The Profile Dossier: Ed Catmull, Pixar's Creative Genius

“Unleashing creativity requires that we loosen the controls, accept risk, trust our colleagues, work to clear the path for them, and pay attention to anything that creates fear.

"We as executives have to resist our natural tendency to avoid or minimize risks, which, of course, is much easier said than done," he says. "If you want to be original, you have to accept the uncertainty, even when it’s uncomfortable, and have the capability to recover when your organization takes a big risk and fails."

“Turn pain into progress. To be wrong as fast as you can is to sign up for aggressive, rapid learning.”

“Mistakes aren’t a necessary evil. They aren’t evil at all. They are an inevitable consequence of doing something new.”

“If you don’t try to uncover what is unseen and understand its nature, you will be ill prepared to lead.”

“The most creative people are willing to work in the shadow of uncertainty.”

“The creative act is acting and responding in the face of change.”

“We believe that ideas only become great when they are challenged and tested.”

“To be a truly creative company, you must start things that might fail.”