Meet Your Braintrust: The Secret to Pixar's Creativity
From candid feedback to iteration, you'll find that this creative process has unique stages of development.
Hi, I’m Ben Watkins 👋 Thanks for joining La Vie Ben Rose. Every week, I unravel copywriting questions, examples, and conversion tactics from the most recognized brands. I also look at the different ways to become a better writer and creative thinker.
Here are issues from the past month:
Happy Tuesday!
I’ve had my cheesecake and coffee (I definitely need more), and I’m ready to dive into more creativity frameworks.
Let’s dive in!
Imagine writing something you thought was the funniest thing and then your best friend telling you it’s actually not that funny.
You’d probably die inside.
That brutal honesty has helped Pixar make the most beloved movies (obviously, Cars 2 & 3, Lightyear, and The Good Dinosaur went off the rails). For most Pixar movies — like Toy Story — this magical storytelling feels miles ahead of any other movie.
Pixar’s storytelling isn’t spectacular because people are smarter at Pixar. They’ve developed a creative process that sparks creative genius.
That process is known as Braintrust.
Braintrust Is About Brutal Honesty
Brutal honesty is hard to come by these days.
Partly because it’s hard to find a group of people who will be brutally honest with you, they may support your ideas and say, “Give it the ole college try.” They may even support your journey like a kind chap.
But to find a group of people who will be brutally honest about your ideas, writing, stories, or startup ideas is difficult. That’s why I love this Braintrust method. Some say it was developed by the five men working on Toy Story:
“The Braintrust developed organically out of the rare working relationship among the five men who led and edited the production of Toy Story–John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, Lee Unkrich, and Joe Ranft.”
How it works
The Braintrust technique offers honest and constructive feedback during various stages of a film's (or any creative project) development.
Here’s how it works:
Constructive Criticism:
Braintrust meetings are designed to encourage open and honest communication. You can’t simply point out problems. You need to provide constructive criticism. Team members want to know how to improve if they throw out an idea. Every needs refinement, not criticism.
Honest Feedback:
At Pixar, the Braintrust group is composed of individuals who are experts in storytelling and filmmaking. Whenever there’s a meeting, there’s always candid feedback on the storytelling, characters, and overall creative direction.
Iterative Process:
The Braintrust is about constant iteration. Pixar filmmakers give their work to the Braintrust at different stages of development. The goal is to get feedback on what exactly needs to be refined. It’s about perfecting a certain part of the creative process.
Story-Centric Focus:
Pixar is known for its stories. And that’s the job of Braintrust: to make stories the best stories ever. They want to ensure that every story makes you cry, laugh, and grip you from beginning to end. It’s why Pixar’s stories stand the test of time. They are challenged to perfection.
Get Rid of the Fixed Hierarchy:
There is no hierarchy at Pixar. Just because you’re the CEO doesn’t mean you have the best ideas. Braintrust is about zero hierarchy. Every member is encouraged to share their honesty and opinions. There’s an emphasis on the merit of the ideas rather than the position of the person presenting them.
Cultural “Best Stories” Feel:
This system for creating ideas is built around Pixar’s culture. Braintrust is designed to make the best films ever. The best stories ever. Who cares if you prefer something if you’re the writer or the director. The ultimate goal is to tell stories that exceed expectations regardless of your personal preferences.
Emotional Tears:
Braintrust aims to make you cry. They want films like Up, Toy Story, and others to get you to feel for the characters. They want you to feel like you’re a part of an emotional journey with them.
Trust and Safety:
The final stage of Braintrust is about feeling confident in your work. Whatever the finished product, the goal is to figure out how to improve continually. It’s not about how bad you are as a writer. It’s about how to improve on the next project.
How to Apply This Technique In Your Work as a Writer and a Startup Founder
Writing can be a lonely journey.
C.S. Lewis encouraged Tolkien to publish his Lord of the Rings trilogy. Other writers need to support other writers. You don’t have to be their best friend. You just have to find a group of people who are willing to give you honest feedback without it being only about criticism.
How Braintrust Helps Writers
Pursue Relentless Feedback:
Find fellow online writers who are building a writing habit. Reach out to them. Be genuinely interested in what they have to say. And start to learn from each other.
Find or Host Workshops:
Attending a workshop (or hosting a workshop) that invites others to express themselves. Make it an open platform that allows anyone to voice their opinion and get feedback. Make it a comfortable setting where others are encouraged to get honest feedback from each other.
Constantly Iterate:
The hardest part about any work is the iteration part. When you get feedback, you may hate killing your idea. I encourage you to swap out words, rearrange sentences, and take the feedback to heart. You never know what you can come up with when you iterate. Most importantly, take a break from your creative writing.
Emotional Pull
Whatever feedback you’re getting, make sure it’s specific. One way to do that is to ask what emotion it appeals to the most and where that emotion ranks from 1-10 in terms of pulling you in. If it’s a happy pull but only a 4 out of 10, figure out how to improve your writing to achieve a better score.
How Braintrust Can Help Startup Founders
One of the things I like to do is see how these creative ideas help startup founders.
Here are two examples of how Braintrust has helped successful brands:
Apple:
Steve Jobs gathered executives and designers to discuss and critique new product ideas. This small and trusted group played a major role in shaping revolutionary products. At the same time, the goal was to keep every product idea “simple.”
Amazon:
Amazon has a leadership principle known as "Disagree and Commit." It encourages team members to voice their opinions, even if they disagree with leadership. It encourages constructive debate and ensures that decisions are thoroughly examined before moving forward.
The hardest part of any startup is finding people who believe in your idea. If they do, they will manifest that belief in sales, copywriting, and, ultimately, the success of your brand.
What I love most about Braintrust is that it forces you to ask others for feedback.
I love finding a creative idea and believing that my creative idea is the best. “I’m the one who found it so therefore I’m brilliant!” Asking friends and other writers for feedback is hard because I don’t want them to disagree with me. If they do, I often scoff at them and say they don’t understand.
Every brilliant creative idea has been through the ringer. Gone through iterations. And is where it is because of honest feedback.
When we arrive at that point, we won’t die inside. We’ll feel like that idea is more alive than ever.
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