Prayer and Faith

In church this last Sunday, the speakers were giving us talks about faith. Faith is not belief. Faith is acting on a belief. I have a testimony or a belief that God is real and that He listens and answers prayers. Faith is both making time and taking the time to nurture my personal relationship I have with both God the Eternal Father and His Son and my Savior, Jesus Christ. Faith is taking the time to pray and seek revelation. But it begs the question of how do we pray and what should we pray for?

One of the speakers used the following scriptures from Matthew 7:

8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 

9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 

10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? 

11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? 

12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

So this made me think for a minute about the parents I had seen in my life. My brother and his wife have three amazing daughters but they are the pickiest eaters known to man. They will not eat certain things and others they have appetites like a bottomless pit. So if they asked for dessert, would I give it to them as a parent? In all cases, I would want to but in some cases, I wouldn't give it to them because perhaps they hadn't finished their dinner yet or we had dessert the night before. Sometimes they ask for cake and we give them salad or vegetables instead. Are we ignoring their "prayers?" Are we giving them a "stone" or a "serpent?" Am I punishing them?

Regardless of whether or not the things we pray for are righteous desires, God has a timetable. He has a plan. People have their agency and it makes tough to see or understand why things happen and sometimes the why is simply because it was result of a variety of choices various people made and nothing more. Bring it back to prayer, why does God sometimes gives us exactly what we ask for and sometimes he doesn't? It isn't because He didn't hear us.

It is because we didn't hear Him or weren't in tune with the Spirit when we prayed.

We weren't asking for the real blessings that He has in store for us and He wants so badly to give to us, but requires us to ask for them.

It's interesting in thinking about the parallels or similarities between our temporal or mortal relationships and the ones we have with God. There are people in my life that I care immensely about and I would be willing to do anything for but I can't help if they won't ask for it. And even if they ask, if they aren't specific in exactly what they want, that makes room for miscommunication and misinterpretations of intentions and often leads to mistakes. I feel like it isn't most people's intention to upset or hurt one another, but there are the few exceptions where people are only looking out for themselves or for their own personal gain or pleasure. I do my best to avoid those people at all costs.

It's hard to be honest and supportive and put yourself out there all the time but it is part of life and it is unavoidable. You have to be vulnerable and genuine and authentic at times. You should try to be loyal. There are going to be times when people make mistakes or have hard days and you need to be there to pick each other up. But if people can't sustain you or support you or being willing to work things out with you, it begs the question if it is still worth it. How hard is it to say I am sorry? I made a mistake. And yet, we let pride get in the way and we don't realize what we lost for the sake of our pride until it is already gone. I have done that before and I have promised myself that I wouldn't let it happen again. The hardest part for me is to draw the line on how many chances I am willing to give. When do we stop giving? How long should I be patient and continue to support and listen and be there for someone before it is time to simply let them know that although you care, you need to walk away? At what point has loyalty become stupidity and being used by other people?

Going back to the scriptural reference, I think the only thing we can really know is that God listens, He wants to bless us, and He will bless us in His time and in the way that will bless us the most... Even when those blessings come in a manner that we weren't asking for, like in the form of a trial. And if we do stop listening to Him, we have to earn back His trust when it comes to listening to and following the Spirit like we would when we build back trust in our temporal relationships. He never left us but we left Him. He isn't a genie granting our wishes. He is our Father in Heaven trying to help mold us and guide us as we grow and sometimes growth is painful.

Lunch Breaks with TED

Currently, I have been trying to find effective uses of my time while taking breaks at work. One of the things I like to do is read my scriptures on my phone and I recently started watching TED talks. There are certainly TED classics... Brene Brown talking about Vulnerability, Steve Jobs discussing how to live before we die, and Linda Hill and Ken Robinson speaking on creativity. Recently, I found a few more great thoughts that I will have to watch again and again to really comprehend and understand what they were talking about.

The first was the follow-up talk by Brene Brown about her research on shame. It made me ask a few questions: Why do we want to stay small? Why do we think vulnerability is a weakness? What are we afraid of people knowing about ourselves? Vulnerability is emotional risk and uncertainty. "It is our most accurate measurement of courage. To be vulnerable, to let ourselves be seen, to be honest.... Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity, and change."

We are driven by failure. It motivates us to keep going and to work through until we finally succeed. She recites a quote by Theodore Roosevolt called "The Man In The Arena." Fantastic quote... Shame is personal and is a focus on self. It is two statements: "Never good enough" and "Who do you think you are?" It is the difference between I made a mistake, which is guilt, and I am the mistake. The ability to feel and recognize guilt is difficult but healthy and adaptive. Women feel shame in trying to do everything and do it perfectly without people recognizing how hard you work. Men feel shame when they are perceived as being weak... Emotionally, physically, etc. Shame can't survive when we have someone that can say "Me too." Shame dies when someone can show us empathy.

"You show me a woman who can actually sit with a man in real vulnerability and fear, I'll show you a woman who has done incredible work. You show me a man who can sit with a woman who has just had it, she can't do it all any more, and his first response is not 'I UNLOADED THE DISHWASHER!!' but he really listens (because that's all we need), I'll show you a guy who has done a lot of work."

The next talk was by Tony Robbins who I first heard of as a life coach when I visited Australia. He sounded like a fascinating individual and when I saw his TED talk online, I thought I should give it a listen and I am glad I did. He gave an interesting talk about personal drivers or motivators we have today, which are generally governed by our emotions or human needs.

Most people say we can't achieve our goals because we didn't have the resources we needed to succeed... knowledge, money, time, technology, management, etc. Robbins says that the true defining factor is RESOURCEFULNESS and not resources. Human emotion... He breaks down into creativity, passion, curiosity, determination, love, resolve, etc. What are we going to be emotional about right now at this time?

The 3 Decisions of Destiny revolve around 3 questions: What am I going to focus on? Focus creates meaning. What does it mean? Meaning creates emotion or causes us to act. What are you going to do? These decisions can shape our lives. Our model of the world shapes our perspective of how we see the world: Needs, Belief System, and Emotions. The 6 Human Needs are:

• Needs of the Personality
• (1) Certainty,
• (2) Uncertainty/Variety, 
• (3) Significance,
• (4) Connection/Love,
• Needs of the Spirit
• (5) Growth,
• and (6) Contribute Beyond Ourselves

These needs are all weighted differently for every person and we all have different belief systems. This is why we have so many different people around us. Our perspectives change when we add meaning or emotion to things and this is even more true with those of us who have faced death. The best answer in his opinion is to give our all and serve someone else. Learn to appreciate other people.

These both led me to think a lot about a concept that I feel can be a great driver in many aspects of our lives which is personal accountability. What are you proud of? What are you responsible for? What is the impact that you leave? There is a company called Profiles of Leadership and they focus on how personal accountability can positively affect teams. I feel like if we can combine all these concepts of authenticity and vulnerability, resourcefulness and emotion, and lastly teamwork and accountability, we can become truly great. We can move people and change cultures and society. I will come back to this in the future but I feel like this a great foundation and it is easily connected or parallel to my personal spiritual beliefs as well, which is a great segway back to the beginning... Lunch breaks where I read my scriptures on my smartphone. Thanks TED!

Patience... My Young Padawan

The title for this post is ridiculously nerdy and stupid but sadly enough it fits... I am frustrated right now. At 27 years old, I am learning how to date all over again. I like one of my friends in my ward. We go on dates and hang out a lot but this actually may be hindering me as much as it is helping me. She has a really tough job and we talk a fair bit so I want to see her and spend time with her partially because as her friend, I want to help her to be happy and selfishly, it makes me happy. I really like spending time with her! However, it can be too much at times or more accurately I can be.

She knows that I like her more than just friends and she knows that I am willing and want to see if we can move in that direction. So with that sitting in the back of her mind, she feels a lot of pressure to be at the same place as me but it takes her more time than me to naturally move from friends to deeper feelings, so in turn I feel the opposite pressure to be self-aware and slow down. The more time we spend together the harder that is for me and she feels subconsciously some guilt that she isn't there already too. It has been a month... Maybe even three weeks... I can't remember. The hardest part is I think I am slowing down when I'm really not and I don't even notice it. So instead of continuing to try and fail to figure out what is the right pace for her, I'm just going to give her the keys and let her drive for a bit until I can really understand where she's comfortable.

I want her to be happy and spending time together makes us both happy but for starters, when we spend time together I need to keep it lighthearted and not so deep. We need to do "friend" things and do more relaxed activities. I want her to feel comfortable and I want to be friends regardless of what happens so this is super hard for me to bury any feelings and thoughts that I might have for her. I have tried to turn that part of me off for years so I could go slower but it's never worked. I guess I am going to have to try a little harder this time. I like this girl and I feel like she is worth the wait however being patient is going to be super tough.

It is going to be hard to bury my feelings. It is going to be hard to not be jealous when she creates friendships and spends quality time with other guys. I'm really not okay with that but honestly, it is a great thing for her to make a bunch of friends, get her feet settled here, and really figure out if she wants to date me and if she has those feelings for me. I feel like I want to do the same but I don't want to push her away either so instead of dating around, I think I might just get a gym membership or something. And I hate gyms... (Sigh). Who knows? Maybe if I get my sexy on that might speed up the process. Hahaha... Seriously though, it is going to be hard to see her struggle with the difficulties of her job and not be able to support her because of the possibility of scaring her off or coming on too strong. She can be jealous if I spend time with other girls or feel scared or guilty because of where I am emotionally in comparison to her. It is going to take time and it is going to be hard but that IS natural. Relationships don't come easy and they take work and time.

Christiana:  She says that if you love her, you will not lose another match. She says that if you love her, you will win this tournament.

Chaucer:  There she is William. The embodiment of love. Your Venus.

William:  And how I hate her.

Regardless of how frustrated I feel, we both simply need to be more present. She has a lot of fear of commitment and I don't know if comes from not wanting to get hurt herself or hurting others in the future or it could be associated with some part of her past or a past relationship. My anxiety comes from the possibility of missing an opportunity or not being enough. If I could learn to just focus on the now at all times instead of only when I am with her then I wouldn't worry or think about things that are out of my control. I guess the only way to see what will happen is to keep trying and wait and see if anything changes. I really hope that it does...

Down the Rabbit Hole

I have always thought that the phrase falling in love was funny. It made me think of different cartoons that I watched when I was kid where little hearts came out of someone's eyes and floated up like balloons or when Thumper gets twitter patted during the movie Bambi. I always thought it was kind of ridiculous and then it happened to some of my friends. I have one friend who lives in Arizona. Growing up he was the personification of machismo. He was recognized for his athleticism, super popular in school, and basically was a great kid on all fronts. He meets a girl during college and now the types of things he posts on Facebook about his wife would make a Hallmark card embarrassed and he does it all the time! He isn't the only one either! I have a long list of "whipped" friends who are so caught up in their relationships that at times it can almost make you gag. How did this happen?

Simply put, they fell down the rabbit hole. You find something or someone that peaks your curiosity and eventually as you continue to observe and watch and follow it, you suddenly find that you tripped and fell and there you are falling down into this world where nothing makes any sense. I can describe it this way because I feel like it has happened to me before and I am sure it will happen to me again. Even recently, I have had a similar experience.

I began messaging a girl that had a few questions about the church I attend that had recently moved into the area. At first I was simply answering questions and giving a general description about our congregation but then the conversation continued. And it continued. And then little did I realize how much we ended up talking about and I decided I should meet this girl so I found a way to do that and I did. The more time I spent with her, getting to know her, and sharing experiences with her, the more I was impressed and intrigued by her. She has so many amazing qualities and characteristics that I admire and look for that I was surprised to have also found them all wrapped up in such a cute little package. I found myself losing track of time when I was around her. I would drive for a hour just to see her. I smile just thinking about her and all I want is for her to be happy.

Then I realized where I was and what I was doing. I was falling. How long had I actually gotten to know her? How much time had I actually spent with her? And how much time had I spent without her? Did she have anyone to compare me to? I suddenly began to see and hear all of these questions come pouring into my mind that I hadn't stopped to consider because I had simply begun to fall. Is it really mutual? What's the point? Am I going to screw it up? Is it going to work out? But then the last question and the only one that really matters came to mind: Is she worth it? And as unexpectedly as the fall began, you begin to embrace it for what it is. It is simply the cost or sacrifice of finding out if things are real. So am I in love? It is hard to say but I am definitely at least heading in that direction.

Still, I have been down the rabbit hole before and in the past I have been crushed pretty hard. How did that happen? Well, I chose to simply free fall to the bottom and hoped that I wouldn't splat on the ground at the bottom because somehow she would catch me. I trusted someone that I didn't truly know. But is that wrong? Is it wrong to put your trust in people? I don't think so but I would clearly prefer to instead have a controlled fall and slow it down a bit by throwing out the parachute somewhere along the way. So I am falling and still looking to see where this will go and what will happen in the end, but this time I am also trying to slow down enough so I can truly understand who I am falling for.

Waking Up

The mind likes to play games with us. It takes our desires and filters all of our thoughts through them and then I like to think about them, some more than others. After I have observed the people around me, their actions, interactions with me and others, and think about what other people say... I become a mental mess when it comes to over analyzing. However, I want to illustrate how my mind likes to use this to design my dreams.

I am a social person. At work, I love to sit in groups of people and talk about life as I am performing my due diligence and plugging along on a project. I love to talk with people, message people, and be friendly with strangers. I like to have conversations with people so I can try and understand their train of thought and experiences. I love a good story. One of my greatest desires that I think I have is that I want to come home to someone. I don't like to be alone even when I am home. I want to spend quality time with that person, talk and laugh, travel, go out, stay in, and I genuinely want that person to be some I could trust with anything... A best friend. It would also help to be of the opposite gender and that we were married - I want that in my life.

So when I am just working on things alone or I am exhausted and need time to rest, my mind tends to wander. And because that desire is core to everything I want and something that motivates me. Although I have no control over it whatsoever, it is where my mind will run to. And it isn't a negative place when I am alone. It is a hopeful one where I imagine what it would be like to spend time or have the relationship that I wish I had in my life with another person. The irony and cruelty of the mind is that with all our creativity, it can only use ideas, thoughts, or images that you have already seen somewhere in your consciousness. It can create new connections or relationships in our dreams but with people we already know or have seen. In our mind, we can dream about relationships from our past or ones that we hope to have in the future.

The thing I find encouraging is that no matter what my mind conceives, the dreams and images are pure. They are clean. Thoughts of time spent together, dates or spending time with friends or family, or maybe even having a future family and what that would be like. I imagine us spending a weekend out with friends at someone's house or cabin, being on a road trip, exploring some shops along a coast or even playing games with my family. I put how I would imagine they would act like or behave. The cruel part is when there comes a point in my dream where I notice the "nature of the dream" and realize that it isn't reality. Then I am faced with a choice to control the dream from then on out although it has lost its savor of feeling real or accept that I am single and alone.

The only good way of dealing with your dreams is to have the courage to try and make them a reality. Act on your dreams and take the chance. The worst thing you can have happen if they don't come true is to find a new dream.

Control Our Choices

One chapter in my life has closed and another has begun. College has been the main focus in my life for the last 7 years and now that it is over, things are going to have to change. No more tests, homework, assignments, or grades. (Just kidding... I am now studying for the Series #7 and Series #63 exams because I am going to working for Fidelity Investments.) No more all-nighters or roommates (until I get married and have kids) or random midnight runs for food (unless my sisters are insomniacs too and then Red Arrow Diner, here we come!). Things are just changing and to be honest, I am still trying to find my footing.

People sometimes say that we are our own biggest critics and I agree. I put huge expectations in my life and to be perfectly honest, I can't think of a single one that I actually met. I have definitely put forth my best effort but the not-so-simple-yet-simple answer is that we can't control our own lives or any other person's life for that matter. The only thing we truly can control is our own choices. Bad things happen to good people and karma doesn't always deal out justice in a timely fashion. Life isn't that black and white... good and bad... because honestly, we all are a little grey. What I am trying to say is that for every choice that we make we don't get to pick the consequences for that choice. For instance, I went to graduate school and got a MBA to increase my career opportunities. My expectation was that after graduation I would have better opportunities right out the gate but that was not the case. Don't get me wrong: I am grateful for the opportunity that I do have; it is with a solid company, great benefits, and I am going to learn a lot; but again my "great expectations" need to be accompanied with a great deal of patience. Things will happen eventually but I need to work hard now and my ambitions will be met later. Answers, like I said before, are not that simple.

Waiting for and expecting things to get better doesn't make people happy. It makes them, speaking for myself, over eager. Yes - I need to work hard as I wait for the right opportunity to present itself but I also need to choose to be happy. I need to live in the present and not wait for the future. My old roommate Tim talked to me about this all the time and he was right. Do I know why I am here? For work sure but no, not really. I don't really know why all my other opportunities didn't work out or out of all the parallel paths I could be on, why I am here now. I can think that I control my life but I don't. So instead of wasting time, I need to see what I do have around me and start checking out all of those possibilities. Time to enjoy the ride and make the most of it! This is my attempt of letting go and saying to the world, "Let's go. Bring it on."

The Pixar Way

BPlans is an online small business planning resource. They collected 37 choice quotes from Creativity Inc. that demonstrate how to develop and maintain a creative company, and paired them with images from Pixar's award-winning films and two upcoming features (Inside Out and The Good Dinosaur).

"We believe that ideas only become great when they are challenged and tested."

 

"A hallmark of a healthy creative culture is that its people feel free to share ideas, opinions, and criticisms. Lack of candor, if unchecked, ultimately leads to dysfunctional environments."

 

"Seek out people who are willing to level with you, and when you find them, hold them close."

 

"Mistakes aren't a necessary evil. They aren't evil at all. They are an inevitable consequence of doing something new."

 

"To be wrong as fast as you can is to sign up for aggressive, rapid learning."

 

"For leaders especially, this strategy - trying to avoid failure by out-thinking it - dooms you to fail."

 

"To be a truly creative company, you must start things that might fail."

 

"There are two parts to any failure: There is the event itself, with all its attendant disappointment, confusion, and shame, and then there is our reaction to it. It is this second part that we control."

 

"A manager's default mode should not be secrecy."

 

"You employees are smart; that's why you hired them. So treat them that way."

 

"Rather than trying to prevent all errors, we should assume, as is almost always the case, that our people's intentions are good and that they want to solve problems."

 

"Our job is to protect our [new ideas] from being judged too quickly. Our job is to protect the new."

 

"Part of our job is to protect the new from people who don't understand that, in order for greatness to emerge, there must be phases of not-so-greatness."

 

"Making something great is the goal."

 

"The system is tilted to favor the incumbent. The challenger needs support to find its footing. And protection of the new - of the future, not the past - must be a conscious effort."

 

"It's folly to think you can avoid change, no matter how much you might want to. But also, to my mind, you shouldn't want to. There is no growth or success without change."

 

"Randomness is not just inevitable; it is part of the beauty of life. Acknowledging it and appreciating it helps us respond constructively when we are surprised."

 

"If we make room for it instead of shunning it, the unknown can bring inspiration and originality."

 

"We must meet unexpected problems with unexpected responses."

 

"Change is inevitable... Working with change is what creativity is about."

 

"If you don't try to uncover what is unseen and understand its nature, you will be ill prepared to lead."

 

"Acknowledging what you can't see... Helps promote flexibility."

 

"The most creative people are willing to work in the shadow of uncertainty."

 

"I believe that we all have the potential to solve problems and express ourselves creatively. What stands in our way are these hidden barriers - the misconceptions and assumptions that impede us without our knowing it."

 

"I believe that you should not be required to justify everything. We must always leave the door open for the unexpected."

 

"The attempt to avoid failure makes failure more likely."

 

"Driving the train doesn't set its course. The real job is laying the track."

 

"In my experience, creative people discover and realize their visions over time and through dedicated, protracted struggle."

 

"Earning trust takes time; there's no shortcut to understanding that we really do rise and fall together."

 

"Easy isn't the goal. Quality is the goal."

"What is the point of hiring smart people if you don't empower them to fix what's broken?"

"There is nothing like a crisis to bring what ails a company to the surface."

"Managers of creative companies must never forget to ask themselves: 'How do we tap the brainpower of our people?'"

"It is precisely by acting on our intentions and staying true to our values that we change the world."

"Real improvement comes from consistent rigor and participation."

"It is management's job to figure out how to help others see conflict as healthy - as a route to balance, which benefits us all in the long run."

"A better measure of our success is to look at the people on our team and see how they are working together. Can they rally to solve key problems? If the answer is yes, you are managing well."

Pixar's Creative Culture

Introduction
One of the biggest buzzwords in today's business world is innovation. We hear how different companies claim to be centers of innovation and are pushing the limits of creativity. From a marketing perspective, it is a great way to sell your company as having a culture that inspires and accepts new ways of thinking. Ed Catmull, CEO of Pixar, is quoted in saying, "Managers scour books and magazines looking for greater understanding but settle instead for adopting a new terminology, thinking that using fresh words will bring them closer to their goals.... To ensure quality, excellence must be an earned word, attributed by others to us, not proclaimed by us about ourselves." Pixar is a recognized leader in creating widely admired and profitable stories that have both inventive plotlines and emotional authenticity. In a case study of Pixar's culture of creativity, we will see how innovation can be obtained through the iterative problem-solving process of highly talented and collaborative teams.

Historical Theories
Over the last few years the debate on whether or not lone inventors are the source of breakthroughs has continued to evolve. The idea generation process goes through three basic phases: variation, selection, and retention. Data suggests that although individuals can't typically recognize the difference between good and bad ideas as well as groups, a group that generates ideas together won't produce as much variety. Hybrid teams that start as individuals and then come together for the last two phases have better average quality of ideas, quantity of ideas, and variance in quality of ideas.

Team dynamics also play a factor with the greater the diversity in a team, the more creative the results. Varied backgrounds of individuals will increase the collective knowledge of the group and allow for connections to be made across divisions of individual expertise. One theory is that ideas and knowledge exist because of the individuals whom make the necessary mental connections. Resulting from this hypothesis, the importance of individual talent is key to an organization's success. One study suggested that approximately 5% of all the employees in an organization create more than 50% of all the new ideas for a firm. In fact, who is leaving or joining the firm determines the culture which attracts, selects, and causes other people to remain in the firm. The research indicates that talent is the most important asset or resource a firm can acquire and cultivate.

Pixar's Growth
Pixar is a great example of a company that was able to have a core group of individuals establish a longstanding culture of creativity and innovation. Pixar was the realization of a dream of those few key members of being able to create impactful high-quality computer-animated films. Growth did not come without a few bumps along the way but mistakes were embraced and lessons were learned.

One of the key lessons regarding company culture is that job titles and a sense of hierarchy is counter to creativity. These labels in a company are important and necessary but when it comes to creativity and innovation, unhindered communication is essential and it is important that as the company grows that everyone is able to share their personal insights with candor. If individuals are afraid of providing negative feedback to a person in a position of authority then the hierarchy inhibited the process.

Another insight that Pixar observed in other companies were environments that hindered originality. Fully worked out and set-in-stone plans increased the chance of being unoriginal. No one ever achieved creative success by clinging to what used to work or following what others had done in the past. Companies have to embrace risk and randomness and reject fears of constant uncertainty and change. As Pixar grew, it worked to balance two competing concepts they named "Feeding the Beast" and "Ugly Babies." The first concept was one where success leads to a demand for more success and a need for increased output. These demands and needs continue to grow to the point that we are just trying to keep up with the appetite of creation and as a result, quality lessens across the board. "Ugly Babies" describes how new ideas may be ungainly and poorly defined but are the opposite of established and entrenched ideas. This type of new idea is exciting and needs time to cultivate and rework until it becomes something truly amazing. It was Pixar's commitment to quality that would keep it from falling to its own success and losing what made it special to being with: original storytelling.

An unexpected lesson that Pixar found was a result of an internship program. Initially, most groups were uninterested in the having to "babysit" young animators and programmers. When corporate announced that the cost came out of the company's budget and not individual departments this incentivized more groups to request the free labor. The unexpected result was that in having to teach others about their processes, they were able to see new ways in which they could improve and change them. This further expanded into a new university aspect of Pixar where employees would have classroom experiences and interactions where everyone would learn more about other roles and responsibilities in the company. These new situations allowed for people to not only gain respect for what others do but made them more comfortable to make mistakes and try new things which is key to a creative atmosphere.

Contracts had a similar effect but dealt more with receiving candid feedback. Pixar had seen that when producers or production managers had contracts in place, if there were areas that the studio could be improved they were less likely to share their feedback out of fear of being seen as someone who complains. If the manager had areas where they could improve, it was more simple for the studio to not renew their contract instead of taking the time provide them with the necessary changes that would have improved their performance. Pixar decided to instead remove the contract model all together and incentivize employees through providing them unprecedented amounts of creative control for projects.

Some barriers were established from the beginning of the company and only continued to grow with the studio as it expanded and eventually was acquired by Disney. A key barrier that was established early was to disallow the sharing of resources. Whether the project was a short, a full-length Pixar film, or a Disney film, there was no sharing of resources. The reason behind the decision was that in balancing freedom and structure, limits forced groups to find creative solutions when time was short or a particular effect was having issues rendering. Limits imply that you can't do everything you want so you must think of smarter ways to work and think. Pixar had adopted the "Toyota production line" model where employees at every level were given the freedom to solve problems themselves. They did not have to go through a hierarchical structure to find a solution. They didn't need to wait and find "the right way" to solve a problem but just solved problems.

Pixar's Team Dynamics
As seen throughout the company's history, the emphasis on quality, embracing the unknown, and trusting and empowering employees really works because of the kind of employees at Pixar. A common best practice is to hire smarter talented people to be the source of creativity. Pixar expands this belief by saying, "Give a good idea to a mediocre team and they will screw it up. Give a mediocre idea to a great team and they'll either fix it or come up with something even better." The secret for Pixar is to focus more on having the right chemistry with the right team than having the right idea.

The dynamic of a team at Pixar is one of candor, safety, self-assessment, and protecting the new. They believe that conflict is essential to knowing if they have the best idea through testing it. If a team is given the tools and space to work on a story they are passionate about, they will be able to rework it through an iterative process until it finds its soul. People offer a multiplicity of viewpoints. Flexibility is demanded. Ideas are discussed and the storylines are ran through a microscope so thoroughly that it has been accepted that identifying with a project will hinder the creative problem-solving process at Pixar.

Mistakes are inevitable consequences of doing something new but the risks yield the highest rewards. This is why Pixar continues to push boundaries of technology and storytelling. A lot of these mistakes are teased out through the Braintrust at Pixar. The Braintrust is a group of smart, passionate people in a single room together, charged with identify and suggesting possible problem-solving approaches. This group is encouraged to be candid with each other which is essential. Candor leads to trust which leads to collaborative creativity. This group provides a director and producer lots of solutions in a short amount of time but does not prescribe any single idea. The choice of how to move forward is the sole responsibility of the original team. Not even the executive team can prescribe a specific course of action. This approach teaches everyone that we have incomplete work and everyone is free to make suggestions. It makes it safe to discuss and solve problems together.

Pixar's Culture
Pixar has been able to establish a culture of creativity because of the needs that are part of the process of creating original and impactful quality films. There is a need for balance. There is a need to make decisions at every level of the organization but also a need to admit fallibility. There is a need to feel that progress is being made. The focus is talent-centered cross-functional learning and collaboration. Pixar's culture has organizational support from every level, starting at the top. People are able to speak their minds and they trust each other that when they make mistakes that they will act to help solve them.

The hardest part of trying to define how Pixar has created their culture is it is iterative in its nature. It is constantly changing and adapting. One of their core principles is continuously asking questions and searching for understanding. If I was to attempt to provide a set of factors that would create a similar environment, these would include finding the best talent, loosening the controls, accepting risks and mistakes as part of the process, trusting our colleagues, and working to clear a path for them to succeed. Anton Ego, a character from Ratatouille, describes the scary truth behind innovation best when he says:

"In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little, yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. Bu the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations. The new needs friends...."