Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull, the story of how Pixar are managed, has been sat on my to-read pile for a while. Finally got round to reading it recently.
I remember it getting feted when it came out, but I was a bit underwhelmed by it. It's a very readable book, and I pretty much agree with all of the advice in it; I just didn't feel like I learnt all that much. Maybe it's because I've already got a similar approach to management, or maybe I just left the overly-restrictive corporate world decades ago.
Maybe it's more useful for new managers or those stifled by process in larger, more boring organisations.
Page 75
Ideas come from people. Therefore, people are more important than ideas.
Page 76
You needed to show your people that you meant it when you said that while efficiency was a goal, quality was the goal. More and more, I saw that by putting people first—not just saying that we did, but proving that we did by the actions we took—we were protecting that culture.
Page 92
That does not mean there is no hierarchy here. It means that we try to create an environment where people want to hear each other's notes, even when those notes are challenging, and where everyone has a vested interest in one another's success. We give our filmmakers both freedom and responsibility.
Page 93
The second difference is that the Braintrust has no authority. This is crucial: The director does not have to follow any of the specific suggestions given. After a Braintrust meeting, it is up to him or her to figure out how to address the feedback. Braintrust meetings are not top-down, do-this-or-else affairs. By removing from the Braintrust the power to mandate solutions, we affect the dynamics of the group in ways I believe are essential.
Page 134
Making the process better, easier, and cheaper is an important aspiration, something we continually work on—but it is not the goal. Making something great is the goal.
Page 141
Negative feedback may be fun, but it is far less brave than endorsing something unproven and providing room for it to grow.
Page 213
I want to add an important side note: that artists have learned to employ these ways of seeing does not mean they don't also see what we see. They do. They just see more because they've learned how to turn off their minds' tendency to jump to conclusions. They've added some observational skills to their toolboxes. (This is why it's so frustrating that funding for arts programs in schools has been decimated. And those cuts stem from a fundamental misconception that art classes are about learning to draw. In face, they are about learning to see.)
Page 223
In my experience, creative people discover and realize their visions over time and through dedicated, protracted struggle. In that way, creativity is more like a marathon than a sprint.