INNOVATE THE PIXAR WAY INTERVIEW

Corporate Strategist and Author Talks About How Pixar Innovates and How IT Can Benefit From It

by Elizabeth Ferrarini, July 31, 2010

EDITED VERSION

Buzz. Wall-E. Up. Walt Disney's Pixar is synonymous with animated films, which display creativity, magical stories, and unforgettable characters. Behind the fun of making these films, Pixar has a set of deeply rooted values that champion excellence, tap innovation, and encourage collaboration. Bill Capodagli, the co-author of Innovate the Pixar Way: Business Lessons from the World's Most Creative Corporate Playground, and co-founder of Capodagli Jackson Consulting, says, "These are just the starting points for pushing your own team or organization to unleash a Pixar-style creativity, innovation, and brilliance." From its humble beginnings in the 1990s, Pixar modeled its culture after Walt Disney's legendary studio of the 1930s. In fact, Capodagli has written one of the most authoritative books about Disney called The Disney Way. In deconstructing Pixar's success, Capodagli provides readers with a proven example of how an organization can cultivate innovative talent across all levels of employees and background.

Enterpriseleadership.org sat down with Capodagli to learn more about what fuels innovation at Pixar and how Capodagli's consulting practice applied similar techniques to technology-based organizations. Here is what he had to say:

EL. Why did you decide to write this book?

BC. I have been studying the Disney culture more about 30 years. I continue to speak on keynotes about Walt Disney's success. Pixar first came onto our radar screen in 1995 when we were in the midst of writing The Disney Way. We watched this rather obscure boutique organization arise from being a subcontractor to Disney to replacing Disney animation in the late 1990s. Disney acquired Pixar in 2006 for a cool $7.4 billion. The Pixar president (Ed Catmull), the chief creative officer (John Lasseter), and retired co-founder (Alvy Ray Smith) all admired and emulated Disney's creative genius. Pixar honors the legacy of Walt Disney by refusing to take short cuts and bringing the story to life in each of their movies. They live by the simple formula -quality is the best business plan.

EL. What was your first-hand experience dealing with the Pixar folks?

BC. During the research of our book, Pixar was all consumed with the launch of UP, which ultimately won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film. We were fortunate to have one of the Pixar cofounders grant as much time as we needed to understand the inner workings of Pixar, especially how the organization was born in the spirit of collaboration and trust. We talked with other Pixar employees as their time allowed. They shared with us some wonderful stories about the collaboration and this childlike playground Pixar has created.

EL. Can you describe some of the methods Pixar uses to innovation?

BC. The Pixar cofounders pioneered computer graphics technology back in 1974. The 1984 hiring of John Lassiter helped to bring all of the pieces together. Pixar's innovation brings technology and art together. John was an animator and the cofounders were these computer graphics technocrats. Walt Disney said when art and technology come together, magic happens. That is really Pixar's secret and that is how it works today. Everyone at Pixar works in a collaborative environment. The technical people and animators work hand in hand.

EL. If I want to make my organization more innovative, what things can I take from the Pixar innovation model?

BC. The culture of collaboration is the missing key in most organizations. At Pixar, everything revolves around the storyboarding which Walt Disney created. In the traditional sense, it involves pinning up the story on a board and then starting to put the story together in that conceptual phase. Everyone contributes to the story during daily meetings. In most film companies, the executive producers, directors, and some of the executives preside over the daily meeting. Everyone participates in the daily meetings at Pixar. An open discussion takes place about how they can make what they are doing better.

The brain trust is another interesting concept. Pixar has a brain trust that convenes whenever a film project requires input from trusted fellow employees. The film project review process includes a group of eight directors - the brain trust - and any others they would like to invite to the meeting. During the meeting, a director presents segments of a film and engages the brain trust in a lively two-hour discussion about how they can improve it. The key to the brain trust is that there are no mandatory notes and no mandatory action. The brain trust has absolutely no authority. The director and his or her team make the changes as they see fit.

EL. Does Pixar normally have many people seeking them out for their innovation methods?

BC. I am sure they have many people seeking them out, but they are like a closed set. They are not like Disneyland or Walt Disney World where you can visit and observe the innovation, creativity, and the customer service. They do not welcome people in to observe the process. I have known many companies that tried to open Pixar's door.

EL. How does Pixar reward employees for outstanding innovations? Do they have a specific rewards system?

BC. We asked the cofounder about that. The biggest reward system these people have is that they can publish their findings and their methods in technical journals and speak at technical conferences. Technical people value this more than monetary rewards.

EL. What is the Pixar education program about?

BC. Pixar modeled its education program after Walt Disney's eight-page, 1938 memo to Don Graham. Don was an art educator in the Los Angeles area. Walt wanted his animators to, not only be technically competent in drawing, but he wanted them to be creative when they got into the story. This memo outlined ways of providing education in music and comedy and storylines as such. President Ed Catmull had a copy of this memo and decided this was a good model for providing an education program for everyone in the organization. As a result, everyone at Pixar can take up to four hours of educational courses on company time at Pixar University. They offer more than 110 courses. As a janitor, you could attend PU and take enough courses to obtain the equivalent of a BS in filmmaking.

EL. Can you provide an overview of your management consulting business?

BC. I have spent most of my professional career in management consulting. In the 1980s, clients began asking us to benchmark the best-of-the-best companies. Disney would always appear at the top of the list not only in customer service, but also in areas of training, turnover, and even in production. Disney has the fifth largest laundry in the world. I have taken many clients behind the scenes to benchmark Disney. Over the years, we interviewed thousands of Disney cast members. Back then, we began using Disney as a model for our consulting practice. In 1998, when we wrote The Disney Way, our business was 90 percent consulting and about 10 percent public speaking and seminars. Since The Disney Way's success, I have spent most of my time delivering keynotes in various countries.

EL. Where does the innovation initiative reside in many of your client companies?

BC. Our main thrust is to help our clients develop a culture of innovation. That means having a culture where you unleash the abilities of everyone in an organization. Walt Disney (and the cofounders of Pixar) believed that innovation comes from everyone in the organization. Simply because one person has the idea for a film does not mean that that person is the only innovative genius. Rest assured that innovative ideas from everyone on the team go into making a Pixar film. Pixar promotes and encourages this mentality that good ideas come from anywhere in the organization. We have organizations tell us that they cannot afford to have the Pixar-type innovators. This is NOT the case. Everyone in an organization has the potential to be an innovator! Not everyone can come up with the next Harry Potter novel or a flat screen TV. But, anyone can be innovative when it comes to the most cost-effective ways to serve their customers!

EL. Does that include IT? Is IT a different animal from everyone else?

BC. I do not think so. Pixar has taught us that the technocrats and the animators need to work in concert. Everyone is on a level playing field. In many technical organizations, engineers and IT people reign suprime. The production people and support staff feel like second-class citizens. In other organizations, the marketing people might have that same perception.

Sure, you can train people on techniques like storyboarding or improvisation that helps stimulate those creative juices. However, we found that many ideas, especially in large corporations, come from the front-line people who are trying things out and saying, 'Gee, this seems to work better than what is coming from corporate. You need to unleash that capability and have a culture that nurtures that.

EL. Are you saying that storyboarding can apply to other things besides filmmaking? Have you ever applied it to IT people?

BC. Yes. I have storyboarded with many IT groups. One large IT group wanted to install a large computer system in many locations throughout a foreign country. We brought a group of 30 IT professionals from all over the world to at hotel for a week. We started the storyboarding process by throwing ideas out to the group.

To prioritize things, we asked, 'What are the first things we have to do (on the proejct)? What are the plans? How can we put it together to carry out a materials management system throughout this large organization?' The group members put their ideas on cards, and then we posted the cards on the wall. It was not about one person's idea. The facilitator read all the cards after we presented the problem, and we all engaged in a discussion around that problem. At the end of a week, we had this gigantic ballroom filled with cards, plans, and ideas that would have taken months to put together the comprehensive plan that emerged from this.

EL. Can you tell me more about what came out of that storyboarding?

BC. They started working on the implementation. They would meet quarterly and refine the plan-such as what barriers kept recurring. They would react according. What would normally take three years to four years to carry out took 18 months.

EL. Can you talk about another technology project you worked on?

BC. At Whirlpool Corporation, we worked with the Global No-Frost team. It was very similar to the overseas IT team. The Whirlpool team had the task of designing a brand new no-frost refrigerator along with a factory that could produce products anywhere in the world. Normally, individuals from marketing, purchasing, technology, and such would meet and say, 'You go do this and you go do that.' After a week, they would go off in their own corners of the world. Every six months, they would get together and start putting the pieces together. This process would take about four years.

But, this international team had a 20-month time period to get this project off the ground. Instead of doing it the traditional way, we worked with this team throughout their 20 months together. They brought in individuals from numerous countries. They had full-time representation in Indiana. Before they even began the project, we got together for an entire week of team building and planning. We did things similar to the IT team's activities. We placed strips of tape on the walls for the storyboarding process. The group created storyboard cards and we asked questions such as, 'Now for January, what are all of the things we need to accomplish?'

This team came together with the common goal of getting this mammoth project done in record time. The barriers within the organization were broken down. When we had the entire plan displayed, we asked everyone, 'What are the things YOU need to be involved in to make our goal of getting the plans for the factory and the no-frost refrigerator done on time?' We found that technicians were willing to take on engineering tasks and purchasing people were saying, 'I could help with marketing.' Everyone looked at accomplishing the overall goal rather than trying to work in his or her own silo. We had great results. Despite a cut in the product cost halfway through the project, the team still met all the milestones and deadlines.