Leaders Must Stay Silent for the First 15 Minutes of Feedback
Ed Catmull · Building Pixar, Working With Steve Jobs, and Cultivating Creativity | Ed Catmull · Jun 14, 2026 · at 12:36
Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull discusses why Steve Jobs was excluded from Pixar's Braintrust meetings and explains the group dynamics needed to foster open critique.
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“There's another reason why you didn't go to the brain trust meetings, is that in order to get the dynamics right, that the people with power, either real or perceived power, need to shut the hell up for the first 10 to 15 minutes. David Senra: And he couldn't do that? Ed Catmull: It wasn't that. Ed Catmull: The logic of that is that if a person with power speaks, they tend to set the tone for the rest of the discussion. Ed Catmull: So, you don't want them to speak at the beginning, you want the discussion to start, and then you enter the discussion”
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