In the difficult year after Toy Story’s debut, I came to realize that trying to solve this mystery would be my next challenge. My desire to protect Pixar from the forces that ruin so many businesses gave me renewed focus. I began to see my role as a leader more clearly. I would devote myself to learning how to build not just a successful company but a sustainable creative culture. As I turned my attention from solving technical problems to engaging with the philosophy of sound management, I was excited once again - and sure that our second act could be as exhilarating as our first.

Getting middle managers to tolerate (and not feel threatened by) problems and surprises is
one of our most important jobs; they already feel the weight of believing that if they screw
up, there will be hell to pay. How do we get people to reframe the way they think about the
process and the risks?

The implication, for me, was that we would inevitably be subject to those same delusions at Pixar unless we came to terms with our own limited ability to see. We had to address what I’ve come to call the Hidden.

Complex environments are, by definition, too complicated for any one person to grasp fully. Yet many managers, afraid of appearing to not be in control, believe that they have to know everything - or at least act like they do.

Whatever our weaknesses and whatever their origins, the defaults will handily take command of our lives if we don’t manage them. Moreover, we’re often unaware when they do.