It ranks up there with other business favorites of mine like Setting the Table, High Output Management, and Shoe Dog. Most are too self-congratulatory and glorify starting a business by boiling it down to simple catch-phrases, which is a load of bull. Usually I shy away from business biographies. Instead, he shares an in the trenches recount of how hard it was to make Pixar a success, the multiple times it almost died, and the challenges of dealing with success after the successful acquisition by Disney. I really dislike those types of business books. He didn’t do a victory lap where he pats himself on the back the entire time. While it’s based around the film industry, Catmull’s lessons can be applied to any creative business – restaurants, design, software, and more.Ĭatmull did a really good job with Creativity, Inc. is Catmull’s recount of the founding of Pixar and the challenges of managing a creative team. Well, it took almost two years, but I finally got around it, which I’m sure Courtney can relate to. Matthew also liked the book a lot, and he responded that I should read Creativity, Inc. I mentioned how much I liked Setting the Table by Danny Meyer. We had an interesting, in-depth discussion about a number of topics, including the challenges of running a restaurant. Rick from Progressive moments, “Dad, the server doesn’t need to know your name.”Īs it turned out, I was talking with Matthew, the Director of Operations for Campfire and their more elegant sister restaurant down the street, jeune et jolie. I’m sure Abbey was having one of those Dr. As I like to do, I struck up a conversation with him. The host took us back to an expansive corner booth. We got there before rush hour and were greeted warmly at the door. We decided to eat there for Saturday morning brunch. Campfire was one of the places that came across highly rated by some local bloggers. As I like to do beforehand, I did some research on places to eat. Lisa, Abbey, and I are taking a weekend trip to Carlsbad to visit my parents who were on vacation. There’s an interesting story behind how I learned about the book, and it’s one I’m going to share. The one that made movies such as the Toy Story franchise, A Bug’s Life, Up, Cars, Monsters, Inc., and more. In case you don’t know who Ed Catmull is, which I didn’t before reading the book, he was one of the co-founders and CEO of Pixar. My final morning read for 2021 was Creativity, Inc.

Creativity inc paperback