0:00:15.408,0:00:17.019
I have a confession to make.

0:00:17.019,0:00:18.429
I'm a business professor

0:00:18.429,0:00:20.959
whose ambition has been[br]to help people learn to lead.

0:00:20.959,0:00:22.570
But recently, I've discovered

0:00:22.570,0:00:25.239
that what many of us[br]think of as great leadership

0:00:25.239,0:00:28.519
does not work, when it comes[br]to leading innovation.

0:00:28.519,0:00:29.920
I'm an ethnographer.

0:00:29.920,0:00:31.640
I use the methods of anthropology

0:00:31.640,0:00:34.220
to understand the questions[br]which I'm interested.

0:00:34.220,0:00:36.380
So along with three co-conspirators,

0:00:36.380,0:00:40.200
I spent nearly a decade observing[br]up close and personal,

0:00:40.200,0:00:42.679
exceptional leaders of innovation.

0:00:42.679,0:00:44.880
We studied 16 men and women,

0:00:44.880,0:00:47.439
located in seven countries[br]across the globe

0:00:47.439,0:00:49.920
working in 12 different industries.

0:00:49.920,0:00:53.480
In total, we spent hundreds of hours[br]on the ground, on-site,

0:00:53.480,0:00:56.200
watching these leaders in action.

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We ended up with pages[br]and pages of field notes

0:00:59.559,0:01:03.450
that we analyzed, and looked[br]for patterns in what our leaders did.

0:01:03.762,0:01:04.979
The bottom line?

0:01:04.979,0:01:08.140
If we want to build organizations[br]that can innovate time and again,

0:01:08.140,0:01:11.959
we must unlearn our conventional[br]notions of leadership.

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Leading innovation is not[br]about creating a vision,

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and inspiring others to execute it.

0:01:17.760,0:01:19.719
But what do we mean by innovation?

0:01:19.719,0:01:23.079
An innovation is anything[br]that is both new and useful.

0:01:23.079,0:01:24.840
It can be a product or service.

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It can be a process[br]or a way of organizing.

0:01:27.519,0:01:30.359
It can be incremental,[br]or it can be breakthrough.

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We have a pretty inclusive definition.

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How many of you recognize this man?

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Put your hands up.

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Keep your hands up,[br]if you know who this is.

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How about these familiar faces?

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(Laughter)

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From your show of hands,

0:01:51.220,0:01:53.770
it looks like many of you[br]have seen the Pixar movie.

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But very few of you recognized Ed Catmull,

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the founder and CEO of Pixar

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- one of the companies[br]I had the privilege of studying.

0:02:01.799,0:02:04.479
My first visit to Pixar was in 2005,

0:02:04.479,0:02:06.400
when they were working on 'Ratatouille',

0:02:06.400,0:02:09.520
that provocative movie[br]about a rat becoming a master chef.

0:02:09.520,0:02:13.439
Computer generated movies[br]are really mainstream today,

0:02:13.439,0:02:16.120
but it took Ed and his colleagues[br]nearly 20 years

0:02:16.120,0:02:19.687
to create the first full length CG movie.

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In the 20 years hence,[br]they've produced 14 movies.

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I was recently at Pixar,[br]and I'm here to tell you

0:02:26.000,0:02:29.069
that number 15 is sure to be a winner.

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When many of us think[br]about innovation though,

0:02:31.280,0:02:34.919
we think about an Einstein[br]having an 'Aha!' moment.

0:02:34.919,0:02:37.280
But we all know that's a myth.

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Innovation is not about solo genius,

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it's about collective genius.

0:02:43.479,0:02:47.159
Let's think for a minute about[br]what it takes to make a Pixar movie:

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no solo genius, no flash of inspiration[br]produces one of those movies.

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On the contrary, it takes about[br]250 people four to five years,

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to make one of those movies.

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To help us understand the process,

0:03:01.319,0:03:04.960
an individual in the studio[br]drew a version of this picture.

0:03:04.960,0:03:07.879
He did so reluctantly,[br]because it suggested

0:03:07.879,0:03:10.840
that their process[br]was a neat series of steps

0:03:10.840,0:03:13.360
done by discrete groups.

0:03:13.360,0:03:15.280
Even with all those arrows,

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he thought it failed to tell you[br]just how iterative, interrelated

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and, frankly, messy their process was.

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Throughout the making of a movie[br]at Pixar, the story evolves.

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So think about it.

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Some shots go through quickly.

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They don't all go through in order.

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It depends on how vexing[br]the challenges are,

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that they come up with, when[br]they're working on a particular scene.

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So if you think about that scene in 'Up'

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where the boy hands the piece[br]of chocolate to the bird,

0:03:47.120,0:03:52.265
that 10 seconds took one animator[br]almost six months to perfect.

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The other thing about a Pixar movie

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is that no part of the movie[br]is considered finished

0:03:57.400,0:03:59.319
until the entire movie wraps.

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Partway through one production,[br]an animator drew a character

0:04:03.759,0:04:07.960
with an arched eyebrow[br]that suggested a mischievous side.

0:04:07.960,0:04:10.770
When the director saw that drawing,[br]he thought it was great.

0:04:10.770,0:04:12.449
It was beautiful, but he said,

0:04:12.449,0:04:15.020
"You've got to lose it,[br]it doesn't fit the character."

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Two weeks later,[br]the director came back and said,

0:04:17.480,0:04:20.070
"Let's put in those few seconds of film."

0:04:20.370,0:04:23.050
Because that animator[br]was allowed to share

0:04:23.050,0:04:25.800
what we refer to as his slice of genius,

0:04:25.800,0:04:29.120
he was able to help that director[br]re-conceive the character

0:04:29.120,0:04:33.759
in a subtle but important way[br]that improved the story.

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What we know is at the heart[br]of innovation is a paradox.

0:04:38.399,0:04:42.079
You have to unleash the talents[br]and passions of many people

0:04:42.079,0:04:46.738
and you have to harness them[br]into a work that is actually useful.

0:04:47.319,0:04:49.199
Innovation is a journey.

0:04:49.199,0:04:51.879
It's a type of collaborative[br]problem solving,

0:04:51.879,0:04:54.639
usually among people[br]who have different expertise

0:04:54.639,0:04:56.879
and different points of view.

0:04:56.879,0:05:00.360
Innovations rarely get created full blown.

0:05:00.360,0:05:04.199
As many of you know, they are usually[br]the result of trial and error.

0:05:04.199,0:05:08.399
Lots of false starts,[br]missteps, and mistakes.

0:05:08.399,0:05:11.199
Innovative work can be very exhilarating,

0:05:11.597,0:05:15.343
but it also can be really downright scary.

0:05:17.120,0:05:22.079
So when we look at why it is[br]that Pixar is able to do what it does,

0:05:22.079,0:05:26.304
we have to ask ourselves,[br]what's going on here?

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For sure, history[br]and certainly Hollywood

0:05:29.800,0:05:33.240
is full of star-studded teams[br]that have failed.

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Most of those failures are attributed

0:05:35.560,0:05:39.879
to too many stars or too many[br]cooks, if you will, in the kitchen.

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Why is it that Pixar,[br]with all of its cooks,

0:05:43.519,0:05:47.023
is able to be so successful[br]time and time again?

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When we studied[br]an Islamic Bank in Dubai,

0:05:51.439,0:05:55.590
or a luxury brand in Korea,[br]or a social enterprise in Africa,

0:05:56.000,0:05:58.079
we found that innovative organizations

0:05:58.079,0:06:00.879
are communities[br]that have three capabilities

0:06:01.265,0:06:05.959
- creative abrasion, creative agility,[br]and creative resolution.

0:06:07.098,0:06:09.720
Creative abrasion is about being able

0:06:09.720,0:06:13.160
to create a marketplace of ideas[br]through debate and discourse.

0:06:13.160,0:06:16.079
In innovative organizations,[br]they amplify differences,

0:06:16.079,0:06:17.689
they don't minimize them.

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Creative abrasion[br]is not about brainstorming

0:06:20.360,0:06:22.480
where people suspend their judgment.

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No, they know how to have very heated[br]but constructive arguments

0:06:26.439,0:06:29.443
to create a portfolio of alternatives.

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Individuals in innovative organizations

0:06:31.879,0:06:35.329
learn how to inquire,[br]they learn how to actively listen

0:06:35.342,0:06:36.599
but - guess what?

0:06:36.599,0:06:39.249
They also learn how to advocate[br]for their point of view.

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They understand[br]that innovation rarely happens

0:06:42.879,0:06:45.680
unless you have both[br]diversity and conflict.

0:06:46.960,0:06:49.160
Creative agility is about being able

0:06:49.160,0:06:51.759
to test and refine that portfolio of ideas

0:06:51.759,0:06:55.120
through quick pursuit,[br]reflection, and adjustment.

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It's about discovery driven learning

0:06:56.959,0:07:00.199
where you act as opposed to plan[br]your way to the future.

0:07:00.199,0:07:02.034
It's about design thinking

0:07:02.034,0:07:04.123
where you have[br]that interesting combination

0:07:04.123,0:07:07.203
of the scientific method[br]and the artistic process.

0:07:07.399,0:07:09.536
It's about running[br]a series of experiments,

0:07:09.536,0:07:11.673
and not a series of pilots.

0:07:11.673,0:07:13.810
Experiments are usually about learning.

0:07:13.810,0:07:15.360
When you get a negative outcome,

0:07:15.360,0:07:18.399
you are still learning something[br]that you need to know.

0:07:18.399,0:07:20.959
Pilots are often about being right.

0:07:20.959,0:07:25.319
When they don't work,[br]someone or something is to blame.

0:07:25.319,0:07:28.279
The final capability[br]is creative resolution.

0:07:28.279,0:07:30.560
This is about doing[br]decision making in a way

0:07:30.560,0:07:33.519
that you can combine[br]even opposable ideas

0:07:33.519,0:07:36.040
to reconfigure them in new combinations

0:07:36.040,0:07:39.319
to produce a solution[br]that is new and useful.

0:07:39.319,0:07:43.520
When you look at innovative organizations,[br]they never go along to get along.

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They don't compromise.

0:07:45.199,0:07:48.639
They don't let one group[br]or one individual dominate,

0:07:48.639,0:07:52.531
even if it's the boss,[br]even if it's the expert.

0:07:53.000,0:07:54.839
Instead, they have developed

0:07:54.839,0:07:58.399
a rather patient and more inclusive[br]decision-making process

0:07:58.399,0:08:02.079
that allows for both end solutions[br]to arise

0:08:02.079,0:08:04.199
and not simply either/or solutions.

0:08:05.873,0:08:08.879
These three capabilities are why we see

0:08:08.879,0:08:12.493
that Pixar is able to do what it does.

0:08:13.066,0:08:15.319
Let me give you another example.

0:08:15.319,0:08:18.099
And that example[br]is the infrastructure group of Google.

0:08:18.970,0:08:21.219
The infrastructure group[br]of Google is the group

0:08:21.219,0:08:25.199
that has to keep the website[br]up and running 24x7.

0:08:25.199,0:08:28.439
When Google was about to introduce[br]Gmail and YouTube,

0:08:28.439,0:08:31.759
they knew that their[br]data storage system wasn't adequate.

0:08:31.759,0:08:35.919
The head of the engineering group[br]and the infrastructure group at that time

0:08:35.919,0:08:38.480
was a man named Bill Coughran.

0:08:38.480,0:08:42.240
Bill and his leadership team,[br]who he referred to as his brain trust,

0:08:42.240,0:08:45.854
had to figure out what to do[br]about this situation.

0:08:46.120,0:08:47.960
They thought about it for a while.

0:08:47.960,0:08:51.234
Instead of creating a group[br]to tackle this task,

0:08:51.440,0:08:55.572
they decided to allow groups[br]to emerge spontaneously

0:08:55.720,0:08:57.659
around different alternatives.

0:08:57.757,0:09:00.000
Two groups coalesced.

0:09:00.000,0:09:03.159
One became known as Big Table,

0:09:03.159,0:09:06.679
the other became known[br]as Build it From Scratch.

0:09:06.679,0:09:09.600
Big Table proposed[br]that they build on the current system.

0:09:09.600,0:09:13.960
Build it From Scratch proposed[br]that it was time for a whole new system.

0:09:13.960,0:09:17.759
Separately, these two teams[br]were allowed to work full time

0:09:17.759,0:09:19.799
on their particular approach.

0:09:19.799,0:09:22.919
In Engineering Reviews,[br]Bill described his role

0:09:22.919,0:09:27.701
as injecting honesty into the process[br]by driving debate.

0:09:27.879,0:09:31.879
Early on, the teams were encouraged[br]to build prototypes so that they could

0:09:31.879,0:09:35.440
"Bump them up against reality[br]and discover for themselves

0:09:35.440,0:09:38.460
the strengths and weaknesses[br]of their particular approach."

0:09:38.460,0:09:41.600
When Build it From Scratch shared[br]their prototype with the group

0:09:41.600,0:09:44.490
whose beepers would have to go off[br]in the middle of the night

0:09:44.490,0:09:46.510
if something went wrong with the website,

0:09:46.510,0:09:51.120
they heard loud and clear about[br]the limits of their particular design.

0:09:51.120,0:09:54.039
As the need for a solution[br]became more urgent

0:09:54.039,0:09:57.320
and as the data[br]or the evidence began to come in,

0:09:57.320,0:10:00.600
it became pretty clear[br]that the Big Table solution

0:10:00.600,0:10:03.110
was the right one for the moment.

0:10:03.110,0:10:05.200
So they selected that one.

0:10:05.200,0:10:07.960
But to make sure[br]that they did not lose the learning

0:10:07.960,0:10:09.840
of the Build it From Scratch team,

0:10:09.840,0:10:11.530
Bill asked two members of that team

0:10:11.530,0:10:13.250
to join a new team that was emerging

0:10:13.250,0:10:16.240
to work on the next generation system.

0:10:16.240,0:10:19.828
This whole process took nearly two years,

0:10:20.000,0:10:24.199
but I was told that they were[br]all working at breakneck speed.

0:10:24.399,0:10:25.770
Early in that process,

0:10:25.770,0:10:28.038
one of the engineers[br]had gone to Bill and said,

0:10:28.038,0:10:30.759
"We're all too busy[br]for this inefficient system

0:10:30.759,0:10:33.240
of running parallel experiments."

0:10:33.240,0:10:36.320
But as the process unfolded,[br]he began to understand

0:10:36.320,0:10:40.240
the wisdom of allowing talented[br]people to play out their passions.

0:10:40.240,0:10:44.039
He admitted, "If you had forced us[br]to all be on one team,

0:10:44.039,0:10:47.480
we might have focused on proving[br]who was right, and winning,

0:10:47.480,0:10:49.720
and not on learning and discovering

0:10:49.720,0:10:53.000
what was the best answer for Google."

0:10:53.000,0:10:56.559
Why is it that Pixar and Google[br]are able to innovate time and again?

0:10:56.559,0:11:00.229
It's because they have mastered[br]the capabilities required for that.

0:11:00.229,0:11:02.619
They know how to do[br]collaborative problem solving,

0:11:02.619,0:11:04.759
they know how to do[br]discovery driven learning,

0:11:04.759,0:11:07.460
and they know how to do[br]integrated decision making.

0:11:07.460,0:11:10.679
Some of you may be sitting there[br]and saying to yourselves right now,

0:11:10.679,0:11:13.519
"We don't know how to do[br]those things in my organization."

0:11:13.519,0:11:16.120
So why do they know how to[br]do those things at Pixar,

0:11:16.120,0:11:19.559
and why do they know how to[br]do those things at Google?

0:11:19.559,0:11:22.080
When many of the people[br]that worked for Bill told us,

0:11:22.080,0:11:27.751
on their opinion, Bill was one[br]of the finest leaders in Silicon Valley.

0:11:28.480,0:11:31.792
We completely agreed,[br]the man is a genius.

0:11:32.649,0:11:35.559
Leadership is the secret sauce.

0:11:35.559,0:11:37.960
But it's a different kind of leadership,

0:11:37.960,0:11:39.960
not the kind many of us think about

0:11:39.960,0:11:43.054
when we think about great leadership.

0:11:43.279,0:11:45.960
One of the leaders I met with[br]early on, said to me,

0:11:45.960,0:11:49.120
"Linda, I don't read books on leadership.

0:11:49.120,0:11:51.766
All they do is make me feel bad.

0:11:52.039,0:11:55.000
In the first chapter they say[br]I'm supposed to create a vision.

0:11:55.000,0:11:59.240
But if I'm trying to do something[br]that's truly new, I have no answers.

0:11:59.240,0:12:01.240
I don't know what direction we're going in

0:12:01.240,0:12:05.039
and I'm not even sure I know[br]how to figure out how to get there."

0:12:05.039,0:12:07.440
For sure, there are times[br]when visionary leadership

0:12:07.440,0:12:09.480
is exactly what is needed.

0:12:09.480,0:12:12.879
But if we want to build organizations[br]that can innovate time and again,

0:12:12.879,0:12:17.000
we must recast our understanding[br]of what leadership is about.

0:12:17.000,0:12:20.720
Leading innovation[br]is about creating the space

0:12:20.720,0:12:23.919
where people are willing and able[br]to do the hard work

0:12:23.919,0:12:26.399
of innovative problem solving.

0:12:27.919,0:12:30.240
At this point, some of you[br]may be wondering,

0:12:30.240,0:12:32.559
what does that leadership[br]really look like?

0:12:32.559,0:12:37.024
At Pixar, they understand[br]that innovation takes a village.

0:12:37.480,0:12:40.919
The leaders focus on building[br]a sense of community

0:12:40.919,0:12:43.200
and building those three capabilities.

0:12:43.200,0:12:45.480
How do they define leadership?

0:12:45.480,0:12:47.759
They say leadership[br]is about creating a world

0:12:47.759,0:12:49.720
to which people want to belong.

0:12:49.720,0:12:52.360
What kind of world do people[br]want to belong in at Pixar?

0:12:52.360,0:12:54.440
A world where you're living[br]at the frontier.

0:12:54.440,0:12:56.759
What do they focus their time on?

0:12:56.759,0:12:58.230
Not on creating a vision.

0:12:58.230,0:13:00.360
Instead they spend[br]their time thinking about,

0:13:00.360,0:13:05.200
how do we design a studio that has[br]a sensibility of a public square

0:13:05.200,0:13:07.360
so that people will interact?

0:13:07.360,0:13:11.030
Let's put in a policy that anyone,[br]no matter what their level or role,

0:13:11.030,0:13:12.960
is allowed to give notes to the director

0:13:12.960,0:13:15.519
about how they feel[br]about a particular film.

0:13:15.519,0:13:17.519
You know what,[br]what can we do to make sure

0:13:17.519,0:13:18.956
that all the disruptors,

0:13:18.956,0:13:21.439
all the minority voices[br]in this organization

0:13:21.439,0:13:23.399
speak up and are heard?

0:13:23.399,0:13:27.210
And, finally, let's bestow credit[br]in a very generous way.

0:13:27.210,0:13:30.320
I don't know if you've ever looked[br]at the credits of a Pixar movie,

0:13:30.320,0:13:33.480
but the babies born during[br]a production are listed there.

0:13:33.480,0:13:34.879
(Laughter)

0:13:34.879,0:13:37.879
How did Bill think about[br]what his role was?

0:13:37.879,0:13:41.360
Bill said, "I lead[br]a volunteer organization.

0:13:41.360,0:13:45.120
Talented people[br]don't want to follow me anywhere.

0:13:45.120,0:13:48.679
They want to co-create[br]with me the future.

0:13:48.679,0:13:51.159
My job is to nurture the bottom up

0:13:51.159,0:13:54.519
and not let it degenerate into chaos."

0:13:54.519,0:13:55.840
How did he see his role?

0:13:55.840,0:13:58.639
I'm a role model,[br]I'm a human glue,

0:13:58.639,0:14:01.279
I'm a connector,[br]I'm an aggregator of viewpoints.

0:14:01.279,0:14:03.519
I'm never a dictator of viewpoints.

0:14:03.519,0:14:05.639
Advice about how you exercise the role,

0:14:05.639,0:14:08.600
hire people who argue with you.

0:14:08.600,0:14:12.592
Sometimes it's best to be[br]deliberately fuzzy and vague.

0:14:14.220,0:14:16.319
Some of you may be wondering now,

0:14:16.319,0:14:17.840
what are these people thinking?

0:14:17.840,0:14:19.300
They are thinking,

0:14:19.300,0:14:21.840
I'm not the visionary,[br]I'm the social architect.

0:14:21.840,0:14:25.440
I'm creating the space[br]where people are willing and able

0:14:25.440,0:14:28.789
to share and combine[br]their talents and passions.

0:14:28.789,0:14:31.919
If some of you are worrying now[br]that you don't work at a Pixar,

0:14:31.919,0:14:33.559
or you don't work at a Google,

0:14:33.559,0:14:36.000
I want to tell you there's still hope.

0:14:36.000,0:14:38.000
We've studied many organizations

0:14:38.000,0:14:40.960
that were not organization[br]you'd think of as ones

0:14:40.960,0:14:43.360
where a lot of innovation happens.

0:14:43.360,0:14:46.279
We studied a general counsel[br]in a pharmaceutical company

0:14:46.279,0:14:49.000
who had to figure out how[br]to get the outside lawyers,

0:14:49.000,0:14:51.759
19 competitors,[br]to collaborate and innovate.

0:14:51.759,0:14:55.609
We studied the head of marketing[br]at a German automaker

0:14:55.609,0:14:57.320
where, fundamentally, they believed

0:14:57.320,0:14:59.879
that it was the design[br]engineers, not the marketeers

0:14:59.879,0:15:02.159
who were allowed to be innovative.

0:15:02.159,0:15:06.120
We also studied Vineet Nayar[br]at HCL technologies,

0:15:06.120,0:15:08.180
an Indian outsourcing company.

0:15:08.180,0:15:09.729
When we met Vineet,

0:15:09.729,0:15:13.080
his company was about,[br]in his words, to become irrelevant.

0:15:13.080,0:15:15.399
We watched as he turned that company

0:15:15.399,0:15:19.154
into a global dynamo of IT innovation.

0:15:20.000,0:15:22.720
At HCL technologies,[br]like at many companies,

0:15:22.720,0:15:26.720
the leaders had learned to see[br]their role as setting direction

0:15:26.720,0:15:29.309
and making sure[br]that no one deviated from it.

0:15:30.399,0:15:34.320
What he did is tell them[br]it was time for them

0:15:34.320,0:15:37.740
to think about rethinking[br]what they were supposed to do.

0:15:37.740,0:15:40.600
Because what was happening[br]is that everybody was looking up

0:15:40.600,0:15:43.759
and you weren't seeing[br]the bottom-up innovation

0:15:43.759,0:15:46.119
we saw at Pixar or Google.

0:15:46.119,0:15:47.679
So they began to work on that.

0:15:47.679,0:15:51.840
They stopped giving answers,[br]they stopped trying to provide solutions.

0:15:51.840,0:15:54.679
Instead, what they did[br]is they began to see

0:15:54.679,0:15:58.556
the people at the bottom[br]of the pyramid, the young sparks,

0:15:58.556,0:16:01.030
the people who were closest[br]to the customers,

0:16:01.030,0:16:03.580
as the source of innovation.

0:16:03.580,0:16:06.713
They began to transfer[br]the organization's growth

0:16:06.713,0:16:08.236
to that level.

0:16:10.126,0:16:13.879
In Vineet's language,[br]this was about inverting the pyramid

0:16:13.879,0:16:16.919
so that you could unleash[br]the power of the many

0:16:16.919,0:16:19.840
by loosening the strength[br]hold of the few

0:16:19.840,0:16:22.960
and increase the quality[br]and the speed of innovation

0:16:22.960,0:16:25.530
that was happening every day.

0:16:26.600,0:16:30.559
For sure, Vineet[br]and all the other leaders that we studied

0:16:30.559,0:16:33.247
were in fact visionaries.

0:16:33.960,0:16:38.030
For sure, they understood[br]that that was not their role.

0:16:38.320,0:16:43.240
I don't think it is accidental[br]that many of you did not recognize Ed.

0:16:43.240,0:16:47.919
Because Ed, like Vineet,[br]understands that our role as leaders

0:16:47.919,0:16:51.554
is to set the stage, not perform on it.

0:16:52.080,0:16:54.960
If we want to invent a better future,

0:16:54.960,0:16:58.240
and I suspect that's why[br]many of us are here,

0:16:58.240,0:17:01.690
then we need to reimagine our task.

0:17:02.120,0:17:04.799
Our task is to create the space

0:17:04.799,0:17:07.440
where everybody's slices of genius

0:17:08.695,0:17:11.662
can be unleashed and harnessed,

0:17:11.960,0:17:14.720
and turned into works[br]of collective genius.

0:17:15.708,0:17:16.790
Thank you.

0:17:16.790,0:17:18.758
(Applause)