No Authority Full Truth

Pixar's Braintrust has reviewed every film since Toy Story 2. Finding Nemo. The Incredibles. Inside Out. Coco. Each started rough. Each got brutally honest feedback. Each became a masterpiece.

You can build this. But not how you think.

The secret isn't the candor. It's the structure that makes candor safe.

Two rules govern the Braintrust:

Rule one: feedback has no authority. Directors receive input but retain full control. Nobody can override the director's choices. This isn't consensus. It's advice without consequences.

Rule two: everyone has been in the hot seat. Every person giving feedback has shown their ugly baby to the room. Has felt the vulnerability. Has received hard truths about their own work.

Ed Catmull calls this psychological safety through reciprocity. You'll share the terrible first draft when you know the room won't use it against you.

Most organizations try to copy the Braintrust. They fail. They get the structure right and the trust wrong. People filter what they say because they haven't survived the hot seat themselves.

Build the safety before you demand the candor. Whoever gives feedback should have showed their ugly babies first. Trust Speaks Human before it speaks truth.

The Braintrust works because survival came before contribution. The Information Flow shows how to build the same dynamic in your handoffs.