Creativity, Inc. (The Expanded Edition)

Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration

By: Ed Catmull, Amy Wallace - contributor

Narrated by: Ed Catmull

The co-founder and longtime president of Pixar updates and expands his 2014 New York Times bestseller on creative leadership, reflecting on the management principles that built Pixar’s singularly successful culture, and on all he learned during the past nine years that 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, producing such beloved films as the Toy Story trilogy, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Up, and WALL-E, which have gone on to set box-office records and garner eighteen Academy Awards. The joyous storytelling, the inventive plots, the emotional authenticity: In some ways, Pixar movies are an object lesson in what creativity really is. Here, Catmull reveals the ideals and techniques that have made Pixar so widely admired—and so profitable.

As a young man, Ed Catmull had a dream: to make the first computer-animated movie. He nurtured that dream as a Ph.D. student, and then forged a partnership with George Lucas that led, indirectly, to his founding Pixar with Steve Jobs and John Lasseter in 1986. Nine years later, Toy Story was released, changing animation forever. The essential ingredient in that movie’s success—and in the twenty-five movies that followed—was the unique environment that Catmull and his colleagues built at Pixar, based on philosophies that protect the creative process and defy convention, such as:
• Give a good idea to a mediocre team and they will screw it up. But give a mediocre idea to a great team and they will either fix it or come up with something better.
• It’s not the manager’s job to prevent risks. It’s the manager’s job to make it safe for others to take them.
• The cost of preventing errors is often far greater than the cost of fixing them.
• A company’s communication structure should not mirror its organizational structure. Everybody should be able to talk to anybody.

Creativity, Inc. has been significantly expanded to illuminate the continuing development of the unique culture at Pixar. It features a new introduction, two entirely new chapters, four new chapter postscripts, and changes and updates throughout. Pursuing excellence isn’t a one-off assignment but an ongoing, day-in, day-out, full-time job. And Creativity, Inc. explores how it is done.

©2014 Ed Catmull (P)2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“The most practical and deep book ever written by a practitioner on the topic of innovation.”—Prof. Gary P. Pisano, Harvard Business School

“In Creativity, Inc. Ed reveals, with commonsense specificity and honesty, examples of how not to get in your own way and how to realize a creative coalescence of art, business, and innovation.”—George Lucas

“Business gurus love to tell stories about Pixar, but this is our first chance to hear the real story from someone who lived it and led it. Everyone interested in managing innovation—or just good managing—needs to read this book.”—Chip Heath, co-author of Switch and Decisive

Best book on creativity or business

One of the best books on creativity or business I’ve ever found. Every chapter was full of practical insights and captivating stories/examples. It’s evident that Ed’s wisdom, which often challenges conventional workplace culture, has been deeply informed by experience and ego-free reflection. I’m so glad that he narrates this new edition!

Wow!

Every company should be able to take a piece of this and apply it to the everyday workspace.

Mandatory reading.

This is an excellent leadership guide for team-building and piecing together parts of the whole. Essential for entrepreneurs and anyone tasked with dream-building.

Listening to uncover unseen forces

Ed writes about unseen destructive forces and the need to listen to and attend to the context, environment, and people around you to uncover those problems. He also shares his own confrontation with achieving a dream (not unlike how Joe encounters his in the movie Soul). He makes excellent points about trusting others not only in the absence of problems, balance as a dynamic process, driving out fear, and the interconnectedness of creativity. I loved his references to Edward Deming and quality. I enjoyed learning how brain trust meetings focus on uncovering issues and placing responsibility on one person. At first, the first three parts compelled me, and then I lost my enthusiasm in “Testing what we know”, but I always felt that Ed was trying to extract the most meaning from his experience in every sentence for our benefit. Thank you for sharing this wisdom and making great movies.

Loved it

This book was really interesting and inspiring to me. My professor recommended this book to me

Pixar Culture

Ed Catmull's book, "Creativity, Inc.", is an insightful description of how how every business culture should.be nurtured. I really enjoyed it!

Phenomenal

If you’re leading a creative team, this is an absolute MUST-listen. Too many golden nuggets to share here, but you’ll have PAGES of notes after consuming this one.

All leaders must read!

I have never bookmarked an audiobook so frequently. There are numerous lessons that are offered through this compelling and inspiring look at leadership. Ed brilliantly shares his story and the story of Pixar with humility and confidence. He does not shy away from the mistakes that were made and highlights the learning that was hard earned through each misstep. I wish there were more leaders like Ed in this world.

An essential read/listen for all leaders and leaders in training.

Told from the perspective of one of the greatest film production companies, this book is an essential read/listen for all leaders growing and fostering dynamic and diverse teams of highly skilled individuals. I work in higher education fundraising where many of Ed’s lessons and advice are absolutely applicable.

Just About Brilliant

Really fascinating look into the history and driving ethos of one of the most innovative film production companies into history, and one which I've already begin proselyting about with everyone I can. The only letdown is the two hour segment on DEI which history will probably roll its eyes at eventually. Brilliant, otherwise.