Author David Epstein on why constraints fuel innovation

May 14, 2026 · 31 min

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EP · Masters of Scale · Author David Epstein on why constraints fuel innovation30:34

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0:30A director would fixate on some tiny detail in the background of a shot, like the shading on a penny that the audience may well never even notice.

0:39And they'd have animators working on it and working on it.

0:44That's author David Epstein.

0:47He's describing a problem Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull told him about.

0:51How to get people to obsess over details, but still get all of their work done.

0:56And so that's where they devised the popsicle sticks velcroed to a board with each stick representing the amount of work that one animator could do in one week.

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