Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
© 2005–2018, Future Think LLC. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies. futurethink clients may make one attributed copy or slide of each figure contained herein. Additional reproduction is strictly prohibited. For additional reproduction rights and usage informa-tion, go to www.futurethink.com. Information is based on best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. To purchase reprints of this document, please email [email protected].
Innovation Simplified | [email protected] | P 646-257-5737 | © Future Think LLC. All rights reserved
Case StudyPixar
Innovation Simplified | [email protected] | P 646-257-5737 | © Future Think LLC. All rights reserved
Case StudyPixar
1
Formally incorporated in 1986, Pixar Animation Studios is best known for delighting audiences with animated movies, including Toy Story (1, 2, and 3); Monsters, Inc.; Finding Nemo; WALL-E; and Up. Toy Story 3 is No. 21 on the list of highest grossing movies in history, and the worldwide box office from Pixar features is around $11 billion.1; 2 As of 2018, Pixar’s creative team members have won hundreds of awards, including nineteen Oscars, nine Golden Globes, eleven Grammys, and many others.3 Both Pixar and its parent company, Disney, consistently rank among the world’s most innovative and admired companies. When George W. Buckley, former CEO of 3M, was asked by BusinessWeek to name the most innovative companies, he placed Pixar in the top slot because “Pixar is changing the way movies are made.”4
Many of Pixar’s artistic achievements are a result of a culture that fosters innovation. The company has worked hard to establish an environment that encourages creative breakthroughs and empowers employees to challenge the ideas of their superiors. Off-screen, Pixar has revitalized the field of animation by developing software that’s become the industry standard in modeling, lighting, digital rendering, and production management.
Since 2013, Pixar has released an average of one film a year, with a strategic mix of sequels and new features. It dipped its toes into Virtual Reality (VR) with Coco VR.., a joint project with Oculus released ahead of Pixar’s 2017 film Coco . In summer 2017, Disney dropped the bombshell that it would be ending its Netflix deal and launch its own streaming service in 2019. The move will enable Disney to exclusively profit from streaming its vast library of hits, including Pixar films.
“The launch of our direct-to-consumer services mark an entirely new growth strategy…one that takes advantage of the incredible opportunity that changing technology provides us to leverage the strength of our great brands,” said Disney CEO Bob Iger.5
Read on to learn how you can apply Pixar’s innovative practices to your own organization.
Innovation Sparks Movie Magic
Innovation Simplified | [email protected] | P 646-257-5737 | © Future Think LLC. All rights reserved
Case StudyPixar
2
The Four Innovation Capabilitiesfuturethink’s Innovation Case Studies are designed to provide insights on today’s leading innovators. Information about each of the companies we feature covers the four key innovation capabilities: Strategy, Ideas, Process, and Climate.
Set a foundation that defines innovation objectives and mobilizes your efforts. The notion of “serendipitous innovation” is dangerously outdated. The secret to success lies in crafting an action-oriented strategy. It means setting a vision for your company to follow and viewing innovation as an expected result, not a lucky one. Innovation should be handled like any business initiative: with an eye on growth, results, and profit.
Think differently to develop original ideas that drive business value. In today’s economy, the ability to continually fuel innovation is what separates winning organizations from the rest. Idea generation should be managed, purposeful, and clearly linked to business objectives. Leading innovators succeed by balancing out-of-the-box thinking with sound management principles.
Create a streamlined and flexible approach to shepherd innovative ideas to market. The reality in every organization is that money is limited. To make sure you’re spending effectively, you must have a streamlined process for innovation. A good process will help to consistently identify your best projects and enable you to move them forward more efficiently.
Build a thriving work environment that drives innovation across your organization. We live in a world where the new replaces the old very quickly. Only organizations that keep pace with the shifting marketplace will be able to stay ahead. So how do the best companies adapt? They cultivate a climate in which employees are encouraged to innovate in a continuous and consistent manner. The companies that stay ahead have made innovation part of their DNA.
futurethink analysts develop case studies by drawing from a mix of extensive research, organizational and customer interviews, and firsthand interactions with the organization. Many thanks to the individuals who contributed to this case study and deepened our understanding of Pixar’s innovation process.
Innovation Simplified | [email protected] | P 646-257-5737 | © Future Think LLC. All rights reserved
Case StudyPixar
3
Pixar 101Pixar began in 1979 as the Graphics Group, part of the Lucasfilm computer division, before becoming a corporation in 1986 with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs as the majority shareholder.6 In the decades since, Pixar has become a household name on the strength of its animated shorts, feature films, animated logos for IBM and Paramount, and commercials for clients like Listerine and Life Savers.
Pixar struck a distribution deal in 1991 with Walt Disney Pictures, and in 2006, Pixar became a wholly owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. When the merger was announced, critics were understandably worried that Disney would squash the creative culture that made Pixar successful.7 Corporate marriages often create internal warfare (Paramount and DreamWorks SKG are one example), but Disney and Pixar have found a way to make it work.8
The Pixar CultureAt Pixar, emphasis is placed on the team over the individual. It holds the artistic and technical teams in equal standing—a rarity in the creative field—both in terms of respect and compensation. Employees, known as “Pixarians,” aren’t ranked by their level of importance, but rather by their complementary skills.9 As a result, Pixar boasts one of the lowest turnover rates in the industry, even though team members all work without employment contracts.10 According to Randy Nelson, the former dean of Pixar University, “contracts allow you to be irresponsible as a company. You don’t need to worry about keeping people happy and fulfilled. What we have created here—an incredible workspace, opportunities to learn and grow, and, most of all, great co-workers—is better than any contract.”11
While other studios hire freelancing strangers to create a movie, the same group of Pixar writers, directors, animators, and technicians move together from project to project. In fact, all of Pixar’s ideas and stories are developed internally and company policy forbids unsolicited submissions of scripts or treatments. As a result, Pixar’s team of moviemakers know and trust each another in a way that would be inconceivable at other studios.12
Emphasis on Collaboration. Within Pixar, three parallel groups constantly talk to each other: Technical Development, Creative Development, and Production. Everyone has input, and teams embrace the knowledge that everything is a work in progress and no process is ever perfect.
Pixar encourages constant collaboration, and the creative and technology teams are not expected—or even permitted—to perfect ideas before sharing them. This rapid experiment-and-refine approach helps the company make quicker decisions. Additionally, the emphasis on sharing helps employees get more comfortable with taking risks, which is critical for innovation to occur. By encouraging risk-taking with raw ideas, Pixar knows many will fail at first. But the company believes that failure is part of the creative process so it believes in screwing up as fast as possible so it can keep moving forward. This approach allows space for employees to explore wild concepts that may lead to a great idea.
In the book Creativity Inc., Pixar President Ed Catmull explains that failure at Pixar “is a manifestation of learning and exploration. If you aren’t experiencing failure, then you are making a far worse mistake: You are being driven by the desire to avoid it. And, for leaders especially, this strategy—trying to avoid failure by out-thinking it—dooms you to fail.”13
The film WALL-E is an example of a concept that tanked at first, but through many iterations, eventually became great. To be exact, it required 98,173 storyboards.14
“Zero dumb ideas is a bad idea. Forty dumb ideas might be too. You should
be in between—in the mess in the middle.”
— Ed Catmull, President, Pixar15
Innovation Simplified | [email protected] | P 646-257-5737 | © Future Think LLC. All rights reserved
Case StudyPixar
4
Pixar University. Founded in the mid-2000s, Pixar University (PU) revolves around making “art a team sport by having people do it together and fail publicly at it.”16 By requiring employees to learn together, Pixar believes the experience helps them get beyond any embarrassment about sharing works in progress.
PU features a daily program of lectures, workshops, skill-building courses, and mind-bending events. In total, PU offers more than 100 courses, including the expected (film-making, painting, drawing, sculpting, and writing) and the unexpected (improvisation, yoga, juggling, and belly dancing). Every employee can spend up to four hours each week at PU, and the average employee takes about six classes per year.18
According to Nelson, Pixar “made the leap from an idea-centered business to a people-centered business. Instead of developing ideas, we develop people. Instead of investing in ideas, we invest in people. We’re trying to create a culture of learning, filled with lifelong learners.”18
The Pixar Habitat. When demanding continuous innovation from employees, an inspiring environment is a necessity. The design elements of the Pixar campus are credited to Steve Jobs, who planned the headquarters in Emeryville, Calif., as a place that “promoted encounters and unplanned collaborations.”19 The result is a massive atrium that people must pass through to reach other departments—even the restrooms—as well as plenty of social and gathering spaces.
Catmull even replaced a very long, rectangular conference table by a prominent designer because it kept people on the ends of the table from contributing to the conversation. In its place, he chose a more intimate square table that allowed everyone’s voice to be heard.20
Instead of cubicles, employees are given a “cottage” to personalize. “People are allowed to create whatever front to their office they want,” said Oscar-winning Pixar director Brad Bird. “One guy might build a front that’s like a Western town. Someone else might do something that looks like Hawaii.”21
The Pixar headquarters also maintain a complete gallery of life-sized Pixar characters, including characters that didn’t make the final cut, including an unused version of Woody, the cowboy in Toy Story. Spotlighting these early drafts helps employees see that all steps in the creative process are valuable, which helps to encourage further exploration and risk-taking.22
“If you don’t create an atmosphere in which risk can be easily taken…
then it’s likely you’re going to be producing work that will look derivative in the marketplace.”
— Randy Nelson, former Dean of Pixar University17
Innovation Simplified | [email protected] | P 646-257-5737 | © Future Think LLC. All rights reserved
Case StudyPixar
5
Recharging Creative Minds. Film creation involves intense periods of development and long hours. Pixar’s 1200 employees are given regular breaks to recharge and stay nourished. Staff can hit the free, 24-hour Cereal Bar with fourteen types of breakfast cereal and an endless supply of milk.23 There’s also a Pizza Room, a Breathing Room, espresso bars, foosball tables, and a speakeasy called the Lucky 7 Lounge, which is hidden behind a huge fireplace.
The exterior campus includes a 600-seat outdoor amphitheater, a soccer field, flower-cutting gardens, a wildflower meadow, and an organic vegetable garden used by Pixar’s chefs. For fun and fitness, they also have an Olympic-sized swimming pool, volleyball court, jogging trail, and basketball court. According to Jobs, these amenities were meant “to keep his young animation staff happy—and animated.”24
To keep employees healthy, doctors and masseuses visit the campus weekly, and full-time ergonomic experts are employed to ensure that workspaces are comfortable.
Hiring Philosophy. Between its perks and its commercial-film track record, Pixar has its pick of the best and brightest in the industry. Although technology plays a large role in Pixar’s success, the company is careful not to be limited by it. In hiring, Pixar looks for skills as well as the ability to collaborate. If you have the breadth and depth of skills it needs, including the ability to communicate, it can teach you the tools. The company looks for individuals who have mastered something—even if it has nothing to do with films or technology.25 It believes that if a candidate has the capacity for mastery, this will translate into skills that Pixar can leverage.25
Case in point? When a four-minute film with exquisite animation went viral in 2016, Pixar not only took notice, it tracked down and hired one of its creators. Another example of Pixar’s approach to hiring is director Brad Bird. He came to Pixar with a résumé that included Disney, Fox, and Warner Brothers. For the latter, he’d directed an animated sci-fi film called The Iron Giant, which was far from a commercial success. But Pixar saw his achievement as the work of someone who not only could master something, but also as the risk-taker it was looking for. Pixar made the right call: The first and second films Bird directed for Pixar—The Incredibles in 2004 and Ratatouille in 2007—are among Pixar’s highest-grossing features. Each of those films also earned Bird the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Innovation Simplified | [email protected] | P 646-257-5737 | © Future Think LLC. All rights reserved
Case StudyPixar
6
Leveraging Unlikely Sources. On the road to Bird’s critical success, Pixar gave him the freedom to harness the studio’s human capital. But he didn’t seek out employees who were obvious choices. In an interview with McKinsey Quarterly, Bird explained how he tapped Pixar’s most frustrated employees to create The Incredibles.
The Pixar ProcessTo create a full-length animated film, Pixar follow a 14-step process that carries the project all the way from the pitching phase through post-production. When the team is on a tight schedule during the animation phase, the director uses daily milestones—called “dailies”—to review progress, and keep the film on schedule and within budget.27 At the end of each day’s work, President Catmull explains, the animation team will “show work in an incomplete state to the whole animation crew, and although the director makes decisions, everyone is encouraged to comment.”27
Several benefits result from reviewing the dailies in this setting, according to Catmull:
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. For less money per minute than was spent on the previous film, Finding Nemo, we did a movie [The Incredibles] that had three times the number of sets.26
First, once people get over the embarrassment of showing works in progress, they become more creative. Second, the director or creative leads guiding the review process can communicate important points to the entire crew at the same time. Third, people learn from and inspire each other; a highly creative piece of animation will spark others to raise their game….People’s overwhelming desire to make sure their work is ‘good’ before they show it to others increases the possibility that their finished version won’t be what the director wants. The dailies process avoids such wasted efforts.27
Innovation Simplified | [email protected] | P 646-257-5737 | © Future Think LLC. All rights reserved
Case StudyPixar
7
Sharing the MagicIn order to create such compelling films, Pixar continually invests in technology—even developing programs that have become the industry standard for computer graphics in filmmaking. Collaboration between the technical and creative teams has resulted in such proprietary, in-house software systems as Marionette for animation (modeling, animating, and lighting); Ringmaster for production management (scheduling, coordinating, and tracking projects); and RenderMan for rendering high-quality, photo-realistic images.
Pixar licenses RenderMan for commercial use, and the program has been used in such movies as The Lord of the Rings and Inception.28 In 2014, Pixar released a non-commercial version of the software for free so amateurs can try their hand at creating the next Toy Story. It has also released an open-source version of its Universal Scene Description software on GitHub in hopes that other filmmakers will participate in advancing technology in the production industry.29
In 2015, Pixar released a series of lessons titled “Pixar in a Box” on the Khan Academy website. Kids can now learn about the studio’s creative process through video lessons and interactive activities. These tools connect academic concepts—like trigonometry and parabolas—to how filmmakers create worlds and animate characters. Through this collaboration, Pixar hopes to excite youngsters about STEM topics.31
Rules to Live (And Innovate) ByStrive for Authenticity. Every movie at Pixar involves research with experts and field trips to learn as much as possible about a particular subject matter. While researching A Bug’s Life, for example, Pixar placed cameras in flowerbeds to observe how insects view the world. While developing Finding Nemo, Pixar populated the office with aquariums, arranged a diving trip to Hawaii, and brought in marine biologists for expertise.
Accuracy matters to Pixar—and it’s evident in details like the pipes in Up. “When the house floats up and you’re looking at the infrastructure, it was really important that pipes connect in the right way, so if a plumber was watching the film they wouldn’t go, ‘oh, they took a lot of license,’ ” says Cara McCarty, curatorial director at Cooper Hewitt museum, where Pixar exhibited hundreds of illustrations in 2015.32 For Pixar, the best way to get an audience to believe in an imaginary world is by faithfully studying a real one.32
Focus on Storytelling. A compelling story is the foundation of every Pixar movie (and possibly the reason its screenplays have earned nearly a dozen Academy Award nominations). So how does Pixar continue to tell stories that keep moviegoers engaged? Former storyboard artist Emma Coats shared a handful of narrative insights she gleaned during her years at Pixar:
• Why must you tell this story? What’s the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That’s the heart of it.
• Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.
• What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don’t succeed? Stack the odds against.
“What began as an interesting artistic exercise is now an
indispensable tool. It’s notable that twenty years after putting its first pixels on the screen, RenderMan
remains the benchmark for all rendering technology.”
— George Lucas, filmmaker and entrepreneur30
Innovation Simplified | [email protected] | P 646-257-5737 | © Future Think LLC. All rights reserved
Case StudyPixar
8
• Discount the first thing that comes to mind. And the second, third, fourth, fifth—get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.
• Give your characters opinions. Passive/malleable might seem likable to you as you write, but it’s poison to the audience.
• If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.33
Take Smart Risks. The Pixar team loves to challenge its audience. They also know that viewers want to see something different every time they go to the theater. So Pixar takes chances in order to deliver the unexpected. Take Up, for example. It’s the story of a grouchy, widowed balloon salesman accompanied by a bouncy, chubby kid trying to earn a scouting badge, and they somehow end up in the wilderness of South America. It doesn’t exactly seem like a slam dunk summer blockbuster. Yet, Pixar trusted its artistic instincts, and the film was a box office success that received two Academy Awards.
Simplexity: Pixar production designer Ricky Nierva describes the process as an exercise in selective detail. He says simplexity “is the art of simplifying the image down to its essence. But the complexity that you layer on top of it—in texture, design or detail—is masked by how simple the form is.”34
In Up, for instance, the 78-year-old Carl character is shaped like a box to show how “boxed in” his character feels.35 The boxiness achieves a clean, caricatured look, but Carl’s range of expression, and the texture of his clothing make him complex and believable.35
Hold Retrospectives. Similar to the agile approach used by engineers in other industries, Pixar teams get together after every film to retrospect and discuss areas for improvement. The goal is not to assign blame, but to conduct a candid self-assessment and fix problems in order to make the next film even better.
Be Less Serious. Unused scenes, flawed animation, and out-of-sync voiceovers appear as outtakes at the end of Pixar’s films. A notably memorable outtake called “Incredi-Blunders” includes a pantless Mr. Incredible walking around his home. The bloopers are educational, entertaining, and offer a peek at Pixar’s creative process. They also provide animators with outlets for scenes that didn’t appear in the film.36
Lean into Learning. Because creating a film involves many different talents, skills, and capabilities, Pixar deliberately brings diverse departments into collaborative learning situations. This approach helps employees to trust each another and feel comfortable sharing their opinions, insights, and ideas. Director Brad Bird shares his views on the importance of learning as a team:
“You have to honor failure. Failure is just the negative space
around success.” — Randy Nelson, former Dean of Pixar University
37
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….We’re going to look at your scenes in front of everybody. Everyone will get humiliated and encouraged together. If there is a solution, I want everyone to hear the solution, so everyone adds it to their toolkit. I’m going to take my shot at what I think will improve a scene, but if you see something different, go ahead and disagree. I don’t know all the answers.38
Innovation Simplified | [email protected] | P 646-257-5737 | © Future Think LLC. All rights reserved
Case StudyPixar
9
Never Stop Improving. Jean-Claude Kalache, the director of photography for Monsters University, wanted to find a faster technique for lighting scenes. He discovered it in a software system called Global Illumination, which imitates real-world lighting. It allowed Kalache and his team to place only a few lights—rather than hundreds—and move them around, adjusting the lighting in the scene nearly as fluidly as in live-action movies. The new technology enabled Kalache to now invest time into experimenting with how the lighting could better reflect the mood of any given scene. “We’re a lot more artistic in our setups,” said Kalache. “And we have a lot more time to explore.”39
While the lighting discovery was exciting, Global Illumination represented a complete overhaul of a lighting system that had served Pixar for a decade—and it left many artists relearning the basic elements of their job. “It was extremely controversial,” said Chris Horne, former technical director for Pixar. “But it made a huge impact.”39
Be Unconventional. From WALL-E, a post-apocalyptic love story about robots, to Ratatouille, a French rat who aspires to be a chef, Pixar excels at doing the unexpected. “If we aren’t always at least a little scared, we’re not doing our job,” said President Ed Catmull. “If you want to be original, you have to accept the uncertainty, even when it’s uncomfortable, and have the capability to recover when you take a big risk and fail.”40
Add “Plussing.” Rather than just critique a sketch or shoot down an idea, the general rule in Pixar meetings is that you may only criticize an idea if you also add a constructive suggestion (hence the term “plussing”).41
Resembling a structured debate, the goal is to critically review existing work and generate new ideas that build further and create something better.41
Every weekday morning, teams of animators gather to review and critique each other’s work from the previous day. No detail is too minor and no one is prohibited from arguing against the work of someone else. This intense process, sometimes called “shredding,” is vital to Pixar’s ability to release quality work again and again, and reiterates its core belief that ideas can come from everybody and anybody in the organization.42
Pixar’s directors aren’t exempt from the feedbacking process. Every few months, the director of each Pixar film in production meets with senior creative staff (directors, writers, heads of story) to review the film’s progress. Following a screening of the film and comments from the director, his or her peers candidly share what they liked and what needed to be improved. The goal is to help each another make a great film, and the director is free to act on the feedback or not. President Catmull describes the sessions as being characterized by “frank talk, spirited debate, laughter, and love.”43
“My job in the room isn’t to participate in discussion, said Catmull. “My job is to look at the dynamics in the room.” He measures a team not by output, but by spirit and whether team members are laughing. “And when it goes right, magic happens.”44
Pixar’s unique core principles of story, appeal and believability, and its design tools—research, iteration, and collaboration—come together to create a replicable process for spectacular film making.
Innovation Simplified | [email protected] | P 646-257-5737 | © Future Think LLC. All rights reserved
Case StudyPixar
10
What’s Next for Pixar?Playing it safe doesn’t lead to sustained success. For Pixar—and many other innovators—the unknown space is where new ideas and sustained success happens. To remain relevant to consumers, Pixar will need to invest in growing tech trends like VR. It partnered with Oculus to promote Coco in Fall 2017, but it will need to approach VR as a stand-alone experience, not just a marketing vehicle for films already in its pipeline. To succeed, Pixar will need to retain its high-quality workmanship while lessening its insistence on controlling every aspect of the consumer experience.
“[In films], we control where your eyes look, every pixel you see, and the whole process, said Marc Sondheimer, Coco VR producer. “In VR, we have to give up a lot of those controls and be okay with it. And the process of making it.”45
A potential competitor in this space is Boabab, which has been hailed by media outlets as “the Pixar of VR.”46 With $31 million raised in funding, the company has already attracted such investors as Comcast Ventures, Samsung, and Twentieth Century Fox.46
In 2017, Pixar’s parent company Disney announced the end of its exclusive movie deal with Netflix in order to launch its own streaming service in 2019. The reasoning behind the decision is “because of the strength of the brand and…consumer trends,” said Disney President Bob Iger. “It’s not just a defensive move. It’s an offensive move.”47
In 2019, the newest Disney and Pixar films will no longer be available on Netflix but will reside in a new Disney-branded paid streaming service that goes directly to consumers. It will include the upcoming Toy Story 4, the Frozen sequel and a live-action The Lion King.48
Subscribers also can access the Disney and Pixar film library, as well as content from the Disney Channel, Disney Junior and Disney XD. (Marvel and Lucasfilm movies are being negotiated.)48
The future of Pixar’s leadership remains in question after co-founder and CEO John Lasseter took “a six-month sabbatical” in late 2017 after a number of female employees claimed that Lasseter had engaged in inappropriate touching and comments.49 In the wake of the Lasseter scandal, questions about racial and gender parity at Pixar have has also been raised.50 The studio has released nineteen films since 1995, but only three of them (Brave, Inside Out, and Finding Dory) are centered on a female protagonist.50 (Two of the Incredibles are women, but neither is the star of the film.) As New Statesman points out, there are 109 major writing credits across Pixar’s films, but only eleven have gone to women or people of color.51
As more and more leaders are held culpable for abusing their power—and consumers boycott brands exposed for workplace inequality—the entertainment landscape is palpably shifting. It’s a pivotal moment in which Pixar could hire and grow more diverse talent. It could appoint and promote more female storytellers and leaders. It could continue to—and hopefully will—evolve into the trailblazing studio it has shown itself to be.
Innovation Simplified | [email protected] | P 646-257-5737 | © Future Think LLC. All rights reserved
Case StudyPixar
11
What Can You Learn from Pixar?Set a foundation that defines innovation objectives and mobilizes your efforts.Pixar views itself as a people business, not an idea business. Employees are encouraged to embrace experimentation, fail, and constantly improve.
• What are the guiding principles that define innovation for your organization?
• Which core values are your employees encouraged to embrace? How does your organization compel and support its people in this area?
Think differently to develop original ideas that drive business value. When creating a movie, Pixar taps outside experts to make the details in its films as authentic and imaginative as possible.
• How do you enrich and strengthen your new products and services in development?
• What new resources can you tap to bring new perspectives and learnings to a project?
Innovation Simplified | [email protected] | P 646-257-5737 | © Future Think LLC. All rights reserved
Case StudyPixar
12
Create a streamlined and flexible approach to shepherd innovative ideas to market. Pixar uses a 14-step program to make movies. Throughout this process, artists get real-time feedback that the entire team can learn from.
• What workflows do you have in place to move ideas forward, and improve them in the process?
Build a thriving work environment that drives innovation across your organization. At Pixar, the focus is on the team (not the individual). From its feedbacking sessions to the design of its headquarters, collaboration is the goal.
• What changes can you make to foster more collaboration among teams and other business units?
• How can you modify your physical work environment to encourage both formal and informal collaboration and interaction?
Innovation Simplified | [email protected] | P 646-257-5737 | © Future Think LLC. All rights reserved
Case StudyPixar
13
BIBLIOGRAPHY1 The Numbers. “All Time Worldwide Box Office.” TheNumbers.com. https://www.the-numbers.com/box-office-records/worldwide/all-movies/cumulative/all-time (accessed January 25, 2018).
2 The Numbers. “Box Office History for Disney-Pixar Movies.” TheNumbers.com. https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/production-company/Pixar (accessed January 25, 2018).
3 Wikipedia. “Pixar.” Wikipedia.com. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixar (accessed January 25, 2018).
4 Bloomberg Businessweek. “CEOs’ Picks: Most Innovative Companies.” Bloomberg.com. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2009-04-08/ceos-picks-most-innovative-companies (accessed January 25, 2018).
5 The Verge. “Disney to end Netflix deal and launch its own streaming service.” TheVerge.com. https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/8/16115254/disney-launching-streaming-service-ending-netflix-deal (accessed January 25, 2018).
6 Wikipedia. “Pixar.” Wikipedia.com. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixar (accessed January 25, 2018).
7 Lam, David. “Merger Synergies Through Workforce Reduction.” IveyBusinessJournal.com. https://iveybusinessjournal.com/publication/merger-synergies-through-workforce-reduction/ (accessed January 26, 2018).
8 Barnes, Brooks. “Disney and Pixar: The Power of the Prenup.” NYTimes.com. http://www.nytimes. com/2008/06/01/business/media/01pixar.html (accessed January 26, 2018).
9 Capodagli, Bill. “Pixar’s Eight Beliefs That Create a Culture of Passion.” i4CP. https://www.i4cp.com/productivity-blog/2010/11/08/pixar-s-eight-beliefs-that-create-a-culture-of-passion (accessed January 26, 2018).
10 Graser, Mark. “Pixar’s Payday.” Variety.com. http://variety.com/1999/film/news/pixar-s-payday-1117760211/ (accessed January 26, 2018).
11 Taylor, Bill. “Pixar’s Blockbuster Secrets.” HBR.org. https://hbr.org/2008/07/pixars-blockbuster-secrets (accessed January 26, 2018).
12 Lehrer, Jonah. “Animating a Blockbuster: How Pixar Built Toy Story 3.” Wired.com. https://www.wired.com/2010/05/process_pixar/ (accessed January 26, 2018).
13 Popova, Maria. “Pixar Cofounder Ed Catmull on Failure and Why Fostering a Fearless Culture Is the Key to Groundbreaking Creative Work.” BrainPickings.com. https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/05/02/creativity-inc-ed-catmull-book/ (accessed January 26, 2018).
14 O’Hara, Helen. “The Secret of Pixar’s Success.” EmpireOnline.com. www.empireonline.com/features/secret-of-pixars-success/p5 (accessed January 26, 2018).
15 Lighthouse. “10 Key Ed Catmull Quotes on Leadership from ‘Creativity, Inc’.” GetLighthouse.com. https://getlighthouse.com/blog/ed-catmull-quotes-leadership-creativity-inc/ (accessed January 25, 2018).
16 Verweire, Kurt. Strategy Implementation. London, England: Routledge, 2014.
17 Buckley, A.M. Pixar: The Company and Its Founders. Minnesota, USA: Essential Library, 2011.
18 Taylor, William. “How Pixar Adds a New School of Thought to Disney.” NYTimes.com. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/29/business/yourmoney/how-pixar-adds-a-new-school-of-thought-to-disney.html (accessed January 30, 2018).
Innovation Simplified | [email protected] | P 646-257-5737 | © Future Think LLC. All rights reserved
Case StudyPixar
14
19 Office Snap Shots. “Pixar Headquarters and the Legacy of Steve Jobs.” OfficeSnapShots.com. https://officesnapshots.com/2012/07/16/pixar-headquarters-and-the-legacy-of-steve-jobs/ (accessed January 30, 2018).
20 Catmull, Edwin. “Chapter 1: Animated.” Creativity Inc. New York: Random House, 2014.
21 Rao, Hayagreeva. “Innovation Lessons from Pixar: An Interview with Oscar-Winning Director Brad Bird.” McKinsey.com. https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/innovation-lessons-from-pixar-an-interview-with-oscar-winning-director-brad-bird (accessed January 30, 2018).
22 Office Snap Shots. “Pixar Headquarters and the Legacy of Steve Jobs.” OfficeSnapShots.com. https://officesnapshots.com/2012/07/16/pixar-headquarters-and-the-legacy-of-steve-jobs/ (accessed January 30, 2018).
23 Bell, Chris. “Monsters University: what’s it like to work at Pixar?” Telegraph.co.uk. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/10144531/Monsters-University-whats-it-like-to-work-at-Pixar.html (accessed January 30, 2018).
24 Office Snap Shots. “Pixar Headquarters and the Legacy of Steve Jobs.” OfficeSnapShots.com. https://officesnapshots.com/2012/07/16/pixar-headquarters-and-the-legacy-of-steve-jobs/ (accessed January 30, 2018).
25 Rasmusson Software Consulting. “Hiring at Pixar.” Rasmusson.Wordpress.com. www.rasmusson.wordpress.com/2009/02/10/hiring-at-pixar/ (accessed January 30, 2018).
26 Rao, Hayagreeva. “Innovation Lessons from Pixar: An Interview with Oscar-Winning Director Brad Bird.” McKinsey.com. https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/innovation-lessons-from-pixar-an-interview-with-oscar-winning-director-brad-bird (accessed January 30, 2018).
27 Williams, Chuck. Management. Mason, Ohio: South-Western College Publishers, 2012.
28 RenderMan. “At the Movies.” RenderMan.Pixar.com. https://renderman.pixar.com/products/whats_renderman/movies.html (accessed January 31, 2018).
29 Frazer, Bryant. “Pixar Open-Sources Universal Scene Description.” StudioDaily.com. http://www.studiodaily.com/2016/07/pixar-open-sources-universal-scene-description/ (accessed January 31, 2018).
30 Pixar. “RenderMan.” Pixar.com. https://www.pixar.com/renderman#renderman-main (accessed January 31, 2018).
31 The Khan Academy. “Pixar in a Box.” KhanAcademy.org. https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/pixar (accessed January 31, 2018).
32 Rhodes, Margaret. “Perfecting Pixar’s Movies Takes a Crazy Amount of Research.” Wired.com. https://www.wired.com/2015/10/perfecting-pixars-movies-takes-crazy-amount-research/ (accessed January 31, 2018).
33 Lamar, Cyriaque. “The 22 rules of storytelling, according to Pixar.” io9.Gizmodo.com. https://io9.gizmodo.com/5916970/the-22-rules-of-storytelling-according-to-pixar (accessed January 31, 2018).
34 Cooper Hewitt Museum. “Pixar: The Design of Story. CooperHewitt.org. https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/exhibitions/102147315/text/ (accessed January 31, 2018).
35 Robertson, Barbara. “The Shape of Animation.” CGW.com. http://www.cgw.com/Publications/CGW/2009/Volume-32-Issue-6-June-2009-/The-Shape-of-Animation.aspx (accessed January 31, 2018).
36 Pixar Wiki. “Outtakes.” PixarWiki.com. http://pixar.wikia.com/Outtakes (accessed January 31, 2018).
Innovation Simplified | [email protected] | P 646-257-5737 | © Future Think LLC. All rights reserved
Case StudyPixar
15
37 Roberto, Michael A. How Business Leaders Avoid Conflict. Financial Times Press: Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 2013.
38 Rao, Hayagreeva. “Innovation Lessons from Pixar: An Interview with Oscar-Winning Director Brad Bird.” McKinsey.com. https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/innovation-lessons-from-pixar-an-interview-with-oscar-winning-director-brad-bird (accessed January 30, 2018).
39 Brandom, Russell. “Throwing shade: how Pixar changed the way light works for Monsters University.” TheVerge.com. https://www.theverge.com/2013/6/21/4446606/how-pixar-changed-the-way-light-works-for-monsters-university (accessed January 30, 2018).
40 Catmull, Ed. “How Pixar Fosters Collective Creativity.” HBR.org. https://hbr.org/2008/09/how-pixar-fosters-collective-creativity (accessed February 4, 2018).
41 Casali, Davide. “Pixar’s Plussing technique of giving feedback.” IntenseMinimalism.com. https://intenseminimalism.com/2015/pixars-plussing-technique-of-giving-feedback/ (accessed January 30, 2018).
42 Burkus, David. “Why Fighting For Our Ideas Makes Them Better.” 99U.com. http://99u.com/articles/7224/why-fighting-for-our-ideas-makes-them-better (accessed January 30, 2018).
43 Stallard, Michael Lee. “3 Ways Pixar Gains Competitive Advantage from Its Culture.” http://www.michaelleestallard.com/3-ways-pixar-gains-competitive-advantage-culture (accessed February 1, 2018).
44 Loftus, Tom. “Pixar President Urges Companies to Tolerate Failure and Mess.” Blogs.WSJ.com. https://blogs.wsj.com/cio/2015/10/07/pixar-president-urges-companies-to-tolerate-failure-and-mess/ (accessed February 1, 2018).
45 Takahashi, Dean. “Disney Pixar takes first step into virtual reality with the skeleton world of Coco VR.” VentureBeat.com. https://venturebeat.com/2017/11/15/disney-pixar-takes-first-step-into-virtual-reality-with-coco-vr/ (accessed February 4, 2018).
46 Business Insider. “The ‘Pixar of virtual reality’ raises $25 million in new funding.” BusinessInsider.com. http://www.businessinsider.com/pixar-of-virtual-reality-raised-millions-2016-10 (accessed February 4, 2018).
47 Flokenflick, David. “Disney Plans To End Netflix Contracts And Launch Its Own Streaming Services.” NPR.org. https://www.npr.org/2017/08/09/542468230/disney-plans-to-end-netflix-contracts-and-launch-its-own-streaming-services (accessed February 4, 2018).
48 Knowledge@Wharton. “If Disney Builds a Streaming Service, Will They Come?” Knowledge.Wharton.UPenn.com. http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/disney-builds-streaming-service-will-come/ (accessed February 4, 2018).
49 Barnes, Brooks. “John Lasseter, a Pixar Founder, Takes Leave After Missteps.” https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/21/business/media/john-lasseter-pixar-disney-leave.html (accessed February 4, 2018).
50 Desta, Yohana. “Pixar’s Had a Problem with Women for Decades.” VanityFair.com. https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/11/pixar-john-lasseter-boys-club (accessed February 4, 2018).
51 Leszkiewicz, Anna. “Pixar has always been a boys’ club.” NewStatesmen.com. https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/film/2017/11/pixar-has-always-been-boys-club (accessed February 4, 2018).
