Comments on: On running a successful and creative team..

By: jason

jason — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:11:31 +0000

wow.. thanks ander!

By: Ander Bergstrom

Ander Bergstrom — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:54:19 +0000

Jason,
I find myself incredibly inspired by you…thank you.

Ander

By: Mendel Reis

Mendel Reis — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:18:05 +0000

its impressive how simple and impressive was those words! some atitudes can change a lot!
thanks for the text

By: jason

jason — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:11:31 +0000

thanks sketchseven!

Don’t worry, I wasn’t or anything by your saying part C was crap.. in fact, I agree, i’m sure some people WILL think it is, or not believe that I mean it, or whatever. I just hope that my efforts will prove them wrong.

Great note about going from B to A coming from film.. I wonder if that’s where I got it? I think it probably came a bit from film, but also a bit from having rough deadlines & thinking “okay, what do I NEED to do to be successful here? What will define success for this project?” Then once you know that, it’s much easier to make smart decisions about what you need to do.

By: sketchseven

sketchseven — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 23:29:16 +0000

I wonder if that way of thinking – get an end point, and a start point – comes from working on films a lot? It occurs to me that’s how most people describe working on stories, that you should know how it ends before you begin. Coming from a writing background it seems that having some idea of how your story should end is one of the most important things to have when you’re creating something. Not that finding it can’t be an act of discovery in itself though.

I apologise if you thought I was suggesting that C was crap – I am British, and have therefore inherited rather more than a healthy dose of cynicism. I tried setting out my goals as part of the Bridge program within Animation Mentor this term and I hope it’s something I can keep taking forward. I certainly think it’s useful – you can’t really progress to your full potential unless you know where you’re going.

Good luck with your efforts and (admittedly through the veil of confidentiality issues) I hope you’ll be able to let us know how it goes.

Oh by the way, your Smeagol impression is spot on. Cracked me up to no end when I saw the video lecture you did for AM.

By: jason

jason — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 19:53:14 +0000

Wow.. thanks brad! I’m looking forward to hearing what you discover as you get going.. I love sharing these ideas and seeings what others are figuring out as well!

By: Brad Swardson

Brad Swardson — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 18:18:20 +0000

Thank you very much for this post Jason. I too am in the process of dissecting leadership as a position and mindset and working through details in terms of organization and motivation to create an environment that “wants” to succeed and work together for that goal. Your ideas really put words to a lot of the things I have been thinking about. You are an inspiration to me and I thank you for constantly taking a humble role and sharing your experiences and ideas with all of us. You are a class act my friend. This posting is already making a difference for me.

Thanks again!

By: jason

jason — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 13:32:33 +0000

John, it really means a lot to me to hear this from you! I love what you’re doing with your new passion & career path, and I’ve always been inspired by your ability to lead & develop products and people! Thank you!

By: jason

jason — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 13:32:20 +0000

sketchseven – thanks for the Ted note! I’ll check it out! The important thing about part A is to make sure everyone realizes that it’s a valid goal, and that the BEST ideas should come to the top, wherever they come from. I don’t know if the planning approach of going backwards is a GTD thing.. it’s something I’ve done for a while when preparing for presentations. I always think “Okay, what is the take-away from this talk. What do I want people to leave with?” Then I think “What are they STARTING with?” Once you have a starting point and an ending point, then it’s much easier to map backwards and develop a path for execution.
As for people thinking C is crap.. well, I hope they don’t. The only control I have over that is for them to see the progress of people who really go for it.. then maybe they’ll realize that I’m genuine in my desire to grow the team.

By: jason

jason — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 13:30:56 +0000

Billy & alejandro – thanks so much for the kind words!

By: John Gross

John Gross — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 00:10:25 +0000

Thanks for some solid and sensible advice, Jason. The timing is good for me too, as I will soon be putting a new team together. Different domain, but the same principles apply!

By: sketchseven

sketchseven — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 00:07:22 +0000

Hey Jason – interesting thoughts. I always think that if you’re working on something that is intrinsically creative (such as film, art projects, etc.) you would hope that everyone within your team is going to be doing the best job they possible can, not because they’re being paid, but because no one strives to be mediocre. So I would think A – while it’s important – isn’t going to be the biggest of your issues. I like the planning approach that you’re talking about, working backwards, is that a GTD approach?

B and C then are likely to be your biggest issues, but I think if you can cultivate that kind of environment when it’s ok to make mistakes, to fail once in a while, that’ll really be the key. This is something that I discovered recently reading an article where Lee Unkrich was quoted as saying it’s ok to make mistakes, in fact make lots of them, but just try to make them fast and make them early on in the process – and ultimately, be making it ok to make mistakes, you’ll free yourself up to find the strongest material you can. I thought that was good advice.

C I think you’re on to an excellent idea with the goals – some people might denounce it as crap, but some people might get behind it and I think you’ll see a lot of growth in them.

You may be interested in a recent TED video that Dan Pink did – I won’t spam you with a link, but you can find it on YouTube I’m sure, and certainly in iTunes – there was a lot of really intriguing stuff about how the standard business approach of carrot-and-stick simply doesn’t work for the higher level creative (i.e. making an animated feature) stuff that most white collar workers will be doing in years to come. It’s worth perusing if you have time.

By: alejandro atia

alejandro atia — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 23:58:26 +0000

perfect note!..hopefully I am finding the way to will form a workteam with the level to put in practice this excellents advices and recomendations, is not easy in my country at all… Save the note to my archives, very useful! Thank you very much Jason, as usual.

By: bill(y)

bill(y) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 23:48:17 +0000

wow jason. you’re timing is perfect. this very useful blog comes at a time when i’m ramping up to run the animation side of things at studio in seattle.

your blog is very confirming to me, as i respect your work greatly and hearing that there’s a great deal of things in sync with how i’m approaching…it gives me a little more confidence.

thanks for sharing!