21 Awesome Quotes 
from Creativity Inc. 
by Ed Catmull
“For all the care you put into artistry, visual 
polish frequently doesn’t matter if you are 
getting the story right.”
“Whatever these forces are that 
make people do dumb things, they 
are powerful, they are 
often invisible, 
and they lurk even 
in the best of 
environments.”
“If you give a good idea to a 
mediocre team, they will screw it 
up. If you give a mediocre idea to a 
brilliant team, they will either fix it 
or throw it away and come up 
with something better.”
“People need to be wrong as fast as they 
can. In a battle, if you’re faced with two 
hills and you’re unsure which one to attack, 
the right course of action is to hurry 
up and choose. If you 
find out it’s the 
wrong hill, turn 
around and attack 
the other one.”
“It’s folly to think you can avoid change, 
no matter how much you might want to. 
But also, to my mind, you shouldn’t want 
to. There is no growth or success without 
change.”
“When it comes to creative endeavors, the 
concept of zero failures is 
worse than useless. It is 
counterproductive.”
“In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. 
We risk very little yet enjoy a position over 
those who offer up their work and their 
selves to our judgment. We thrive on 
negative criticism, which is fun to write 
and to read. But the bitter truth we critics 
must face is that in the grand scheme of 
things, the average piece of junk is 
probably more meaningful than our 
criticism, designating it so…
“But there are times when a critic truly 
risks something, and that is in the 
discovery and defense of 
the new. The world is 
often unkind to new 
talent, new creations. 
The new needs 
friends.”
“Fear of change—innate, stubborn, and 
resistant to reason—is a powerful force. In 
many ways, it reminded me of musical 
chairs: We cling as long as possible to the 
perceived ‘safe’ place that we already 
know, refusing to loosen our 
grip until we feel sure 
another safe place 
awaits.”
“The 
unpredictable 
is the ground 
on which 
creativity 
occurs.”
“To think you can control or prevent 
random problems by making an 
example of someone 
is naïve and 
wrongheaded.”
“Disney employees attempted to keep his 
spirit alive by constantly asking 
themselves, ‘What would Walt do?’ Perhaps 
they thought that 
if they asked that 
question they would 
come up with something 
original, that they would 
remain true to Walt’s 
pioneering spirit…
“In fact, this kind of thinking only 
accomplished the opposite. 
Because it looked 
backward, not 
forward, it 
tethered the 
place to the 
status quo.”
“No one—not Walt, not Steve, not the 
people of Pixar—ever achieved creative 
success by simply clinging to what used to 
work.” 
“The past should 
be our teacher, 
not our master.”
“When filmmakers, industrial designers, 
software designers, or people in any other 
creative profession merely cut up and 
reassemble what has come before, it gives 
the illusion of creativity, but it is craft 
without art. Craft is what 
we are expected to know; 
art is the unexpected use 
of our craft.”
“Companies, like individuals, do not 
become exceptional by believing they are 
exceptional 
but by under-standing 
the ways 
in which they 
aren’t exceptional.”
“‘You can’t manage what you can’t 
measure’ is a maxim that is taught and 
believed by many in both the business and 
education sectors. But in fact, the phrase 
is ridiculous—something said by people 
who are unaware of how much is hidden. A 
large portion of what we manage can’t be 
measured, and not realizing this has 
unintended consequences.”
“‘As the composer Philip Glass once said, 
‘The real issue is not how do you find your 
voice, but… getting rid of the damn 
thing.”
“‘It is difficult sometimes to tell the 
difference between what is impossible and 
what is possible (but requires 
a big reach). At a creative 
company, mistaking one 
for the other can be 
fatal—but getting it 
right elevates.”
“To keep a creative culture vibrant, we must 
not be afraid of constant uncertainty. We 
must accept it, just as we accept the 
weather. Uncertainty and 
change are life’s 
constants. And 
that’s the fun 
part.”
“Trust doesn’t mean that you trust that 
someone won’t screw up—it means you 
trust them even when they do screw up.”
“Our problem as managers in creative 
environments is to protect new ideas from 
those who don’t understand that in order 
for greatness to emerge, there must be 
phases of not-so greatness. 
Protect the future, 
not the past.”
Want to learn more? Click this link to 
buy the book: 
Creativity, Inc.
Want more inspiring quotes? 
Check out our blog at: 
Logomaker.com
And check out our other 
presentations: 
Click the pictures to open them.
Credits: 
All quotes from Creativity, Inc by Ed 
Catmull. All images are the property 
of Pixar or Disney Studios.

Awesome Quotes from Creativity Inc—Inspirational Quotes from Ed Catmull

  • 1.
    21 Awesome Quotes from Creativity Inc. by Ed Catmull
  • 2.
    “For all thecare you put into artistry, visual polish frequently doesn’t matter if you are getting the story right.”
  • 3.
    “Whatever these forcesare that make people do dumb things, they are powerful, they are often invisible, and they lurk even in the best of environments.”
  • 4.
    “If you givea good idea to a mediocre team, they will screw it up. If you give a mediocre idea to a brilliant team, they will either fix it or throw it away and come up with something better.”
  • 5.
    “People need tobe wrong as fast as they can. In a battle, if you’re faced with two hills and you’re unsure which one to attack, the right course of action is to hurry up and choose. If you find out it’s the wrong hill, turn around and attack the other one.”
  • 6.
    “It’s folly tothink you can avoid change, no matter how much you might want to. But also, to my mind, you shouldn’t want to. There is no growth or success without change.”
  • 7.
    “When it comesto creative endeavors, the concept of zero failures is worse than useless. It is counterproductive.”
  • 8.
    “In many ways,the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism, designating it so…
  • 9.
    “But there aretimes when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations. The new needs friends.”
  • 10.
    “Fear of change—innate,stubborn, and resistant to reason—is a powerful force. In many ways, it reminded me of musical chairs: We cling as long as possible to the perceived ‘safe’ place that we already know, refusing to loosen our grip until we feel sure another safe place awaits.”
  • 11.
    “The unpredictable isthe ground on which creativity occurs.”
  • 12.
    “To think youcan control or prevent random problems by making an example of someone is naïve and wrongheaded.”
  • 13.
    “Disney employees attemptedto keep his spirit alive by constantly asking themselves, ‘What would Walt do?’ Perhaps they thought that if they asked that question they would come up with something original, that they would remain true to Walt’s pioneering spirit…
  • 14.
    “In fact, thiskind of thinking only accomplished the opposite. Because it looked backward, not forward, it tethered the place to the status quo.”
  • 15.
    “No one—not Walt,not Steve, not the people of Pixar—ever achieved creative success by simply clinging to what used to work.” “The past should be our teacher, not our master.”
  • 16.
    “When filmmakers, industrialdesigners, software designers, or people in any other creative profession merely cut up and reassemble what has come before, it gives the illusion of creativity, but it is craft without art. Craft is what we are expected to know; art is the unexpected use of our craft.”
  • 17.
    “Companies, like individuals,do not become exceptional by believing they are exceptional but by under-standing the ways in which they aren’t exceptional.”
  • 18.
    “‘You can’t managewhat you can’t measure’ is a maxim that is taught and believed by many in both the business and education sectors. But in fact, the phrase is ridiculous—something said by people who are unaware of how much is hidden. A large portion of what we manage can’t be measured, and not realizing this has unintended consequences.”
  • 19.
    “‘As the composerPhilip Glass once said, ‘The real issue is not how do you find your voice, but… getting rid of the damn thing.”
  • 20.
    “‘It is difficultsometimes to tell the difference between what is impossible and what is possible (but requires a big reach). At a creative company, mistaking one for the other can be fatal—but getting it right elevates.”
  • 21.
    “To keep acreative culture vibrant, we must not be afraid of constant uncertainty. We must accept it, just as we accept the weather. Uncertainty and change are life’s constants. And that’s the fun part.”
  • 22.
    “Trust doesn’t meanthat you trust that someone won’t screw up—it means you trust them even when they do screw up.”
  • 23.
    “Our problem asmanagers in creative environments is to protect new ideas from those who don’t understand that in order for greatness to emerge, there must be phases of not-so greatness. Protect the future, not the past.”
  • 24.
    Want to learnmore? Click this link to buy the book: Creativity, Inc.
  • 25.
    Want more inspiringquotes? Check out our blog at: Logomaker.com
  • 26.
    And check outour other presentations: Click the pictures to open them.
  • 27.
    Credits: All quotesfrom Creativity, Inc by Ed Catmull. All images are the property of Pixar or Disney Studios.