The Idea: In the last twenty years, only two of Pixar’s twenty films have flopped. They have created some of the most successful, innovative, and commercially relevant films of the last two decades (Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Up, Brave, and WALL-E). How have they done it? Co-founder of Pixar Animation, Ed Catmull, says it’s pretty simple: the brain trust.
In his bestseller, Creativity Inc., Catmull says, “For all the care you put into artistry, visual polish frequently doesn’t matter if you are getting the story right.”
Brain trusts are comprised of advisors whose only concern is leading someone to their most optimal outcome. Their analysis is unaffected by exterior forces, and they care deeply about a project’s success – enough to be completely candid about problems. Catmull states that brain trusts are excellent at “stripping down a story to its emotional, load-bearing sequences and then rebuilding it from the ground up.” They are engineers of objectivity, and they are essential to one’s strategy.
A necessary element to a successful brain trust is a healthy candor. As Catmull has said, “We believe that ideas – and thus, films – only become great when they are challenged and tested.” An effective brain trust eliminates hierarchy and power figures in the group, assessing the creative process, (or art), not the artist.
The best brain trusts enlist people who offer a unique vantage point; who are open, progressive and healthy leaders; who address broader solutions. Effective brain trusts liberate us. We are all prisons of our personal biases.
We all need a brain trust.
Maybe the biggest blind spot in leadership is the illusion that wanting to see clearly is the same thing as seeing clearly. I frequently work with leaders who care deeply about being sound in reasoning and receptive to critique; that’s something towards which we should always strive. But it isn’t enough. Personal biases affect our reasoning, which is why we need a brain trust.
Robert Cialdini, Regents’ Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Marketing at Arizona State reminds us “we all fool ourselves from time to time to keep our thoughts and beliefs consistent with what we have already done or decided.” Our need to stay consistent with our views of our self is a very powerful motivating force.
A brain trust works to dismantle all of our instincts. Here are just a few of the biases a brain trust helps us overcome:
- Confirmation Bias – we look for ideas to confirm our own personal views.
- In-Group Bias – we often favor people in our group or who are like us.
- Bandwagon Bias – we love to go with the flow based on our opinions of others around us.
- Negativity Bias – negative viewpoints are perceived as more valuable than positive views.
- Social Proof – we are influenced by people with title, power or influence.
An effective brain trust allows you to see through other’s eyes. We all suffer from personal bias. Do you have a “Brain-Trust?” We all need one.
