CREATIVITY, INC: Overcoming the Unseen Forces that Stand in the Way of True Inspiration

By Ed Catmull

It's not easy to build a creative culture and sustain it through growth, change, and success. In this book, Ed Catmull, co-founder and President of Pixar Animation and Disney Animation, shares the real story of what happened behind the scenes at both companies, including the mistakes, struggles, and mechanisms that made sustained creativity possible.

In this summary, you'll learn:

• Pixar's 20-year journey from birth to its first animated film, and the key milestones that shaped its creative identity.
• The ingredients required for creativity, and why they're hard to achieve in practice: persistence despite uncertainty, candor, tolerance for failure, and the willingness to challenge your own blind spots and mental models.
• How to build a creative culture using mechanisms like Braintrust meetings, dailies, research trips, creative experimentation, and company-wide problem-solving.
• Other practical tips for staying motivated through change.

Who should read this:

• Leaders and managers who want practical mechanisms for building teams that embrace candor, failure, and experimentation.
• Creative directors, producers, and innovation leads who need to sustain a culture of constructive feedback and continuous learning.