- Success hides problems. Big organizations fall slowly.
- Daily reviews. Everybody gets reviewed everyday; this removes the embarrassment factor so that no one waits until "it's perfect" before presenting.
- Communication structure is not the same as organizational structure. A firm might require a strict hierarchy to ensure control, but that doesn't mean everyone should be prevented from talking to anyone else.
- The only measurement that matters is whether the team functions together.
- Don't copy successful products, even if they're your own product. Either invent something new or fix an unsuccessful product.
One thing I noted in the talk is that Pixar didn't force their employees to work over christmas before diving into fixing Toy Story 2. I have been close to two groups that have had to do this and it is clear that the morale hit is never worth it and those few extra days are talked about for years in a very negative light. What they did is just as important as what they didn't do.
An interesting insight: He thought the key to Pixars success was that they knew that the story was the most important. Then he discovered that every studio says "the story is the most important", even the ones with crappy stories.
- Success hides problems. Big organizations fall slowly.
- Daily reviews. Everybody gets reviewed everyday; this removes the embarrassment factor so that no one waits until "it's perfect" before presenting.
- Communication structure is not the same as organizational structure. A firm might require a strict hierarchy to ensure control, but that doesn't mean everyone should be prevented from talking to anyone else.
- The only measurement that matters is whether the team functions together.
- Don't copy successful products, even if they're your own product. Either invent something new or fix an unsuccessful product.