“Which is more valuable? Good ideas or good people?”
This is a question posed by Ed Catmull, co-founder of Pixar, in his book Creativity Inc.
In the book he tells the story of how Pixar became a world leader in creating 3-D animation movies that started with the ground-breaking film, Toy Story.
“Ideas come from people. Therefore people are more important than ideas.”
“Ideas, though, are not singular. They are forged through tens of thousands of decisions, often made by dozens of people.”
Where do really creative ideas come from?
This reminds me of what a client said to years ago. Our team had worked hard to present a creative solution – it took a lot of thought, research, debate and testing to get to this point. We were all taken aback when our client responded: “Can’t you be more creative than this?”
Clearly, there was a problem and the problem was likely not creativity.
That begs the question: “Where do really creative ideas come from?”
Catmull says: “Getting the right people and the right chemistry is more important than getting the right idea.”
We cannot agree more. Any “magical marketing solution” starts with the “right chemistry”. Set the right tone and create the right team environment and many good ideas will flow, one building upon the next.
It takes a team full of ideas…
It has always been our belief that our client’s team is an extension of our team and that great creative solutions are born from the “chemistry” that is built around the work at hand.
Like Catmull says, “Getting the team right is the necessary precursor to getting the ideas right.”
This is why we are delighted to work with a network of associates that help us get the team right before looking for the right ideas.