The complexity of creative endeavors, such as producing computer-animated films, is often associated with fear for failure. Failure is a crucial aspect of such undertakings, and therefore those involved must find ways of leveraging on fear and failure to achieve success. Catmull and Wallace (2014), focus on the issue of fear and failure in creative projects. The key theme from Chapter 6 of the book by Catmull and Wallace is the need for the team members in such projects to understand that fear and failure are crucial components of a successful product. A fundamental aspect of this perspective is that failure provides a team with opportunities to conduct more research. Researching the causes of failure, in turn, forms the basis for better results. Fear, in this case, means that the team members are apprehensive that some decisions will not be productive. Failure is an unfavorable outcome that can affect the final product. However, being wrong as early and fast into a project is the ideal scenario for a team because it forces the team to have a grip on the project from the initial stages. The topic is of interest since the authors give the audience insights on how to capitalize on fear and failure in the course of developing creative content. Indeed, people tasked with designing a creative project should envision instances of failure and capitalize on any wrong moves they make by researching further. First, the essay reviews chapter 6 then delves into the meaning of the phrases "fail early and fail fast" and "be wrong as fast as you can" and how they relate to creative projects.
The content in Chapter 6 is both relevant and informative. Fear and failure are elements that cannot miss in a creative project. The authors begin the chapter by giving a narration of the happenings surrounding the production of Toy Story 3 (Catmull & Wallace, 2014). In the past engagements, the Toy Story team had made several mistakes and found solutions for them. The reader thus has a gist of the arguments made by the authors. Attaching relevance to one's arguments is crucial; according to Robison, "relevance is one of the most critical aspects of informative content (Robison, 2013). Toy Story 3 injects relevance to the chapter's content, which enables a reader to relate the information to a real creative product. The authors quote Steve Jobs, who believes that a creative project without mistakes is dangerous. Nevertheless, the chapter lacks the required level of grip since the authors do not develop their arguments around one base story. For example, the authors could have intertwined the subject of fear and failure with the Toy Story 3 development narration. One central idea could have given the weight to the main argument.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The phrases "fail early and fail fast" and "be wrong as fast" as projected in the chapter are very pertinent to creative endeavors. In such an undertaking, the aspect of fear is always attached to the success of the entire process. The above two phrases are related since mistakes lead to failure, and they both form the basis for fear. Fear and failure should act as an inducement for success instead of being the triggers for bottlenecks (Cacciotti et al., 2016). Every undertaking will have challenges that can cause team members to fear that they will not achieve the set objectives. Failure in different instances of a project will always be there. In a creative endeavor such as planning and producing a film, the team in charge of the project will encounter several pitfalls. Catmull and Wallace (2014) state that team members should envision failure as stepping stones to better results. Such is thus prepared to learn more effective ways of achieving the planned tasks.
Experiencing instances of mistakes and failure early into a project is the ideal scenario for team members. The “early” aspect of the two phrases implies that those tasked with the project will have enough time to learn from the mistakes and thus steer the project to fruition. Making mistakes at an early stage of a creative undertaking allows the project team to review the main choices they have (Samset & Cristensen, 2017). They will want to examine different ways of overcoming the obstacles that informed the failure in the first place. Alston (2016) writes that making mistakes enhances the creativity of a team. Therefore, if wrongs happen in the initial stages of a project, the innovativeness of the team will receive a boost as members attempt to find a solution. However, this will be possible if each individual configures their mindset to perceive failure as an opportunity to learn.
Learning from mistakes is a critical argument that Catmull and Wallace make in this chapter. In a creative project, errors will occur, and this does not mean that the undertaking should be abandoned. It is expected that people in a project will be risk-averse in that they will attempt to avoid mistakes. Catmull and Wallace (2014) said that in their Toy Story 3, they had few errors that had little impact on the project. It means that the team focused on being perfect, an aspect that Steve Jobs felt was dangerous for the project. Campbell et al. (2018) write that people should perceive mistakes as gifts or guideposts in their learning and growth. What the Catmull and Wallace labor to put across is that errors should spur people in creative projects to seek more knowledge. Such an approach will preempt the need to debate more on the team's failures.
In conclusion, people designing and developing a creative project must perceive failure as a positive aspect of their undertakings. It is better to make mistakes early into a project because the team will have enough time to relearn and come up with excellent products. The recommendations given by Catmull and Wallace will not only help people in the creative industry, but anybody engaged in any positive undertaking.
References
Alston, A. (2016). Making mistakes in immersive theatre: Spectatorship and errant immersion. Journal of Contemporary Drama in English , 4 (1), 61-73.
Cacciotti, G., Hayton, J. C., Mitchell, J. R., & Giazitzoglu, A. (2016). A reconceptualization of fear of failure in entrepreneurship. Journal of Business Venturing , 31 (3), 302-325.
Campbell, H., Forester, J., Sanyal, B., Anwar, K., Brando, C., Azis, I. J., ... & Vanderhoven, D. (2018). Can We Learn from Our Mistakes? Introduction/Lessons Learned from Implementing Two Programs to Develop More Infrastructure Projects in Asia/Who Does the Agent of Change Represent? Stardom vs. Ownership/Learning from Mistakes/Mistakes, Errors and Possible Failures/Discerning Demography and Economy/Can a Planning and Land Use Lawyer Learn from Past Mistakes?/On Subjective Processes and the Limiting of Enquiry/Afterword: Abiding Challenges of Deliberative Practice. Planning Theory & Practice , 19 (3), 425-446.
Catmull, E., & Wallace, A. (2014). Creativity, Inc: Overcoming The Unseen Forces That Stand In The Way Of True Inspiration . Random House.
Roberson, R. (2013). Helping students find relevance: Teaching the relevance of course content can help students develop into engaged, motivated, and self-regulated learners. Retrieved 28 April 2020, from www.apa.org/ed/precollege/ptn/2013/09/students-relevance
Samset, K., & Christensen, T. (2017). Ex-ante project evaluation and the complexity of early decision-making. Public Organization Review , 17 (1), 1-17.
