I'm worried about future of Pixar, they always valued original and insightful stories. All of their early and recent productions were delightful to watch. Understandably, this approach left not so many space for sequels.<p>They recently committed to making of Monsters 2 and Cars 2. Story outline for Cars 2 is just terrible. It seems that financial concerns under Disney leadership are prevailing and bits of integrity are slipping away.
Remarkably similar to the story of how the jews of Zakynthos were saved during WWII.<p><a href="http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/greece/nonflash/eng/zakyntho.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/greece/nonflash/e...</a>
In 2008, Pixar's creative director John Lasseter explained the secret of their success: "The people who work here are doing what they've wanted to do their whole lives." [1]<p>This is great advice that can be applied to any type of work, particularly entrepreneurial start-up activity. If you're in it just for the money and don't enjoy what you do, chances are your little start-up venture will not succeed.<p>It also didn't hurt that Ed and Alvy could stand up to their bosses. In my experience, one feature that separates good manages from bad is the willingness to shield their team from the crap thrown by upper management.<p>[1] <a href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1813964,00.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1813964,00....</a>
It's funny how the mind plays tricks on us. I had thought that Steve Jobs had made much more off the sale than that - when I looked at their numbers 7.4 billion return on 5 million invested over 20 years? Pffft. Then I ran the numbers...<p>... it translates to a 44% compounding annual increase over 20 years ...<p>Oh that I should do so well for anyone that would invest in me!!
Great story. Of course if you over analysis it's nothing great, under neath it could simply be that the executives know that the layoffs was just a start. First round of layoffs leads to low morale, which leads to a decline in quality which eventually leads to them being removed.<p>A lot of leaderships like coaches are usually on short lifespans. The executives knew that by forcing the company to think about losing two top execs it was serious and maybe reconsider. In this case it was a good gamble.<p>Their intentions is what makes the story great, though. Honestly I would have given a list of people to layoff, but that's why I am not a great leader or a leader of anything for that matter, of any sorts LOL
I watched "ILM - Creating the Impossible" on Encore on Demand the other night, and it was well worth the watch. There is quite a bit devoted to the relationship between ILM and Pixar, and a number of historical anecdotes like this article that are very interesting.<p>If you haven't seen it, check it out before they drop it. Of course, The Pixar Story is worth watching as well (same people, I think).
If you haven't yet, go and watch the Pixar Shorts Films Collection[1]. It includes a fairly long extra with interviews with early Pixar employees, and the challenges they faced with the limited technology at the time.<p>[1] <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pixar-Short-Films-Collection-1/dp/B000V1Y44G" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Pixar-Short-Films-Collection-1/dp/B000...</a>
It's great to see that level of commitment to a team, but it was also a smart move - those guys knew that the intellectual capital sitting in those employees heads was one of Pixar's biggest assets. Get rid of them so they can go work for a competitor? Nuts.
If anyone is interested, The Pixar Touch by David Price is a pretty fantastic look at the early history (both from a business standpoint and from a technological standpoint) of the company.<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pixar-Touch-Vintage-David-Price/dp/0307278298/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1294850011&sr=1-2" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Pixar-Touch-Vintage-David-Price/dp/030...</a>
Great story. But look how times have changed. I can't imagine many company leaders today choosing to stand their ground and put their own heads on the chopping block. I'm not sure when it happened, but this kind of servant leadership doesn't seem to exist today.
Anyone have recent examples of stories like this?
According to this article, Pixar doesn't treat its employees as nicely these days: <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lee-stranahan/lucasfilm-and-pixar-consp_b_801432.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lee-stranahan/lucasfilm-and-pi...</a>