Thoughts on Creativity, Inc. - Part 1

The idea of breaking down the incredible book, Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull and Amy Wallace, has proven to be a daunting effort. I am not here to write a review, but instead to share some thoughts and observations I made when reading the book. I’ve decided to break these thoughts up into several parts over the coming days and weeks.

I should start by making it absolutely clear that I can not recommend this book more highly. Regardless of the kind of work that you or your company does, I believe everyone will find this book to be insightful and inspirational. It is, without a doubt, a must read, and is currently towards the top of my list of all time favorite books.

One of the first insights in the book, that I believe help to set the tone overall, is when Catmull talks about the differences between American and Japanese manufacturing processes in the 40’s and 50’s.

Here, he describes the primary method used in America (emphasis mine):

Only upper managers were given the authority to halt the line.

Contrasted to the method used in Japan (emphasis also mine):

The responsibility for finding and fixing problems should be assigned to every employee,

I love this. And, as it would later turn out, this key difference led the Japanese to achieve massive success in production quality.

But if you don’t work in manufacturing, what does this have to do with you? Let me share the line that is what I ended up highlighting when I first read it:

The responsibility for finding and fixing problems should be assigned to every employee

This is so liberating, yet so challenging to do. In future posts, I’ll share some insights and methods that Catmull identifies for systemitizing this. It doesn’t happen overnight, and it’s not as simple as simply asking people to raise their hand if they see a problem. But, it definitely does help to start by recognizing that problems, and solutions, don’t always come from upper management. Here’s another quote from the book:

It’s only possible when managers understand that others see problems they don’t—and that they also see solutions.

If you oversee other individuals, a team, a department, or a company, free yourself from the idea that identifying problems and solutions come from you and you alone. In fact, it could be wreckless if you don’t recognize that. I also reocommend that you check out the Freakonomics Podcast episode called Failure Is Your Friend. It addresses, amongst other things, the dangers of having “Go fever,” which I’m sure many of us can identify with.

So where are there problems that you don’t see? Similarly, where are there solutions that you haven’t yet looked? And lastly, how do you foster a culture that puts a “cord” in every employee’s hands who sees a problem?