Pixar and Zootopia: Teamwork and Group Development

Last week we talked about Colvin's "What Really Makes a Team Work". I particularly enjoyed the example about Steve Job and how he designed the Pixar headquarters around a central atrium in order to optimize teamwork. The design forced employees to always pass each other when heading to different offices, and it encouraged interaction outside of the office. A large part of what makes a team work is how effectively that team communicates both in and out of the office. Here is an image of what the Pixar headquarters look like:

Click here for an additional article that expands more on how the central atrium encourages unplanned collaboration. My favorite story of unplanned collaboration is when the Andrew Stanton, John Lasseter, Pete Docter and joe Ranft met up at Hidden City Cafe and came up with the ideas that later became A Bug's Life, Monster's Inc., Finding Nemo and Wall-E. If they had not met, then we wouldn't have the movies we all know and love today!

Hidden City Café

We also talked about Tuckman's "5 Stages of Group Development" and looked at the Prezi that used Remember the Titans to illustrate those stages. I liked this project so much, that I decided to do my own illustration of the 5 stages of Group Development using one of my favorite movies, Zootopia (Warning: Spoilers ahead!).

Zootopia is about a bunny named Judy who dreams of becoming a cop in the big city named Zootopia, and she teams up with a fox named Nick in order to solve a case. Animals in the movie are separated between predators and prey, which is the underlying theme of the movie. Nick is a predator, and Judy is prey.

**Note: If video doesn't play, click on link that says "Watch this video on youtube".

Step 1: Forming

Forming is the stage where team members first come together to accomplish a still undetermined goal. The first instance of Judy and Nick working as a team is when she recruits his help for solving a missing mammals case. Judy blackmails Nick into helping her, and so he begrudgingly agrees to help her find clues for the case.

Step 2: Storming

This is usually the stage where conflict occurs because roles are still being established. Nick makes a couple of attempts to sabotage Judy's investigation because he does not want to be working as a cop. He does a number of things such as taking her to a Naturalist club and to the DMV, which takes up a lot of time (Judy must solve the case in 48 hours).

Step 3: Norming

This stage is when the roles are established and a common goal is achieved; team members start to contribute to meet that end game. The first instance of Nick starting to help Judy out with her investigation is after she is almost fired from the ZPD. He saves her job and then comes up with an idea that gets them closer to solving the case.

Step 4: Performing

The performing stage involves the team working effectively. All group members want to achieve their goal, they take care of each other and they solve disagreements in a positive way. Judy and Nick work as an effective team when they find the missing mammals, and also when they solve the bigger mystery close to the end.

Step 5: Adjourning

The adjourning stage involves the team members accomplishing their goals and moving on to other tasks. This stage is important for recognizing success and leaving the door open for future collaboration. The movie ends with Nick officially joining the ZPD and becoming Judy's work partner.

Well, that concludes my blog for this week, I hope you all enjoyed!