Summary
Linda A. Hill and her coauthors study the leadership needed to make innovation a repeated part of an organization's work. They argue that talented individuals need conditions in which they can contribute different ideas, disagree usefully and develop a solution together. The leader's task is to create that setting and sustain the work it requires.
Pixar provides an extended case of this process. The book examines how many specialists contribute to a computer-animated film, how unfinished work receives feedback, and how teams learn through repeated attempts. Catmull and other Pixar leaders appear alongside leaders from other organizations. The authors use these cases to explain collaboration, experimentation and the combination of different ideas into a finished product.
Why read it Our view
Use the cases to review how different skills meet in your product work. Check whether people can challenge ideas, see one another's work and run useful experiments. Look at what the leader must arrange so that the team can do this repeatedly.
Written about
- Ed CatmullSubstantial case-study subject and interview participantThe authors examine Catmull and Pixar's leadership in depth, including how specialists collaborate, test ideas and improve unfinished work. This is a substantial company case with direct conversations, not Catmull's authorship or endorsement.Source