Unlocking Creativity
Lessons from Pixar’s Magical Mindset and SDG 9
#Creativity is that strange, magical force that lets us see rats as gourmet chefs, old men as explorers, and even fish as escape artists. To most of us, creativity can feel like a hit-or-miss event — one minute, you’re drawing faces out of proportion (eyes the size of saucers and a nose you could park a bus on), and the next, you’re imagining an epic story without a single line of dialogue for the first 39 minutes (thanks, #WALL-E!). But here’s the truth about creativity: it’s neither accident nor magic. It’s a skill you build, an ecosystem you nurture, a journey you take, even if that journey involves trekking through sewers to understand rats (oh, Pixar Animation Studios , we see you).
The Pixar Way: How Creativity Needs Adventure (And a Bit of Madness)
Ed Catmull, in his book Creativity, Inc., chronicles Pixar’s journey and sheds light on its secret sauce for creativity. And spoiler: it’s not all computer screens and movie marathons. Pixar’s creatives literally travel the world to bring their ideas to life.
For Ratatouille, the movie that dared to ask, “What if a rat became a Michelin chef?”, the team didn’t just sit in a boardroom with snacks.
No, they went to the culinary heart of France, ate at the best restaurants, and explored the sewers (yes, real-life, rat-infested sewers) to create a story that would make Remy’s journey feel authentic.
Imagine the creative mind of someone deciding that Carl from Up shouldn’t just imagine mountains – he needed to float over to Venezuela’s stunning tepuis (means “house of the gods“). So, they went, bringing home not just pictures but the experience that made Carl’s journey feel real for us, too.
This wasn’t just a holiday; it was creativity taken seriously. And Pixar applied the same rigor to creating underwater worlds in Finding Nemo, even requiring team members to become scuba-certified to nail the undersea landscapes and motion.
Creativity Needs Infrastructure Too – Cue SDG 9!
So, what does this mean for those of us not employed by Pixar, and what’s the connection to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9, which focuses on building resilient infrastructure and promoting innovation? Think of creativity as building a bridge or a railway system — it requires infrastructure. Just as a train needs tracks to reach its destination, creativity needs a structured environment to run smoothly.
SDG 9 emphasizes the need for infrastructure that supports industries and fosters innovation. Pixar, in a sense, is a microcosm of SDG 9, constructing the infrastructure for creativity by developing strong, cohesive teams, encouraging risk-taking, and even funding exploratory trips to places that defy conventional “office” expectations. When teams are given the resources and freedom to explore, question, and imagine, they produce films that not only entertain but inspire — films like Toy Story, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles, which show us new ways of seeing family, friendship, fear, and courage.
Final Thoughts: Dare to Be Bold, for Art and for Change
Just as Pixar dared to explore what goes on inside a child’s closet (hello, Monsters, Inc.), we, too, can build new frameworks for creativity and innovation in our own lives.
Whether it’s in film, education, or sustainable infrastructure, creativity is about asking, “What if?” and having the courage to build whatever infrastructure is needed to answer it.
So next time you watch a Pixar movie, remember: every underwater scene, every balloon-filled sky, and every incredible plotline comes from a foundation of structured, dedicated, and sometimes crazy-sounding creative infrastructure.
It’s the infrastructure that makes creativity sustainable, and it’s the infrastructure that lets a rat be a chef, a fish an escape artist, and an old man a hero. Here’s to building our own frameworks that allow for the same boundless imagination!
About the Writer
Dawood Vaid is an avid reader, a teacher trainer and an author. His book ‘The Education Riddle‘ and ‘TALK‘ are available on Amazon. Dawood has completed the certificate course on ‘Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills’ by The University of Melbourne. An engineer and an MBA, he leads the curriculum development team at Sky Education, with focus on establishing Skill labs across schools. He resides in Mumbai and can be contacted at [email protected]