Creativity, Inc. (The Expanded Edition): Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration

The co-founder and longtime president of Pixar updatesand expands his 2014New York Timesbestseller on creativeleadership, reflecting on the management principles that built Pixarssingularly successful culture, and on all he learned during the past nine yearsthat 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, producingsuch beloved films as theToy Storytrilogy,FindingNemo, The Incredibles, Up,andWALL-E,which havegone on to set box-office records and garner eighteen Academy Awards. Thejoyous storytelling, the inventive plots, the emotional authenticity: In someways, Pixar movies are an object lesson in what creativity really is. Here,Catmull reveals the ideals and techniques that have made Pixar so widelyadmiredand so profitable.

As a young man, Ed Catmull had a dream: to make the first computer-animatedmovie. He nurtured that dream as a Ph.D. student, and then forged a partnershipwith George Lucas that led, indirectly, to his founding Pixar with Steve Jobsand John Lasseter in 1986. Nine years later,Toy Storywasreleased, changing animation forever. The essential ingredient in that moviessuccessand in the twenty-five movies that followedwas the unique environmentthat Catmull and his colleagues built at Pixar, based on philosophies thatprotect the creative process and defy convention, such as:
Give a good idea to a mediocre team and they will screw it up. But give amediocre idea to a great team and they will either fix it or come up withsomething better.
Its not the managers job to prevent risks. Its the managers job to make itsafe for others to take them.
The cost of preventing errors is often far greater than the cost of fixingthem.
A companys communication structure should not mirror its organizationalstructure. Everybody should be able to talk to anybody.

Creativity, Inc.has been significantly expanded to illuminate thecontinuing development of the unique culture at Pixar. It features a newintroduction, two entirely new chapters, four new chapter postscripts, andchanges and updates throughout. Pursuing excellence isnt a one-off assignmentbut an ongoing, day-in, day-out, full-time job. AndCreativity, Inc.exploreshow it is done.