Under the Magnifying Glass

Nurturing a Creative Culture

By Steven Fyffe

http://www.undermagnifyingglass.com/Site/Welcome.html

A few months ago, my wife and I had the distinct honor of being invited by a proud mom to meet her son. To see her beaming face, full of joy, as she introduced her boy to her friends was indeed the highlight of our evening together. The Lord gives us many blessings in life. Indeed, we experience a taste of heaven when we see our children and grandchildren excel. Nothing brings more joy in this life, than when we come face to face with the fact that we are made in the image of our Creator and He has given us the opportunity to freely express that creative spark of life.

Lee Unkrich - Pixar Creative Star

Our friend, Emilie, had invited us to meet her son, Lee Unkrich (1), animation film editor and director. For several years, Lee’s creative talents have been shining at Pixar Animation Studios (2). He is now director of Toy Story 3 (3), scheduled for release in 2010. The big hug Lee gave his mom, openly showed his love for her. Very evident was his appreciation for how his mom had nurtured and encouraged him to excel. Without a doubt, in his youth, Lee’s home in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, was the beginning of Lee’s creative culture. When Lee introduced his former teacher from Chagrin Falls High School, I knew that those creative seeds had continued to be watered and deeply planted within him.

The Pixar Story

The occasion for meeting Lee Unkrich was the presentation of The Pixar Story (4) at the Cleveland International Film Festival. Lee introduced the documentary film, and afterwards, shared comments about his experience on the Pixar creative team, and answered several questions … yes, as you might guess, someone asked what it was like to work with Steve Jobs. The most telling aspect of Lee’s personality, because he sat beside me during the film, was listening to his quiet laughs as he relived those memories with his Pixar family. We had the privilege of joining him in this dazzling journey. No wonder Lee was named among the top ten Family Directors (5), and his rising star is just now appearing over the horizon. My dear friend, Emilie, has a right to be exhilarated by her son’s success

Animation Insider stated, “The Pixar Story … doesn't focus primarily on the company, it focuses on the individual people who make up the personality of the company” (6). I highly encourage you to see The Pixar Story. It aired on Starz in April, so keep watching for it in your area.

The Creatives Rule

One line in the documentary made a deep impact upon me. Someone stated that Pixar was run by the “creatives and not the MBAs” … oh my, that cubicle seems so very much smaller and suffocating since then. Recently, I heard one person who saw The Pixar Story comment, “It made me realize just how much I hate my job.” However, let us not dwell on the MBA-culture so many of us must endure. With our Macintosh, iLife, Keynote, and other third party software in our storytelling-storycrafting apparatus (7), we have in our hands a great tool for activating our own, personal creative culture. Once we realize how the MBA-culture dominates in most corporations, we can easily understand why windoz and peecees dominate there, as well. On the other hand, when we realize how the imaginative and innovative culture is so essential in the film industry, visual communications, and the design world, we can appreciate why Macs and Apple software reigns supreme in a creative milieu.

Innovation Lessons from Pixar

Ten days before Ratatouille won its Oscar, The McKinsey Quarterly interviewed Brad Bird, Pixar’s two-time Oscar-winning director (8). The authors’ initiated the article by stating, “Innovation lessons from Pixar … What does stimulating the creativity of animators have in common with developing new product ideas or technology breakthroughs? A lot.” (9) While most of us are not building our own businesses or seeking to invent a new gadget, there is considerable joy in building up our own innovative prowess and, even more so, when we play a part in building up the creative culture of our children and grandchildren, as well as, our friends and extended family.

Involved and Engaged

The McKinsey Quarterly (9) asked what sort of people make the best innovators. Brad replied ...

I would say that involved people make for better innovation. Passionate involvement can make you happy, sometimes, and miserable other times. You want people to be involved and engaged. Involved people can be quiet, loud, or anything in-between—what they have in common is a restless, probing nature: “I want to get to the problem. There’s something I want to do.” If you had thermal glasses, you could see heat coming off them.

Discovery of Mac Trifles

If you have been reading Under the Magnifying Glass, you may have observed that I have repeatedly encouraged you, through the discovery of trifles (10), to get more involved and engaged in discovering the power of your Mac. I illustrated the point with the fictional sleuth, Sherlock Holmes. He is certainly a portrait of what Brad Bird described as “a restless, probing nature.” I would suggest that you set your sites on discovering at least one new function of your Mac every week and to determine to show it to a friend. In this way you are taking ownership of your personal creative culture. If you wish to have a guided discovery (20) of your Mac’s powers, listen to Marv and Tim’s podcast, The MT Show (11).

Macintosh Afficionados - Put on Your Thermal Glasses

I have two friends, Larry and Rob, who are avid Mac aficionados, like myself. I have discovered that the three of us have a common trait … none of us can let go of a nagging problem until it has been solved.

Recently, Larry was tackling the new Leopard function Back to My Mac (12) which is available to anyone with a .Mac (13) account. This really nagged Larry until he worked out all the kinks. I greatly benefited by Larry’s passion to solve the problem, because he shared what he learned each step along his path to discovery. Indeed, he is the personification of being “involved and engaged” when it comes to all things Mac.

My other Mac amigo, Rob, and I have had several very passionate and animated discussions, debating which makes the best home media center … a Mac mini (14) vs Apple TV (15). If you read my last column (16), you know I am a strong advocate for Apple TV. Rob, on the other hand, has very compelling arguments in favor of the Mac mini. He has built a Mac mini home entertainment system which would give shivers to any Mac aficionado. Of course, we have placed into competition a fully functional Mac against the minimalist Apple TV. One is designed to “do-it-all” compared to one dedicated to a specific purpose … like comparing an iMac to an iPod Touch . Who is right? We both are! In other words, I believe both of us made the best decision for the specific needs of our family at the time. What is funny is that at the beginning of the discussion I was the advocate for a Mac mini and Rob was the advocate for Apple TV. We helped each other to change our advocacy. Each of us became a staunch supporter of the opposite view point … whodda thunk it? Talk about being “involved and engaged.” BTW. If you saw Rob and me together, you might suspect that, with our follicle-challenged heads and salt & pepper beards, we were, as Rob describes, “Twin Brothers of Different Mothers.”

I count Larry and Rob as closer than brothers when it comes to our passion for Macs. We are the very definition of aficionados, i.e. “a person who is very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about an activity, subject, or pastime” or as Brad Bird described, “what they have in common is a restless, probing nature: “I want to get to the problem. There’s something I want to do.” Larry, Rob, and I would certainly be defined by Brad as innovators when it comes to our passion for Macs. We have developed our own creative culture which is contagious … it might be called infectious imagination. More than one person has blamed their Mac spending habits upon Larry, Rob, and I, almost to the point of calling us Macintosh evangelists.

A Well Rounded Education

The McKinsey Quarterly asked the Pixar director (9), “Is there anything else you’d highlight that contributes to creativity around here?” Brad Bird replied …

One thing Pixar does—which is a knockoff of old-school, Walt-era 1940s Disney—is to have all kinds of optional classes. They call it “PU,” or Pixar University. If you work in lighting but you want to learn how to animate, there’s a class to show you animation. There are classes in story structure, in Photoshop, even in Krav Maga, the Israeli self defense system. Pixar basically encourages people to learn outside of their areas, which makes them more complete.

It is not easy to develop a creative culture in a vacuum. If you want to nurture your creative culture, keep learning and expanding your knowlege into areas which feed your imagination and innovation. If you are not already a member of a local Mac User Group, join one or more today. Also, look for a Special Interest Group where you can learn and your passion for creativity is encouraged. One other source for the growth of your personal creative culture, is formal classrooms. For example, last fall, I audited a Pre-Production & Art of Story class in the Visual Communications department of a community college. This was great fun and I learned a lot.

Creatives Breed Creatives

The McKinsey Quarterly (9) also asked, “What does Pixar do to stimulate a creative culture?” Brad Bird described Steve Jobs philosophy at Pixar …

Steve Jobs basically designed this building. In the center, he created this big

atrium area, which seems initially like a waste of space. The reason he did it was that everybody goes off and works in their individual areas. People who work on software code are here, people who animate are there, and people who do designs are over there. Steve put the mailboxes, the meetings rooms, the cafeteria, and, most insidiously and brilliantly, the bathrooms in the center—which initially drove us crazy — so that you run into everybody during the course of a day. He realized that when people run into each other, when they make eye contact, things happen. So he made it impossible for you not to run into the rest of the company.

As I mentioned above, MUGs, SIGs, and classrooms are great occasions for learning. However, of even more importance, these groups encourage face to face contact with others creatives … others who have that innovative and imaginative contagium which will rub off on you. iChat (17) audio-video conferences allows you to take this principle into a global arena. I have had video conferences with creatives in Canada, New Zealand, Florida, Australia, and England. With the price of gasoline over $4 a gallon, it will allow me to continue to have contact with iChat buddies over 30 miles away. WOW!

Pass On Your Creative Culture

One of the best ways to learn and grow, is to share and teach, as I discussed in a previous column (18). Inductive learning (19) is best taught through guided discovery (20) and is a terrific way to nurture your own creativity. While nurturing your own creative, innovative, and imaginative culture, let me encourage you to plant and nurture a creative culture within your children and grandchildren, as well as your friends and family.

My Creative Friend, Emilie

You would be well served to follow the example of my dear friend, Emilie Unkrich. She nurtured her son, Lee, who went on to become a dynamic force on the Pixar creative team. Emilie did not stop there in her quest to advocate for an innovation and imagination culture. She is an active member of two Macintosh User Groups and has served in several leadership roles, as well. Emilie has spent many creative hours with her Macs as editor and publisher of the Apple Bits (21) newsletter for the Northeast Ohio Apple Corps.

Let Them Be Little

When it comes to your children and grandchildren, one of the most precious gifts you could give them is to nurture their creative culture and help them to develop their innovation and imagination as far as the Lord will lead them. One of my favorite songs, which I have often shared with Jared’s mom and dad, is Billy Dean’s “Let Them Be Little” available from iTunes (22).

Part of lyrics (23) are …

Please, let them be little,

'Cause they're only that way for a while.

Give them hope, give them praise,

Give them love every day.

Let 'em cry, let 'em giggle,

Let 'em sleep in the middle,

Oh, but let them be little.

The so innocent, precious soul:

You turn around, an' it's time to let them go.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit. You all take care.

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