Sunday, February 15, 2015

Creativity Inc. -- A great book

Read this book. Ed Catmull does a great job describing the creation of a culture that supports creative endeavors at Pixar Animation Studios. Their approach centers on removing impediments to trying new things. These include acknowledging that we don’t know everything (and making it OK to admit that so we can learn new things), loosening controls but setting limits, trusting people, accepting risk, and removing items that create fear (of being wrong) in the environment.

One quote: "If you aren’t experiencing failure, then you are making a far worse mistake: You are being driven by the desire to avoid it.”* I’ve read about these ideas in  other books, notably the great “Adapt” by Tim Harford, but I really enjoyed this book as it tied things together in a great narrative that I could identify with. While the book is not a how-to, there's enough practical information and anecdotes that you can really put some of these ideas into practice. I really enjoyed it.

* Catmull, Ed; Wallace, Amy (2014-04-08). Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration (Kindle Locations 1730-1731). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

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