Recently I was looking for a show to go see, and came across some reviews about Pixar’s new film, Up. The reviews were all positive, with everyone basically saying that Pixar had managed to come up with yet another great film. Pixar is one of those amazing companies that has figured out how to not only do something great the first time, but again and again.
In fact, most people get lucky the first time and spend their entire lives trying to duplicate that first success, with no real understanding of the principles that made them successful in the first place. But Pixar has made a conscious effort, since the beginning, to identify and reinforce such principles. And that’s the real secret to being great.