

A conversation with Ed Catmull - akashg
http://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=1883592

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cageface
There are a lot of very talented people at Pixar but I think Catmull is really
the heart and soul of the company. He's one of those ridiculously rare people
that are both a brilliant engineers and expert managers of people. Working at
Pixar for ten years taught me just how crucial the _character_ of a CEO can be
to the success of a company.

------
skmurphy
Key quote:

    
    
       ...when most people talk about "the new," they're actually talking 
       about it after the fact. They look back and say how brilliant you were 
       at seeing all this, and so forth. Well, it's all nonsense. When it 
       is new, you don't know it. You're creating something for the future, and 
       you don't know exactly what it is.
    

I used this quote as a point of departure for "Early Adopters Have Already Let
Go of the Past" at [http://www.skmurphy.com/blog/2011/01/07/early-adopters-
have-...](http://www.skmurphy.com/blog/2011/01/07/early-adopters-have-already-
let-go-of-the-past/)

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henryprecheur
Keep Your Crises Small, <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2h2lvhzMDc>

It's a lecture from Ed Catmull. I highly recommend it, many gems from a
brilliant developer turned brilliant manager.

------
gregschlom
When I saw his name, I wondered if it was the same Catmull from the Catmull-
Rom splines that you can find on a number of 3d design programs such as
3dsmax.

Turns out it is: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Catmull>

------
akashg
I love his analysis about the training in arts. Too many people discount the
artistic side of things in the technical world, but it is quite obvious after
working in the animation industry that there's nice parallels and
inteconnetions between the two seemingly bifurcated fields.

------
mruniverse
I liked the part about "finding good ideas" vs "finding good people". I think
this is why devs are annoyed by postings looking for someone to implement
their great idea. "I have a great idea for a fantastic product. I just need
you to implement it. You'll get paid when the project makes money."

