TightWind is written by Kyle Baxter. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Ed Catmull spoke on how a creative company should be managed at The Economist’s Innovation Conference in Berkeley:

He also spoke about management, and how as a manager of a creative company, things are chaotic and happen out-of-order. He can’t possibly know everything that’s happening within Pixar, so he relies on training good managers.

He believes in the old saying “It’s better to ask for forgiveness than to ask permission,” but his corollary is that it’s better to fix errors than it is to prevent them, something that he believes many mangers do not get. In fact, Pixar looked to Toyota’s manufacturing process for inspiration in terms of structure and bringing diverse skillsets together to create a strong company.

If you’re at all interested in managing organizations, Ed Catmull is the guy you should be listening to. Pixar is one of the finest organizations around.

Underlying Catmull’s point is that you can’t force your employees to be successful. Rules, regulations, requirements–all of those things will not make a great employee. Rather, you must inspire your employees to do well.

Pixar isn’t successful because their workers are deathly afraid of screwing up and getting fired. Pixar is successful because they have a clear and real mission–to create the best stories they possibly can, that only happen to be in the computer-animated film medium–and their workers believe in it wholeheartedly, and want to achieve it. That’s why Pixar’s films do so well, and that’s why they’re such good films.

Pixar is one of America’s finest companies because, from top to bottom, their overwhelming desire is to create something amazing.