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CREATIVITY UN-LTD
DETLEF REIS
Have you ever seen one of the awesome computer-animated movies from the Pixar Animation Studios? Over recent decades, blockbuster movies such as Toy Story, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille and, most recently, Wall-E have wowed younger and older movie-goers around the globe.
Pixar's chief creative officer is John Lasseter, regarded by many as the modern Walt Disney and the winner of several Academy Awards for his creative work. In an interview with the German newsmagazine Sueddeutsche Zeitung (http://www.sueddeutsche.de/jobkarriere/artikel/855/136584/), John Lasseter talked about seven creative principles that enable Pixar to produce magical stories release after release. Below I give my translations of his advice together with my own comments on how this can be applied to business. Enjoy the creative advice of the Pixar magician.
1. Never come up with just one idea. "Regardless of whether you want to write a book, design a piece of furniture or make an animated movie: At the beginning, don't start with just one idea - it should be three.
"The reason is simple. If a producer comes to me with a proposal for a new project, then usually he has mulled over this particular idea for a very long time. That limits him. My answer always reads: 'Come again when you have three ideas, and I don't mean one good and two bad. I want three really good ideas, of which you cannot decide the best. You must be able to defend all three before me. Then we'll decide which one you'll realise.'
"The problem with creative people is that they often focus their whole attention on one idea. So, right at the beginning of a project, you unnecessarily limit your options. Every creative person should try that out. You will be surprised how this requirement suddenly forces you to think about things you hadn't even considered before. Through this detachment, you suddenly gain new perspectives. And believe me, there are always three good ideas. At least."
My comment: Being forced to produce at least three quality ideas allows a creator to detach from the first solution - and helps gain new perspectives and find additional solutions. When you work on any creative project, develop at least three good solutions. Leonardo da Vinci applied the same principle in his work, for example in his anatomical drawings, by sketching parts of the human body from at least three different perspectives. At Thinkergy, we've integrated this principle into our method, too. In Stage D (Development) of our X-IDEA Creative Process, every participant needs to develop at least three meaningful solutions. Only then can you start having choices.
2. Remember the first laugh. "A big problem in the creative process is related to the enhancement of your ideas," cautions Mr Lasseter. "Revising, retouching, refining is very important, but it carries a danger.
"If you have a story, a joke, a thought, which you write down, it loses its effect over time. It wears itself out. When you hear a joke for the second time you still laugh heartily, on the third or fourth occasion already less so, and when you hear it the hundredth time, you hate it.
"I say to my authors: 'Take notice of the first laugh, write it down if necessary.' This may at times be bothersome, but it is important. Many times, good things got lost because people could not remember anymore how it felt when they heard the idea for the first time."
My comment: In a brainstorming session, highlight an idea that makes you (and other brainstormers in your team) laugh spontaneously (e.g. by adding an asterisk behind the idea or by underlining it). Then, capture all the very funny ideas on a separate note that you keep handy for review in later stages of the creative process. As already noted by David Ogilvy, the "father of advertising": "The best ideas come as jokes. Make your thinking as funny as possible."
3. Quality is a great business plan. Period. "There is a crucial rule: no compromises. No compromises on quality - regardless of production constraints, cost constraints, or a deadline. If you get a better idea, and this means that you have to start again from scratch, then that's what you have to do.
"In any creative industry, quality is the sole business plan that prevails in the long run. Many managers fail to understand that, but the spectators understand it. The process is only finished once the creative professional in charge says it's finished. That does not mean that there isn't to be any pressure - there's pressure all the time anyway - but the individual creator always needs to have the last word."
My comment: Don't rush an innovation project toward premature implementation or final closure. Great creative work follows its own time. Trust the intuitive judgment of the creative team member in charge of the creative task. If the solution does not feel right, don't implement or launch it yet. The right solution needs to be beautiful, as Richard Buckminster Fuller advocates: "When I am working on a problem I never think about beauty. I think only how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong."
In two weeks' time, we will continue this article with the remaining four creative principles of Pixar. Then, John Lasseter will share with you the secrets of his successful creative leadership approach and talk about innovation-friendly cultural factors at Pixar.
Dr Detlef Reis is a university lecturer for Business Creativity and Innovation Leadership at the College of Management, Mahidol University. He is also the founding director of Thinkergy Limited (http://www.Thinkergy.com), the Idea Company in Asia. He can be reached at dr.d@thinkergy.com
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