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Books Like Creativity, Inc.
Best books to read after Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull
Creativity, Inc. is the most thoughtful account ever written of how a creative organization maintains the conditions for excellent work — the cultural practices, structural innovations, and leadership philosophies that allowed Pixar to make one great film after another. These 8 books extend into creative leadership, organizational culture, the psychology of creativity, and the art of collaboration.
- 1
Buy on AmazonThe War of Art
by Steven Pressfield
Pressfield's account of 'Resistance' — the internal force that prevents creative work from being completed — provides the individual-level complement to Catmull's organizational account of what blocks creativity.
- 2
Buy on AmazonThe Ride of a Lifetime
by Robert Iger
Disney CEO Robert Iger's account of his leadership philosophy and the acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm — written from the perspective of Catmull's organizational parent and the executive who integrated Pixar's culture into the broader Disney company.
- 3
Buy on AmazonAn Unquiet Mind
by Kay Redfield Jamison
Psychologist Kay Redfield Jamison's memoir of living with bipolar disorder — a deeply personal account of the relationship between mental states, creativity, and the conditions under which creative work is possible, which deepens the understanding of what Catmull means by protecting the creative environment.
- 4
Buy on AmazonArt and Fear
by David Bayles
A slim, essential book on the fears and obstacles that prevent artists from making work — and the specific ways that perfectionism, comparison, and self-doubt interfere with the creative process — the practitioner's guide to the psychological terrain Catmull maps organizationally.
- 5
Buy on AmazonThe Innovator's Dilemma
by Clayton M. Christensen
Christensen's account of how great organizations systematically undermine their own capacity to innovate — the competitive dynamics that make Catmull's careful protection of Pixar's culture not just nice to have but existentially necessary.
- 6
Buy on AmazonOriginals
by Adam Grant
Organizational psychologist Adam Grant's account of how original thinkers champion new ideas, overcome doubt, and build cultures of creative dissent — extending Catmull's account of Pixar's culture into a broader theory of organizational creativity.
- 7
Buy on AmazonMaking Movies
by Sidney Lumet
Legendary director Sidney Lumet's account of how films are made — from script to screen — providing the craft perspective on the filmmaking process that underlies the organizational culture Catmull describes.
- 8
Buy on AmazonThe Culture Code
by Daniel Coyle
Coyle's comparative study of the world's most successful creative groups — including how they build safety, share vulnerability, and establish purpose — extending Catmull's account of Pixar into a broader theory of what makes creative groups excellent.
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