1. Part II Protecting the New
1.1. 5. Honesty and Candor
1.1.1. Braintrust
1.1.1.1. Regular meetings to solve major problems while being completely candid with one another
1.1.1.2. It works on the idea that any person who takes on a complicated project would inevitably get lost because of narrow focus
1.1.1.3. There is no authority in the room
1.2. 6. Fear and Failure
1.2.1. No SUCCESS without Failure
1.2.1.1. No matter how great the ultimate output is, it is never that good when the project starts.
1.2.1.1.1. It is messy, it is tough
1.2.1.1.2. The whole idea is to start where you are and rework it and rework it and rework it.
1.2.1.1.3. Anyone who believes that any creative endeavor is great right out of the door is seriously mistaken
1.2.1.2. If you are not experiencing failure, you are making a far worse mistake
1.2.1.2.1. You are being driven by a desire to avoid failure, which is doomed to FAIL in the long term
1.2.1.3. Being risk averse and not experimenting and being scared of failure will make sure that we are on path to failure
1.2.1.4. We must think of the cost of failure as an investment into our future
1.2.1.4.1. Any outcome is a good outcome because you now know where to move and take the next step.
1.2.1.5. Mistakes are an inevitable outcome of doing something new
1.2.1.5.1. Without them, there is no originality
1.2.2. FAIL FAST
1.2.2.1. You need to be wrong as fast as you can so that you can move forward
1.2.2.2. In a battle when you are faced with 2 hills to attack, we must decide quickly and attack one of the hills
1.2.2.2.1. The worst course of action is to wait to decide
1.2.2.2.2. Collin Powell
1.2.2.2.3. GEorge Patton
1.2.2.3. Trying to avoid failure by out-thinking it is already going on the path of failure
1.2.2.3.1. We are not good at predicting future and hence our responsibility is to conduct experiments, a lot of which will fail.
1.2.2.3.2. If you think that with a lot of planning, foresight and thinking you will not fail, you are deluding yourself.
1.2.3. 2 parts to failure
1.2.3.1. THe event of failing itself
1.2.3.2. Our reaction to it
1.2.3.2.1. Give up
1.2.3.2.2. Fight
1.2.3.2.3. get frustrated
1.2.3.2.4. carry on?
1.2.3.3. It is not our job to run away from risks
1.2.3.3.1. But it is our job to build mechanisms that will help us dig ourselves out of those failures when they happen
1.2.4. Impostor Syndrome
1.2.4.1. In a meeting with his directors when he asked them who feels like IMpostor
1.2.4.1.1. Everyone raised their hands
1.2.4.1.2. And that is OK. That's the way it should be
1.2.4.1.3. Thats when we know we are challenging our comfort zone
1.3. 7. The Hungry Beast and Ugly Baby
1.3.1. Ugly Baby
1.3.1.1. Any initial idea is like an ugly baby - it needs to be protected.
1.3.1.1.1. To protect from stagnation, blockage by letting Baby evolve
1.3.1.1.2. Need to protect the baby from the beast
1.3.1.2. Needs time, care and patience
1.3.2. HUngry Beast
1.3.2.1. Feed the beast - Constant growing hunger for more films
1.3.2.2. Driving deadlines, goals, urgency
1.3.2.3. SOmetimes with success comes the need for more success - driving the Beast
1.3.3. Hold lightly on goals and firmly on Intentions
1.3.4. The beast is not all bad and the baby is not all good. The reality is somewhere in between
1.3.4.1. Key is to view conflict as essential and healthy
1.4. 8. Change and Randomness
1.4.1. Change
1.4.1.1. Change is our friend
1.4.1.1.1. Only from struggle does clarity emerge
1.4.1.1.2. There is no growth or success without change
1.4.1.2. Once you master a system, you become blind to its flaws
1.4.1.2.1. And hence start considering change unnecessary
1.4.1.3. The movie UP went through so many changes that the only thing that remained from original at the end were title and tall bird character
1.4.2. Randomness
1.4.2.1. Randomness is part of success
1.4.2.2. Randomness is tough to comprehend because our brain is always looking for patterns
1.4.2.3. Whenever you learn something new, you have to change the way you think
1.4.2.4. Stochastic self similarity
1.4.2.4.1. A self-similar phenomenon behaves the same when viewed at different degrees of magnification, or different scales on a dimension (space or time).
1.4.2.4.2. We can have problems of various scales - like losing a shoe to a car wreck to a terrorist attack
1.5. 9. The Hidden
1.5.1. We have limited ability to see possible problems
1.5.1.1. We all have blind spots
1.5.2. We have a limited view of our past
1.5.2.1. Memory is selective and hence people build a model of the past based on this selection
1.5.2.2. Hence we should use the past as a teacher rather than a fixed guide
1.5.3. Only 40% of what we actually think comes through our eyes. The remaining is filled in based on memory and patterns from past
1.5.4. confirmation bias
1.5.4.1. We prefer information that confirms our pre-existing beliefs. Whether true or not.
1.5.5. The key is to know that our mental models are not reality but tools
1.5.6. The door metaphor
1.5.6.1. On one side is everything known
1.5.6.2. On the other side is everything unknown, unsolved problems, and unrealized possbilities
1.5.6.3. The key is to put one foot on either side of the door
1.5.6.4. People who had great success in some area would be wary of crossing the threshold and go to the other side
1.5.6.4.1. However, the hidden is absolutely necessary to creative process. Without venturing into it - there is not future creation
2. Part III Building and Sustaining
2.1. 10. Broadening Our View
2.1.1. 4 Challenges
2.1.1.1. Our models of the world distort the way we see it
2.1.1.2. We dont see the boundary between new information coming in and our old established models
2.1.1.2.1. We perceive both together as a unified exerience
2.1.1.3. People who work and live together get their models of the world intertwined
2.1.1.3.1. Their combined models become more limited
2.1.1.3.2. The intertwined models can cause inertia
2.1.1.4. We become inflexible
2.1.2. Solutions
2.1.2.1. 1.
2.1.2.1.1. Dailies or Solving problems together
2.1.2.2. 2.
2.1.2.2.1. Research Trips
2.1.2.3. 3.
2.1.2.3.1. Power of Limits
2.1.2.4. 4.
2.1.2.4.1. Integrating Tech and Art
2.1.2.5. 5.
2.1.2.5.1. Short experiments
2.1.2.6. 6.
2.1.2.6.1. Learning to See
2.1.2.7. 7.
2.1.2.7.1. Post Mortems
2.1.2.8. 8.
2.1.2.8.1. Continuing to Learn
2.2. 11. The Unmade Future
2.2.1. The STRUGGLE
2.2.1.1. Creativity is a process full of struggle - more like a marathon than a sprint
2.2.1.2. As you keep working, the project reveals itself to you.
2.2.1.2.1. The key is to never stop moving
2.2.1.2.2. The job of the leader is to commit to a destination and drive hard towards it. Not to waffle and change course every few hours
2.2.2. FLOW state
2.2.2.1. The director was crashing while skiing because he was trying very hard not to crash.
2.2.2.2. Being in the zone is what we need
2.2.2.2.1. Not overthinking, but flowing with it
2.2.3. Sweet Spot
2.2.3.1. There is a sweet spot between the known and the unknown. We need to be able to lean into that place in order to be creative
2.2.3.1.1. The best way to predict the future is to invent it
2.2.3.1.2. Directors don't have a clear vision of what their movies would look like at the end - just as no one has a clear vision of the future.
2.2.4. When we start - our mental models are all we have
2.2.4.1. You can use various mental models
2.2.4.1.1. The key is that they get you to search for an unseen destination
2.2.5. mindfulness
2.2.5.1. Not to suppress the problems but to become present to them.
2.2.5.1.1. See it for what it is
3. Part IV Testing what we know
3.1. 12. A New Challenge
3.1.1. In 2006 Pixar was sold to disney
3.1.2. Various merger related challenges for example - keeping Pixar and Disney Animation separate
3.2. 13. Notes Day
3.2.1. Challenges
3.2.1.1. How to handle the big challenges facing us
3.2.1.1.1. Solution
3.2.2. Specter of past excellence was sapping them of the motivation to pursue excellence
3.2.3. Nothing in this book will make the creative process easy
3.2.3.1. Ease is not the goal
3.2.3.1.1. Excellence is
3.2.3.2. Challenges never cease, failure can't be avoided and vision is often an illusion
3.2.3.2.1. Fixing things is an ongoing incremental process.
3.2.3.3. Goal is not to say that we have figured it all out but that we continue to figure it out.
3.2.3.3.1. We will always have problems
3.2.3.3.2. To keep a creative culture vibrant we must not be afraid of uncertainity
4. Part I Getting Started
4.1. 1. Animated
4.1.1. When faced with a challenge, get smarter.
4.1.1.1. The way to get smarter is to hire/get around smarter people
4.1.2. Always take a chance on better, even if it seems threatening
4.2. 2. Pixar is Born
4.2.1. George Lucas
4.2.1.1. Always took the long term view
4.2.1.1.1. Story about not asking for higher money after a successful movie
4.2.1.1.2. Instead asking for merchandising rights
4.2.1.2. Looking to define future
4.3. 3. A Defining Goal
4.3.1. There is nothing quiet like a burning desire to succeed and an ignorance in certain area that forces one to learn very fast
4.3.2. After Catmull fulfilled his goal of making a computer animated film with Toy Story, his next challenge was to create a creative and egalitarian culture at Pixar
4.4. 4. Establishing Pixar's Identity
4.4.1. Lessons learnt
4.4.1.1. Story is King
4.4.1.2. Trust the Process
4.4.1.2.1. However this thinking by itself is flawed
4.4.1.2.2. The process will not fix itself
4.4.1.2.3. The key is to trust the process and at the same time you have to take full personal responsibility
4.4.1.2.4. Way to deal with Process
4.4.1.3. Great People or Great Ideas?
4.4.1.3.1. Great people with good idea was much more powerful than mediocre team with great idea
4.4.1.3.2. Because great ideas will come from great people
4.4.1.4. Suitcase v/s the handle
4.4.1.4.1. Sentence is the handle
4.4.1.4.2. For example - Trust the process
4.4.1.4.3. Suitcase is where the real depth and gravity of the meaning of that sentence resides