Name: Creativity, Inc
ISBN: 9780307361172

Amy Wallace

Edwin E. Catmull

"Creativity, Inc. is a book for managers who want to lead their employees to new heights, a manual for anyone who strives for originality, and the first-ever, all-access trip into the nerve center of Pixar Animation--into the meetings, postmortems, and 'Braintrust' sessions where some of the most successful films in history are made. It is, at heart, a book about how to build a creative culture--but it is also, as Pixar co-founder and president Ed Catmull writes, 'an expression of the ideas that I believe make the best in us possible.'"--From publisher.

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

Creativity, Inc

Frank Enns

“You are not your idea, and if you identify too closely with your ideas, you will take offense when they are challenged.”

Cassandra Tang

The right question is: What cultural forces are getting in the way of creativity?

For all the care you put into artistry, visual polish frequently doesn’t matter if you are getting the story right.

You are not your idea, and if you identify too closely with your ideas, you will take offence when they are challenged.

But if every day is sunny and it doesn’t rain, things don’t grow. And if it’s sunny all the time—if, in fact, we don’t ever even have night—all kinds of things don’t happen and the planet dries up. The key is to view conflict as essential, because that’s how we know the best ideas will be tested and survive. You know, it can’t only be sunlight.

The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations. The new needs friends.

Craft is what we are expected to know; art is the unexpected use of our craft.

Limits force us to rethink how we are working and push us to new heights of creativity.

Creative people must accept that challenges never cease, failure can’t be avoided, and “vision” is often an illusion.

Unleashing creativity requires that we loosen the controls, accept risk, trust our colleagues, work to clear the path for them, and pay attention to anything that creates fear.

Inspiring read into Pixar's history and best practices behind their biggest films 

Finishing this book take a lot of time, I mean a lot. Reason behind is: I read it like a textbook which class was "How to be a creative and leader?" Ed has a lot of ideas and clarity about creating a safe and working environment. Definitely a must read for business owners and creatives! Loved it. Will revisit in time, hopefully. 

Umit Bulut

Creative, Inc is a remarkable book that intertwines the fascinating history of Pixar throughout its pages. The authors effortlessly weave in the story of the animation studio's early days, its growth, and its many successes. I particularly enjoyed the parts around Toy Story and how much they worked on the edge of failure. It was interesting to read about the creative process at Pixar and the company's unique approach to storytelling. The book is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of animation and the creative industry as a whole.

Brian Hinton

simple and straightforward information about how to handle a team and also the creativity process surrounding the history of the greatest animation studio. 

Vaishak Kaippanchery

Creativity, Inc. was a book I enjoyed reading. Somewhat long, but it couldn't have been much shorter if all the stories were expected to stay in. It tells the story of Pixar, but more than that, it's a management book that questions traditional management styles in favor of an open manner between the employer and employee. It talks about their workspaces and ethics and how they learned what worked and what didn't. It involves several stories of films they were working on and the problems and solutions that arose, including almost completely losing all of Toy Story 2. A fascinating read if you like business, leadership, and management books.

Daniel Bower

Pixar is a company synonymous with creativity, so it was enjoyable to read a book that did more than just recount the history of the company — don’t worry there is a loads of great stories too — but also tries to establish what practises had led to their success. 

You can read about many of Ed’s ideas in blog posts online, the brain trusts, post-mortems and dailies in particular have been dissected in quite a lot of detail. But it is worth reading about them first hand and understanding the context with which the ideas where created in.

There is also a moving afterword about Jobs and his impact on the business from people who knew him well. 

Julian Sotscheck

A perfect inspirational case for a company focused on excellence. It’s not only setting the example of what a company can look like, but shares what it takes to get there.  

Creativity, Inc Overcoming the Unseen Forces that Stand in the Way of True Inspiration