What Each of Us Can Learn from Pixar Animation Studios by Bob Morris, Dallas Business commentary; Examiner.com

All great organizations have their own “way” of doing what they do and how they do it. That is certainly true of Pixar Animation Studios, co-founded in 1984 by Ed Catmull and Alvy Ray Smith. While leading the computer graphics division at Lucasfilm, they hired John Lasseter whose personal credo was and remains “heart, inventiveness, and inspiration.” He once observed, “Quality is the best business model of all.”

Bill Capodaglio and Lynn Jackson co-authored Innovate the Pixar Way: Business Lessons from the World’s Most Creative Playground. They explain how the talents, experiences, values, and (especially) the visions of these three geniuses – Catmull, Smith, and Lasseter – co-created an organization that continues to produce animated feature films of unsurpassed quality. The first film, Luxo Jr., was a computer-generated animated (CGI) film lasting about two minutes (1986).

The series of feature-length animated films began with Toy Story (1995), followed by A Bug’s Life (1998), Toy Story 2 (1999), Monsters, Inc. (2001), Finding Nemo (2003), The Incredibles (2004), Cars (2006), Ratatouille (2007), WALL-E (2008), Up (2009), and Toy Story 3 (2010). All CGI films were released under the Walt Disney Pictures banner. Many of the “business lessons” to which the book’s subtitle refers are provided in a series of “Chalkboard” summaries at the conclusion of chapters.

In my opinion, these are “business lessons” that will be most helpful to most people:

• Develop an open, inquiring mind

• Frame communications in the form of a story with setting, characters, plot, issues, crises, etc.

• Think long-term and the Big Picture in mind at all times

• But also nail the fundamentals

• Take as much time as necessary (but no more) to do what must be done as well as it can be done

• Help create and then sustain a workplace culture within which imagination is stimulated, prudent risks are encouraged, and visions are nourished (i.e. a "playground")

• Develop reasoning skills that absorb, digest, integrate, and synthesize different perspectives

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out David A. Price’s The Pixar Touch: The Making of a Company and Karen Paik’s To Infinity and Beyond! The Story of Pixar Animation Studios.

Innovate the Pixar Way cited in The Leaping Lamp Blog, A Place for Pixar Fans

This Pixar book is how to bring success to your own business or corporate culture using the secrets Pixar has in its culture. I've personally not yet read this Pixar book, but it looks quite interesting.

I worked in an environment similar to what Bill Capodagli describes in the late 90s during the dot-com boom, in a playful, swank office building. It WAS fun working there and there was a "coolness" factor being employed there. So I get it, I understand that the author is aiming for those in the higher-ups in corporate roles to change the culture of their companies.

If business strategy is more your thing, then this might be the book you're looking for. There's a great book review on the author's blog and on the Amazon page, there's a four-minute video promo with Capodagli you should find interesting.

INC.COM Blog References Innovate the Pixar Way

Question: How do you draw the line between morale boosting and time wasting?  There are close to 200 of us now, and we are having a birthday party almost every other day.  It was fun when it started with just 17 of us, but now it is getting a bit too much.  I don’t know how to tone it down though, without hurting someone’s feelings.  Have any ideas?

Blogger Answer:  The helping of others is just one of the many morale boosters and is so subconscious that your 200 employees may not even realize it’s happening.  A great resource for learning how to create a work environment that is both fun and productive is to study Pixar. There’s actually a book called Innovate the Pixar Way:  Business Lessons from the World’s Most Creative Corporate Playground.  As a leader, it’ll raise your eyebrows at least a dozen times.

KENNEDY CENTER’S NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP ANNUAL MEETING FEATURES BILL CAPODAGLI AND INNOVATE THE PIXAR WAY!

I am excited that we have secured Bill Capodagli for the 2011 Annual Meeting keynote address. Thanks to many of you who suggested him as a speaker over the past couple of years. Bill, along with Lynn Jackson, is the author of The Disney Way: Harnessing the Management Secrets of Disney in Your Company, and more recently Innovate the Pixar Way: Business Lessons from the World’s Most Creative Corporate Playground.

After reading both books, I can see many connections to our arts education work. Walt Disney was a great storyteller and innovator who had deeply held values about how to move through life, no matter one’s vocation or role. His four steps were:

Dream beyond the boundaries of today. “From dreams spring ideas, and from ideas comes innovation, the lifeblood of any institution.”

Believe in sound values. “Strong leaders hold values that allow them to make decisions that are best for their people and their business – in that order.” Walt Disney knew his staff and artists were his greatest asset. His definition of leadership revolves around the ability to create and manage an environment for innovation.

Dare to make a difference. “Dare to take calculated risks in order to bring innovative ideas to fruition.”

And then go out and do it: Dream, Believe, Dare, Do.

While I recommend beginning with The Disney Way, the Annual Meeting keynote will focus on Innovate the Pixar Way. We think State Alliance and Partners in Education leaders will find the reading so interesting that we are scheduling a “book club” event during the Annual Meeting to allow time for deeper discussion of Innovate the Pixar Way for all who want to join in on Friday evening, February 18.

Happy Reading!

Barbara Shepherd, Director
National Partnerships Annual Meeting
February 15-19, 2011

From Preys-World.com – Book and Literature Review

One Reader’s Comment:

Innovate the Pixar Way. This is about the way Pixar work and organise themselves, very interesting... to me anyway. It's a perfect companion piece to Drive as they do many of the things stipulated in that book.

Drive by Dan Pink a very interesting book about what motivates people, intrinsic rewards vs extrinsic rewards and such. How rewards or the promise of rewards can narrow focus and creativity.
He gave this TED talk which probably sums up what the book is about better than me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrkrvAUbU9Y

Innovate the Pixar Way Article Review

Last month HRM Today posted a great article by Bill Capodagli, the author of “Innovate the Pixar Way” and we liked it so much we thought we’d share some of it with you.

Bill’s key point is that it’s not just enough to hire the best and brightest – you also need to energize them with an environment that inspires passionate action: “All the vision, mission statements and value propositions in the world will not result in an ounce of creative energy without passionate inspired leadership. Fortunately, passion is contagious…it results in an epidemic of creative ideas!”

If you’re interested in fostering a passionate and innovative environment in your workplace, you may want to consider these eight principles that lay the foundation for Pixar’s culture:

1. Link employees rather than ranking them. At Pixar, team members are linked  together by complimentary skills, rather than ranked by level of importance.
2. Creative ideas come from team collaborations, not top-down mandates.
3. Passionate leaders get their power from enabling others to do their work, not telling them how to do their work.
4. Teaching soft skills such as collaboration and improvisation are as important as teaching the hard occupational skills.
5. To be innovative, you must be able to live with ambiguity.  When you don’t have all the information, intuitive decisions are necessary.
6. Spending time trying to avoid failure often results in stagnation. In stead, quickly try, fail and try again.
7. Innovative leaders create teams that are highly diversified.  Think beyond achieving a balance of gender and race…hire some “wacky” free-thinking creative folks!
8. Passionate innovate leaders make work fun.  Remember when you take yourself too seriously, life ceases to be fun.

Feel free to let us know how you foster passion within your workplace, and again – the original article is worth the read!

tribehr.com/2010/11/03/create-a-culture-of-pa

Pixar’s Eight Beliefs That Create a Culture of Passion – Article Review

“Great ideas for leaders. I believe these leadership traits must be practiced by all the executives, managers and team leaders in an organisation. What this would do is create an 'organisational culture' that promotes 'passion', which is something needed to be creative at work.”

Milton Keynes Recruitment – http://www.focus-it-uk.com