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Jack Welch Gutted GE and His Disciples Later Damaged Boeing

Ed Catmull · Building Pixar, Working With Steve Jobs, and Cultivating Creativity | Ed Catmull · Jun 14, 2026 · at 50:51

Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull critiques Jack Welch's management philosophy prioritizing short-term financial metrics over product quality and research.

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“It's split up into pieces. And it was completely fragile. Not robust because he gutted it of the future research. But the people that were there were hired and considerably valuable because they'd grown up in that system. Two of them which went on to become leaders of Boeing. Applying the same principles that they learned from Jack Welch and Boeing with the constant consequences that we now see.”

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