Week 2 Reading Reflection
Learning about Pixar’s methodology in maintaining a creative environment was very surprising. It was interesting to see how they prioritized who the individuals were over their ideas. The reasoning behind this preference was to ensure that not only good ideas are generated but also executed as intended. A key quote that stood out in the reading was, “If you give a good idea to a mediocre team, they’ll screw it up. But if you give a mediocre idea to a great team, they’ll make it work.” Though a bit harsh in my opinion (as execution and how to approach problems can come with experience), it is a fair conclusion to make. Pixar primarily looks for talented individuals and not necessarily “skilled” individuals in their creative teams. Once these individuals are found, they are provided with a lot of creative freedom over their work. Pixar trusts their creative directors and helps them bring their imaginative ideas to life. By fully trusting their creative teams, Pixar has been able to produce remarkable and unique films that garnered their audience approval. This shows how taking leaps of faith is essential when coming up with innovative and creative ideas (as also expressed by Samsung’s approach to design).
It’s also interesting to see how Pixar builds a creative environment during review sessions. Using the brain trust concept, individuals can freely express their opinions and ideas constructively without worrying about authoritative positions, which is a key aspect to this brain trust approach. It helps the participants unfilter their ideas, which leads to more creative and productive review sessions.
Additionally, Samsung’s creative evolution over the years highlights the importance of not getting too comfortable with a design. For example, Samsung’s successful Galaxy Note series would not have been possible without leaving behind an older design and reshaping how they thought about their devices. It shows that in order to come up with innovative and competitive ideas in the market, it is important to take risks.
Additionally, it is important to have individuals who are proficient in the different fields in order to communicate design effectively between the different sub-teams. For instance, Lee Min-Hyouk, Samsung’s creative director, had to persuade the engineering team to adopt a certain design. He was able to convince them by “speaking in their language” and coming up with a hardware design that enhanced the efficiency of signal reception. Then, he had to convince the supplier by inventing a cost-effective supply-chain model that would distribute one model for one client. Including multi-skilled individuals teams prevents conflicts and overall provides better communication to come up with a holistic design.
