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Pixar’s Brad Bird on Fostering Innovation
, Thursday, April 17, 2008 at 12:01 AM PT Comments (68)
This week The McKinsey Quaterly asks: what does stimulating the creativity of animators have in common with developing new product ideas or technology breakthroughs? Apparently, a lot.
In Innovation lessons from Pixar, McKinsey writes:Brad Bird makes his living fostering creativity. Academy Award-winning director (The Incredibles and Ratatouille) talks about the importance, in his work, of pushing teams beyond their comfort zones, encouraging dissent, and building morale. He also explained the value of “black sheep”—restless contributors with unconventional ideas.
Steve Jobs hired him, says Bird, because after three successes (Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, and Toy Story 2) he was worried Pixar might struggle to stay innovative. Jobs told him: “The only thing we’re afraid of is complacency—feeling like we have it all figured out,” Bird quotes his boss as saying “…We want you to come shake things up.” Bird explains to McKinsey how he did it — and why, for “imagination-based companies to succeed in the long run, making money can’t be the focus.”
The piece is behind McKinsey’s pay wall, but we extract its 9 key lessons below.
Lesson One: Herd Your Black Sheep
The Quarterly: How did your first project at Pixar—The Incredibles—shake things up?
Brad Bird: I said, “Give us the black sheep. I want artists who are frustrated. I want the ones who have another way of doing things that nobody’s listening to. Give us all the guys who are probably headed out the door.” A lot of them were malcontents because they saw different ways of doing things, but there was little opportunity to try them, since the established way was working very, very well. We gave the black sheep a chance to prove their theories, and we changed the way a number of things are done here.
Lesson Two: Perfect is the Enemy of Innovation
The Quarterly: What sorts of things did you do differently?
Brad Bird: I had to shake the purist out of them—essentially frighten them into realizing I was ready to use quick and dirty “cheats” to get something on screen… I’d say, “Look, I don’t have to do the water through a computer simulation program… I’m perfectly content to film a splash in a swimming pool and just composite the water in.” I never did film the pool splash [but] talking this way helped everyone understand that we didn’t have to make something that would work from every angle. Not all shots are created equal. Certain shots need to be perfect, others need to be very good, and there are some that only need to be good enough to not break the spell.
Lesson Three: Look for Intensity
The Quarterly: Do angry people—malcontents, in your words—make for better innovation?
Brad Bird: Involved people make for better innovation… Involved people can be quiet, loud, or anything in-between—what they have in common is a restless, probing nature: “I want to get to the problem. There’s something I want to do.” If you had thermal glasses, you could see heat coming off them.
Lesson Four: Innovation Doesn’t happen in a Vacuum
The Quarterly: How do you build and lead a team?
Brad Bird: I got everybody in a room. This was different from what the previous guy had done; he had reviewed the work in private, generated notes, and sent them to the person… I said, “Look, this is a young team. As individual animators, we all have different strengths and weaknesses, but if we can interconnect all our strengths, we are collectively the greatest animator on earth. So I want you guys to speak up and drop your drawers. We’re going to look at your scenes in front of everybody. Everyone will get humiliated and encouraged together…
Lesson Five: High Morale Makes Creativity Cheap
The Quarterly: It sounds like you spend a fair amount of time thinking about the morale of your teams.
Brad Bird: In my experience, the thing that has the most significant impact on a movie’s budget—but never shows up in a budget—is morale. [what’s true for a movie is true for a startup!] If you have low morale, for every $1 you spend, you get about 25 cents of value. If you have high morale, for every $1 you spend, you get about $3 of value. Companies should pay much more attention to morale.
Lesson Six: Dont Try To “Protect your success”
The Quarterly: Engagement, morale—what else is critical for stimulating innovative thinking?
Brad Bird: The first step in achieving the impossible is believing that the impossible can be achieved. … “You don’t play it safe—you do something that scares you, that’s at the edge of your capabilities, where you might fail. That’s what gets you up in the morning.”
Lesson Six: Steve Jobs Says ‘Interaction = Innovation’
The Quarterly: What does Pixar do to stimulate a creative culture?
Brad Bird: If you walk around downstairs in the animation area, you’ll see that it is unhinged. People are allowed to create whatever front to their office they want. One guy might build a front that’s like a Western town. Someone else might do something that looks like Hawaii…John [Lasseter] believes that if you have a loose, free kind of atmosphere, it helps creativity.
Then there’s our building. Steve Jobs basically designed this building. In the center, he created this big atrium area, which seems initially like a waste of space. The reason he did it was that everybody goes off and works in their individual areas. People who work on software code are here, people who animate are there, and people who do designs are over there. Steve put the mailboxes, the meetings rooms, the cafeteria, and, most insidiously and brilliantly, the bathrooms in the center—which initially drove us crazy—so that you run into everybody during the course of a day. [Jobs] realized that when people run into each other, when they make eye contact, things happen. So he made it impossible for you not to run into the rest of the company.
Lesson Seven: Encourage Inter-disciplinary Learning
The Quarterly: Is there anything else you’d highlight that contributes to creativity around here?
Brad Bird: One thing Pixar does [is] “PU,” or Pixar University. If you work in lighting but you want to learn how to animate, there’s a class to show you animation. There are classes in story structure, in Photoshop, even in Krav Maga, the Israeli self-defense system. Pixar basically encourages people to learn outside of their areas, which makes them more complete. [and more creative].
Lesson Eight: Get Rid of Weak Links
The Quarterly: What undermines Innovation?
Brad Bird: Passive-aggressive people—people who don’t show their colors in the group but then get behind the scenes and peck away—are poisonous. I can usually spot those people fairly soon and I weed them out.
Lesson Nine: Making $$ Can’t Be Your Focus
The Quarterly: How would you compare the Disney of your early career with Pixar today?
Brad Bird: When I entered Disney, it was like a classic Cadillac Phaeton that had been left out in the rain… The company’s thought process was not, “We have all this amazing machinery—how do we use it to make exciting things? We could go to Mars in this rocket ship!” It was, “We don’t understand Walt Disney at all. We don’t understand what he did. Let’s not screw it up. Let’s just preserve this rocket ship; going somewhere new in it might damage it.”
Walt Disney’s mantra was, “I don’t make movies to make money—I make money to make movies.” That’s a good way to sum up the difference between Disney at its height and Disney when it was lost. It’s also true of Pixar and a lot of other companies. It seems counterintuitive, but for imagination-based companies to succeed in the long run, making money can’t be the focus.
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68 comments so far
5:46 AM PT
Actually, the article is not behind a paywall, you just need to register to be able to read it, which is free.
6:32 AM PT
[…] — Brad Bird […]
6:52 PM PT
there are two items there labeled “lesson six.”
8:20 PM PT
[…] Lessons from a master on creativity and innovation. […]
11:31 PM PT
[…] Pixar’s Brad Bird on Fostering Innovation (tags: creativity innovation inspiration business management leadership) […]
1:54 AM PT
[…] Qui trovi il link al blog che riporta l’intervista (McKinsey richiede la registrazione per leggere il suo articolo) […]
6:09 PM PT
This is great stuff! I like the fact that Brad seeks out those on the fringes of the bellcurve, works for honest critique of work and builds morale with a firm hand. More businesses should be run like Pixar if they want to be as successful in their pursuits as Bird is in his.
1:35 AM PT
Great article. This is a great interview with some great insight into the business of creativity.
8:50 PM PT
[…] Fostering Innovation at Pixar Added on 04/18/2008 at 09:45AM […]
9:28 PM PT
[…] Pixar’s Brad Bird of Fostering Innovation – a wonderful summation of an interview conducted with Brad Bird (Ratatouille, The Incredibles) which concludes with a statement that, I believe, applies well to the mission of Outstanding Club It seems counterintuitive, but for imagination-based companies to succeed in the long run, making money can’t be the focus. […]
12:26 PM PT
[…] Written by Carleen Hawn at FoundRead.com […]
11:12 PM PT
“ Passive-aggressive people—people who don’t show their colors in the group but then get behind the scenes and peck away—are poisonous.”
He just described almost all of the upper and middle managment at Disney Feature Animation in the late 90’s to the present day. Will John Lasseter and Ed Catmull be able bring the “Pixar culture” to present day Disney and have it take root and flourish there ? Let’s hope so .
9:41 AM PT
I love love love that Brad Bird said that not all shots are created equal, they don’t all have to be perfect. That sort of insight is what makes him successful. Thanks for sharing.
5:33 PM PT
[…] Brad Bird on Fostering Innovation […]
9:36 PM PT
[…] many of the things I’ve said. Of course, Bird says them so much better than I ever have so read his interview here. For those too lazy, here is a list of his Ten Lessons, all of which are nothing short of […]
7:22 AM PT
[…] Um dos craques da animação, Brad Bird, fala de como incentivar a criatividade. […]
1:23 PM PT
[…] mal das ganze Zitat von Brad Bird bei kottke.org geklaut: In my experience, the thing that has the most significant impact on a […]
2:20 PM PT
GREAT POST! Perfect Friday Reading Material!!
3:56 PM PT
Point nine is the truest of them all.
4:15 PM PT
“If you have high morale, for every $1 you spend, you get about $3 of value.”
Too true. A job without good morale isn’t a mission, it’s just a paycheck.
Bad morale makes the best people with the best prospects quit first. Then the death spiral sets in.
5:53 PM PT
[…] Pixar’s Brad Bird on Fostering Innovation – GigaOM […]
6:27 PM PT
[…] Lessons from Pixar’s Brad Bird on fostering innovation in the workplace. In my experience, the thing that has the most significant impact on a movie’s budget — […]
6:02 AM PT
[…] 10 key lessons from Pixar’s Brad bird on Innovation. Full article available here. […]
7:38 AM PT
[…] last blogged about innovation. Here’s another excellent interview of Pixar’s Brad Bird on innovation. It pretty much explains what’s needed to develop […]
8:12 AM PT
its hard not to be passive aggressive in animation because it takes premeditation to show your colors. I assume he means that animators should work together, which I done think I’m too bad at. It’s the showing colors thing that scares me.
11:27 AM PT
[…] AT&T Disables Free iPhone Wi-Fi (For Now) Pixar’s Brad Bird on Fostering Innovation Great interview with Pixar’s Brad […]
11:53 AM PT
[…] Here’s a wonderful interview with Brad Bird, the director of The Iron Giant, The Incredibles and Ratatouille who was hired by Steve Jobs to ’shake things up’ within Pixar, to keep things fresh. The whole thing is full of “Chicken Soup for the Soul” anecdotes for creative people. Here’s one of my favourites: The first step in achieving the impossible is believing that the impossible can be achieved. … You don’t play it safe—you do something that scares you, that’s at the edge of your capabilities, where you might fail. That’s what gets you up in the morning. […]
12:05 PM PT
[…] interview with Brad Bird (director of Iron Giant and The Incredibles about innovation and Pixar). Link Posted in Uncategorized […]
12:47 PM PT
[…] Simpsons and The Incredibles) takes part in an interview about fostering innovation over at the Gigaom blog, loads of great stuff including […]
1:12 PM PT
[…] Brad Bird was recently interviewed, and four quotes I thought were worth sharing. […]
1:32 PM PT
[…] of teaching, of how together, you and your students can be the smartest person in the world.http://gigaom.com/2008/04/17/pixars-brad-bird-on-fostering-innovation/ addthis_url = […]
2:17 PM PT
[…] Brad Bird: “You don’t play it safe — you do something that scares you, that’s at the edge of your capabilities, where you might fail. That’s what gets you up in the morning.” […]
5:54 PM PT
[…] Brad Bird offers up some mad wisdom on a favorite topic ’round these parts: […]
7:31 PM PT
You have to register to see the article, but it doesn’t cost anything.
12:33 AM PT
[…] pixar’s brad bird on innovation culture. all good to hear from the pros (tags: business creativity innovation leadership culture) Explore posts in the same categories: Uncategorized […]
1:10 AM PT
[…] the whole interview here. (via Daring Fireball via […]
1:30 AM PT
I loved the idea of structuring you workspace to force interaction between co workers. It is true that when your create an interation that something is passed between the two people. Even a random remark from one person could completely inspire the next. Think about how Dr. House is always solving his cases.
5:01 AM PT
[…] much learning to doasidesGive us the black sheep. I want artists who are frustrated. I want the ones who have another way of doing things that […]
10:05 AM PT
[…] Great article that. Go read it. […]
10:27 AM PT
[…] learn something from Jordon Cooper’s Contextless Links. Today’s lesson was a link to Brad Bird’s list of ways to foster innovation. Boy, there is some good stuff there. Because I have a five-yr. old I know a lot about Pixar […]
12:13 PM PT
[…] Rss Pixar’s Brad Bird On Achieving The Impossible Mohamed Marwen Meddah | May 4, 2008 – 9:13 pm | “The first step in achieving the impossible is believing that the impossible can be achieved. … “You don’t play it safe—you do something that scares you, that’s at the edge of your capabilities, where you might fail. That’s what gets you up in the morning.” — Brad Bird, Pixar ; ‘Pixar’s Brad Bird on Fostering Innovation‘ […]
12:34 PM PT
[…] Pixar’s Brad Bird on Fostering Innovation – GigaOM Now, that definitely makes more sense. Some wonderful tips from Brad Bird of Pixar (tags: brad-bird innovation creativity) […]
3:16 PM PT
[…] http://gigaom.com/2008/04/17/pixars-brad-bird-on-fostering-innovation/ « “I don’t want them to know me.” […]
4:29 PM PT
[…] Read the full article: Pixar’s Brad Bird on Fostering Innovation […]
4:48 PM PT
[…] Pixar’s Brad Bird on Fostering Innovation – GigaOM (tags: inspiration creativity) […]
7:03 PM PT
[…] This interview has some great pointers on processes to achieving great creative success. Lesson two: Perfect is the enemy of innovation – this is where I get stuck sometimes. I like how they really take a group approach and do things as a massive team. (via Kottke) […]
1:13 AM PT
[…] per la progettazione degli spazi, che si lega alle altre lezioni chiave citate nell’articolo (evidenziazioni […]
3:34 AM PT
[…] Pixar’s Brad Bird on Fostering Innovation – GigaOM The 11 keys to maximizing creativity from the director of Ratatouille and the incredibles (tags: creativity management inspiration administration smart) […]
6:03 AM PT
[…] otras lecciones (especialmente enfocados pero no limitado) a la innovación en: Pixar’s Brad Bird on Fostering Innovation. ← Anterior | Inicio Comparte esta anotación […]
6:26 PM PT
[…] LINK […]
8:56 PM PT
[…] I would just have included a link in my daily del.icio.us posting to this article at GigaOm that somehow references part of a review that’s behind a pay wall at another site (I’m […]
1:13 AM PT
brad bird’s thoughts ,views and the way he works in pixar is inspirational and a brilliant example of effective management and leadership
5:12 AM PT
[…] to foster innovation (according to Brad Bird, director of The Incredibles and Ratatouille; the 10 tips are his, and the parts following the […]
8:07 AM PT
[…] about working with the malcontents. People who are frustrated are the source of the best ideas.read more | digg […]
12:30 PM PT
Awesome Interview summation…………Does Pixar have any openings :D
1:00 PM PT
[…] Pixar’s Brad Bird on Fostering Innovation – GigaOM This was written by Michel T.. Posted on Wednesday, May 7, 2008, at 21:55. Filed under Augmented Reality, Innovation, People. Tagged creativity, Innovation, leadership, management, pixar, productivity. Bookmark the permalink. Follow comments here with the RSS feed. Post a comment or leave a trackback. […]
4:26 AM PT
[…] L’article entier : Pixar’s Brad Bird on fostering innovation […]
9:08 AM PT
[…] things you do that don’t take front and center in a resume are the ones that set you apart. Pixar’s Brad Bird on Fostering Innovation – these lessons transfer directly to software […]
1:05 PM PT
[…] Pixar’s Brad Bird on Fostering Innovation Links — May 8, 2008 at 4:02 pm […]
5:46 PM PT
[…] (Pixar’s Brad Bird has some broad agreement-fostering suggestions, which I found via Teaching Online Journalism via Journerdism via GigaOM.) […]
8:09 PM PT
[…] found this neat little interview/article linked from 3dTotal.com. I haven’t seen it linked in the usual animation related blogs I […]
11:51 AM PT
[…] brief, but very nice interview with Brad Bird at Gigaom last month. Among many bits of wisdom: “there are some [things] that only need to […]
7:38 PM PT
[…] Read the complete aticle from Gigaom.com here. […]
9:15 PM PT
[…] PixarのBrad Birdがイノベーションを育む方法について、McKinseyの報告をまとめた記事がありましたので紹介します。 […]
3:56 AM PT
[…] Pixar’s Brad Bird on Fostering Innovation: Anybody who’s been the tiniest bit interested in art eventually finds Pixar as a haven for all creatives. Brad Bird says it’s not easy to continuously churn out successful animated movies and he lists how to keep the fire of innovation burning. […]
6:42 PM PT
[…] Pixar’s Brad Bird on Fostering Innovation Brad Bird makes his living fostering creativity. Academy Award-winning director (The Incredibles and Ratatouille) talks about the importance, in his work, of pushing teams beyond their comfort zones, encouraging dissent, and building morale. […]
6:55 PM PT
[…] [From Pixar’s Brad Bird on Fostering Innovation – GigaOM] […]
2:35 AM PT
[…] found this interview yesterday that gives you a great scoop inside Brad Bird’s mind. Enjoy! Bookmark […]
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