Catmull, E. (2008, September). How Pixar Fosters Collective Creativity. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2008/09/how-pixar-fosters-collective-creativity
Pixar is a creative powerhouse, continuously releasing popular movies with unique concepts. They didn’t stumble upon this success. Rather, they’ve intentionally created processes and a culture that fosters creativity. Pixar’s leadership plans for failure, making it safe and acceptable for employees to take creative risks. They’ve built a culture where any employee at any level feels it’s safe to be honest and that their thoughts are valued. Pixar’s incubation teams help identify combinations of employees who will work effectively and creatively together, increasing the likelihood of producing unique and successful films. Every single person working on a film has creative ownership of at least one task. These are just some of the many structures and processes in place to foster creativity at Pixar.
As a social media director, I lead a team that is continuously working to come up with new, creative, effective ways to engage our audience on social media. Concepts that Pixar uses to foster creativity, such as supporting new yet risky ideas and giving each person creative ownership of a task, can be replicated to foster my team’s creativity, too.
Learning Outcome 3: Address complex challenges by collaboratively leading teams across disciplines, distances, and sectors.
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