Build Software Like Pixar Makes Movies

Black Friday Toy Story reel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOxJpGI8SWc

Transcript

1. JOHN ATHAYDE | @JOHNATHAYDE | JOHN@ATHAYDE.COM NationJS Frontrunners Dec 2019
3. JOHN ATHAYDE | @JOHNATHAYDE | JOHN@ATHAYDE.COM RVA.js. NOVEMBER 2019
6. http://www.flickr.com/photos/michael-seljos/2073146716/
8. METICULOUS
11. I LIED. This is not a talk about building software
12. THIS IS A TALK ABOUT HOW TO MANAGE CREATIVE ENDEAVORS. (and software is a creative endeavor)
15. 1 2 3 History Lesson (1972-1995) People & Candor Making Spaces
16. HISTORY a brief of almost everything
18. ED CATMULL PRESIDENT, PIXAR & DISNEY ANIMATION
20. DEC 1969 JUN 1970 MAR 1972 JUL 1977 ARPANET
25. POLYGON MODELING SUBDIVISION SURFACES TEXTURE MAPPING Z-BUFFER
29. TWEEN(ING) MOTION BLUR
30. ;LEARNING: Hire the best people you can possibly find and go fast.
33. https://jasonrmsmith.wordpress.com/2015/05/19/the-corridors-of-lucasfilm-4-howard-anderson-optical-printer/
35. Sergei Eisenstein, Russian Filmmaker
37. ;LEARNING: Big leaps in technology require vision as much as testing
42. BLUE SCREEN/CHROMA KEY NON-LINEAR EDITING REYES
49. For all the care you put into artistry, VISUAL POLISH DOESN’T MATTER if you are getting the story right. “ ” -Ed Catmull, President of Pixar/Disney Animation
50. ;LEARNING: awesome technology doesn’t matter if you are getting the experience right
53. PIXAR IS A HARDWARE & SOFTWARE (R&D) COMPANY
55. W. EDWARDS DENNING
56. The responsibility for finding and fixing problems should be ASSIGNED TO EVERY EMPLOYEE from the most senior manager to the lowliest person on the production line.
58. ;LEARNING: Worker’s engagement strengthens the resulting product
63. ;LEARNING: Small, focused Prototypes can help develop capabilities and test technology
66. cAPS Computer Animated Production System
74. Give us TWO WEEKS to turn this all around. “ ” -John Lasseter to Jeffrey Katzenberg
76. Our job 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. “ ” -Ed Catmull, President of Pixar/Disney Animation
78. ;LEARNING: The way out is through (the creative cruft)
79. ;LEARNING: Take advice, but always trust your gut and your team to make the story/ product you know you need to make.
83. ;LEARNING: When you have a win, leverage it. Always negotiate from a position of power.
84. PEOPLE and CANDOR
85. can·dor /ˈkandər/ noun 1.the quality of being open and honest in expression; frankness.
86. UPM Unit Production Managers & Toy Story
87. If there’s more truth in HALLWAYS THAN IN MEETINGS, you have a problem. “ ” -Ed Catmull, President of Pixar/Disney Animation
89. What’s ONE GOOD THING about Pixar? What’s ONE BAD THING about Pixar? “ ”
90. ;LEARNING: RETROSPECTIVES, NOTES DAY, AND ANY OTHER MEANS OF FEEDBACK
91. People who take on complicated creative projects become lost at some point in the process. It is the nature of things—in order to create, you must internalize and almost become the project for a while, and that near-fusing with the project is an essential part of its emergence. But it is also confusing. Where once a movie's writer/director had perspective, he or she loses it. Where once he or she could see a forest, now there are only trees. The details converge to obscure the whole, and that makes it difficult to move forward substantially in any one direction. The experience can be overwhelming. “ ”
92. THE BRAINTRUST
96. ;LEARNING: BUILD your own braintrust for HOW YOUR Team WoRKS
97. If there are people in your organization who feel they are not free to suggest ideas, you lose. Do not discount ideas from unexpected sources. “ ” -Ed Catmull, President of Pixar/Disney Animation
98. ;LEARNING: FEAR DESTROYS CANDOR AND COLLABORATION
99. It isn’t enough merely to be open to ideas from others. Engaging the collective brainpower of the people you work with is an active, ongoing process. As a manager, you must coax ideas out of your staff and constantly push them to contribute. “ ” -Ed Catmull, President of Pixar/Disney Animation
100. ;LEARNING: Facilitate people providing feedback and ideas
101. PIXAR UNIVERSITY
109. ;LEARNING: BUILD WHAT YOU NEED AND SHARE WITH THE WORLD
111. ;LEARNING: THERE’S NO WAY TO REPLACE IMMERSIVE RESEARCH WITH YOUR USERS
112. MAKING SPACES (not an HGTV show)
113. http://fortune.com/2016/03/16/livingsocial-layoffs/
123. ;LEARNING: Office design encourages collaboration
124. But we can’t do that IN TECH COMPANIES “ ”
125. https://medium.com/make-better-software/beyond-open-offices-the-new-fog-creek-headquarters-bc2f70d7c7dc
126. ;LEARNING: ENVIRONMENT AFFECTS PRODUCTIVITY AND HAPPINESS. FIX IT.
129. JOHN ATHAYDE john@athayde.com @johnathayde www.developerux.com www.powerfleet.com www.meticulous.com THANK YOU!