Creativity Inc. by Ed Catmull

Rating: 4/5

Summary:

When Ed Catmull, co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios, started his career he had one goal: Create films using computer-generated animation. Despite a multitude of challenges, Catmull worked tirelessly to advance the technology of computer animation and, eventually, co-founded Pixar to marry his love of animation with his expertise in computer technology.

Strengths:

Through the journey of Pixar’s creation, Catmull developed leadership strategies that fostered creativity in the workplace while ensuring that the company remained profitable and successful.

Weaknesses:

Catmull breaks down the most important factors in building and sustaining a creative culture. From removing fear from failure and protecting new ideas, Catmull explains the ways Pixar’s creative culture allowed it to grow into the animation behemoth it is today.

My Opinion:

This book is so disappointing. I had hoped it would take one behind the scenes of such storytelling genius as UP and TOY STORY. Instead, it's a bunch of platitudes which could be bullet pointed in a few pages, which indeed they are at the end. Most of it is common sense: Rigid pyramid structures in organisations are bad; everybody should feel free to contribute; and, get this, if you're planning to write a feature film, it's good to do some research.