, as those teams are closer to the customer problem than leadership in most cases, there is another important benefit to note. Empowered employees are often much more fulfilled. They know they have the power to initiate change, and they can see their direct impact when doing so. Employees appreciate this opportunity and responsibility and the trust demonstrated by leadership in them. There are major organizational and individual-level benefits to an empowered employee culture.     

4. Institute limits. Pixar teams were forced to work under very tight deadlines with limited budgets and production crews, which had its benefits and drawbacks. On the downside, the teams sometimes worked long hours and endured periods of high stress. But, there were some clear upsides. The limited resources forced the teams to narrow their focus. Animators couldn’t spend long hours on small details to make them perfect if those details were ancillary to the overall story. New technologies and methodologies came out of solving problems in a resource-constrained environment that could then be utilized on subsequent films. 

In all start-ups and most product development environments, there will be significant resource constraints. This forces laser focus and clear prioritization. Constraints can also force small teams to create with greater urgency and with greater impact than they may have believed possible, including developing innovative, new approaches. And, in such an environment, the level of ownership and pride is often sky high. Constraints are often highly useful as long as empathy is not lost along the way.

Note: I did not receive any compensation to publish the above commentary on topics covered by the book.