For those that don’t know me well, I am an avid reader. In 2020, I finished 89 books cover to cover. I say that not to sound like I am bragging about the number, but simply to illustrate how literally true it is when I say I love to read and I love using books to challenge my own thinking.
One of the books I am just finishing up is Creativity, Inc. about Ed Catmull’s learnings from leading Pixar. This is one of the best books on leadership that I have ever read, largely because Ed doesn’t approach leadership with a prescriptive formula, but he does ask insightful questions that anyone can ask about their organization to gauge where you stand on the basic fundamentals of a healthy organization.
One of the many passages that stood out to me and has caused me the most reflection in the past week is the following:
“…I’ve always been intrigued, for example, by the way that many people use the analogy of a train to describe their companies. Massive and powerful, the train moves inexorably down the track, over mountains and across vast plains, through the densest fog and darkest night. When things go wrong, we talk of getting “derailed” and of experiencing a “train wreck.” And I’ve heard people refer to Pixar’s production group as a finely tuned locomotive that they would love the chance to drive. What interests me is the number of people who believe that they have the ability to drive the train and who think that this is the power position—that driving the train is the way to shape their companies’ futures. The truth is, it’s not. Driving the train doesn’t set its course. The real job is laying the track.”
When considering this concept, there are three things that stood out right away to me. First, when you are laying the tracks, there is no limit to where you can go. Your work as a leader is a journey, with no end and no beginning. Realizing that each quarter, each project is one more step in a longer journey relieves the pressure you put on yourself in believing that everything you’ve worked for comes down to one moment. How can you learn from each moment without making it become “the journey”?
Second, driving the train doesn’t determine the direction, you are simply playing within the lines of a track that is already known and created for you. When you are the one laying the tracks, there are no rules. How do you expose the options available to you right now that no one else is seeing?
When you fail, it’s easy to fall “off track” as the driver. It’s like hitting a dead end with nowhere to go next. But when it’s your job to lay the track, those failures become obstacles. Lay the track right, left, or build a bridge instead, but keep creating a path for everyone else who comes behind you. How do you move past obstacles and determine the next best step?
When you read the passage above, what comes up for you? I would love to hear!
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