Athenian Dialogue
What: |
Athenian Dialogue |
When: |
Sunday, May 4, 2025, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm |
Where: |
Fairmont Hot Springs Anaconda, MT PLEASE NOTE: This is an in-person event only. No virtual attendance will be available. |
Facilitator: |
Lydia Maunz, Associate Specialist, MSU Local Government Center |
Book: |
Creativity, Inc., (The Expanded Edition) by Ed Catmull with Amy Wallace |
Price: |
$35.00 (Does NOT include the book. Participants are responsible for obtaining and reading the book prior to the Dialogue.) Coffee, lunch, and afternoon snacks and beverages are included. |
Payment: |
Please submit credit card payment through the payment portal. |
Capacity: |
25 participants maximum A minimum of 8 participants is needed for a successful Dialogue. |
Registration Deadline: |
Friday, April 25, 2025 |
Credits: |
Municipal clerks may earn 6 CMC or MMC education hours (3 IIMC education points) for participation in this event. |
Before You Arrive: |
Read the entire text, take notes in the sections that resonate with you, and bring the book and your notes with you to the dialogue. |
Special Note: |
There are two versions of this book. If you can, read the expanded version (It's got several chapters added at the end.) If you already have the original version, no worries. We'll work around that. |
Description:
For nearly thirty years, Pixar has dominated the world of animation, producing such beloved films as the Toy Story trilogy, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Up, and WALL-E, which have gone on to set box-office records and garner eighteen Academy Awards. The joyous storytelling, the inventive plots, the emotional authenticity: In some ways, Pixar movies are an object lesson in what creativity really is. Here, Catmull reveals the ideals and techniques that have made Pixar so widely admired—and so profitable.
As a young man, Ed Catmull had a dream: to make the first computer-animated movie.
He nurtured that dream as a Ph.D. student, and then forged a partnership with George
Lucas that led, indirectly, to his founding Pixar with Steve Jobs and John Lasseter
in 1986. Nine years later, Toy Story was released, changing animation forever. The
essential ingredient in that movie’s success—and in the twenty-five movies that followed—was
the unique environment that Catmull and his colleagues built at Pixar, based on philosophies
that protect the creative process and defy convention, such as:
- Give a good idea to a mediocre team and they will screw it up. But give a mediocre idea to a great team and they will either fix it or come up with something better.
- It’s not the manager’s job to prevent risks. It’s the manager’s job to make it safe for others to take them.
- The cost of preventing errors is often far greater than the cost of fixing them.
- A company’s communication structure should not mirror its organizational structure. Everybody should be able to talk to anybody.
Pursuing excellence isn’t a one-off assignment but an ongoing, day-in, day-out, full-time job. And Creativity, Inc. explores how it is done.
Participants are responsible for obtaining and reading the book prior to the Dialogue. The book is available at your local book store or on Amazon.
What is an Athenian Dialogue?
Athenian Dialogues are 6-hour intensive conversations that allow participants to explore leadership theory, practice, and principles while earning IIMC certification education credits.
Clerks have the opportunity to relate their experiences in public leadership roles to the book's themes and key ideas, drawing connections and insights they can apply in their professional and personal lives.
This opportunity for rich, deeply engaged conversation and shared insight is a treasured Institute tradition and not to be missed!
Questions? Feel free to email them to lydia.maunz@montana.edu.
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