Pixar Management Style -- Key to Creative Success

Terrific piece from the LA Times by Entertainment reporter Claudia Eller a few weeks ago on Pixar's Ed Catmull, the management the person who's infused the successful creative culture of his company.

"The 61-year-old computer scientist, who is also president of Pixar, is nothing short of a spiritual leader, his colleagues say -- a soft-spoken man whose personal philosophies infuse the Pixar culture that has produced nothing but blockbusters.

"Ed is the reason we're all here," said Lasseter, noting Catmull's anti-bureaucratic, artist-driven, bottom-up management style.

"He's the ultimate parent -- he helps you be the best you can be..."

"Sometimes, it's the leadership that's blocking something," Catmull said in a recent interview in his new office at Disney, a place where animators have griped for decades about being micromanaged. "I've always believed that you shape the management team around the talent rather than try to force people into a certain way of doing it."

It's too early to know. But already, Disney animators say a remarkable change is taking place.

The principles that guides Catmull's management style according to the piece:

1. Hire people who are smarter than you.
2. Invest in people -- a priority over investing in ideas.
3. If your film audience is everyone, you should listen to everyone.
4. A series of successes can hide problems, so learn when you make mistakes.