As always happens in creative collaboration, many sources helped shape our thinking. John Briggs s classic Fire in the Crucible (New York: St. Martins, 1988), which includes the material on Pilobolus, is an especially well-written and provocative examination of the subject. Harold J. Leavitt and Jean Lipman-Blumen’s “Hot Groups” (Harvard Business Review, July 1995) is as insightful as it is wonderfully written. Howard Gardner’s Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership (New York: Basic Books, 1995) was especially helpful in its analysis of Oppenheimer s leadership of the Manhattan Project. Psychologist Martin E. P. Seligman did groundbreaking work on optimism and success. We often consulted his classic Learned Optimism (New York: Knopf, 1991). (Additional Seligman material is from Alan Farnham s “Are You Smart Enough to Keep Your Job？” in Fortune, January 15, 1996). Howard S. Becker’s Art Worlds (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982) is a wonderful examination of artistic creativity. Social psychologist Teresa M. Amabile has studied creativity rigorously for twenty years. Her Creativity in Context (Boulder, Co.: Westview Press, 1996) was especially helpful in summing up the current science relevant to organizing genius. No one was more helpful than Michael P. Farrell. His “Artists’ Circles and the Development of Artists” (in Small Group Behavior, November 1982) was an important source, as was a portion of his book, Collaborative Friendship Circles, Creative Work, and Adult Development, that he shared with us prior to publication. We also found much to think about in John A. Byrne’s The Whiz Kids (New York: Currency, 1993). Groups That Work (and Those That Don’t), edited by J. Richard Hackman (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1990) was also stimulating. Phil Jackson’s observation about Dennis Rodman appeared in the New York Times Magazine in Jeff Coplon’s piece on the Chicago Bulls, “Legends. Champions?” (April 21, 1996). The Michael Eisner material is from a speech he gave to the Chicago Executives Club at the Chicago Hilton on April 19, 1996. Robert Boyle recalled Hitchcock in an interview in 1996. John Dash retells the story of the Women’s Factory Strike in We Shall Not Be Moved (New York: Scholastic, 1996). Martinez talked about recruiting in “What Exactly Is Charisma？” by Patricia Sellers in Fortune, January 15, 1996 (also the source of the Orit Gadiesh observation on “true north”). Christopher Darden wrote about Marcia Clark in “Marcia and Me” in Newsweek (March 25, 1996). Welch summed up his leadership responsibilities in “Where Leaders Come From” in Fortune, September 19, 1994. Neil Baldwin’s fine biography, Edison: Inventing the Century (New York: Hyperion, 1995) was the source for the material on how the inventor recruited. Licklider’s enthusiasm for the Miller Analogies Test is revealed, as part of the story of the birth of the Internet, in When Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins of the Internet (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996) by Katie Hafner and Matthew Lyon. Conversations with Richard Massimilian also contributed.
Peter Schneider, head of Feature Animation at Disney throughout its recent renaissance, answered our many questions on how the department is currently organized to maximize creativity but still get the movies shipped on time. We are grateful for his candor, his insights, and his help. Walt Disney is much written about. For biographical information, we found Leonard Mos-ley’s Disney’s World (Lanham, Md.: Scarborough House, 1990) full of revealing anecdotes and less fawning than some. We also found useful material in The Man Behind the Magic: The Story of Walt Disney by Katherine and Richard Greene (New York: Viking, 1991). One of the best sources for detailed information on the making of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is John Grant’s Encyclopedia of Walt Disney’s Animated Characters (New York: Hyperion, 1993), a must-have book for anyone interested in the animated features. Leonard Maltin has a fine chapter on Disney (the source of the Shamus Culhane material, among other things) in his excellent Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons (New York: Plume, 1987). Film historian Rudy Behlmer also has a fact-packed chapter on Snow White in his America’s Favorite Movies: Behind the Scenes (New York: Frederic Unger, 1982). (Instead of recycling Hollywood legends, Behlmer dug up the studio memos that document the production). Another very useful source was a somewhat eccentric collection of essays titled Disney Discourse: Producing the Magic Kingdom (New York and London: Routledge, 1994). Paul Hollister s wonderful portrait of the studio during the making of Fantasia, which originally appeared in the Atlantic Monthly in December 1940, is in the book. Other first-rate pieces in the collection are Richard deCordova’s “The Mickey in Macy’s Window: Childhood, Consumerism, and Disney Animation"; Robert De Roos’s “The Magic Worlds of Walt Disney” which originally appeared in National Geographic in August 1963 and is the source of the bee story; Richard Neupert s “Painting a Plausible World: Disney’s Color Prototypes"; Douglas Gomery’s “Disney’s Business History: A Reinterpretation"; and Jon Lewis’s “Disney after Disney: Family Business and the Business of Family” Disney routinely publishes lavishly illustrated books in connection with new animated features. One we found very useful is by Disney biographer Bob Thomas: Disney’s Art of Animation: From Mickey Mouse to Beauty and the Beast (New York: Hyperion, 1991). We also found much material in Disney’s Aladdin: The Making of an Animated Film (New York: Hyperion, 1992). Written by John Culhane, nephew of the great Disney animator Shamus Culhane, it walks the reader through the many stages of production. Much of the information on Andreas Deja comes from Betsy Shar-key’s revealing portrait, “The Heart and Soul of a New Animator,” in the New York Times, May 19, 1996. James Bates and Patrice Apodaca did a first-rate analysis of the rising fortunes of today’s animators and the threat posed to Disney by the proliferation of new studios, “Stalking the King of Animation,” in the Los Angeles Times on June 20, 1996. Burr Snider profiled John Lasseter and Pixar in “The Toy Story Story,” in the December 1995 issue of Wired. We were also fortunate in being able to turn to Disney founding archivist Dave Smith with questions. He identified the studio s first woman animator for us. He is also the author of the last word on all things Disney, Disney A to Z: The Official Encyclopedia (New York: Hyperion, 1996).
We were very fortunate to interview Alan Kay, one of the key participants in the creation of the personal computer. He generously shared his insights on how Bob Taylor so effectively organized the talent at Xerox PARC, and, as we talked, we had a sense of how thrilling it must have been to be involved with people of Kay’s quality of mind, inventing something that changed the world. Several secondary sources were also invaluable. The first was Fumbling the Future: How Xerox Invented, Then Ignored the First Personal Computer by Douglas K. Smith and Robert C. Alexander (New York: William Morrow, 1988). Few books do such a fine job of telling complicated and intertwined stories, in this case, the twisted tales of a triumphant intellectual journey and a corporate fiasco. The book is filled with examples of how to facilitate creative collaboration (Taylors conflict-resolution technique, for instance) and how to squelch it. Another treasure was Steven Levy’s Insanely Great: The Life and Times of Macintosh, the Computer That Changed Everything (New York: Viking, 1994). Levy’s is a great book, written with a novelist’s skill (on a Macintosh, of course). Like the Mac itself, it is an elegant product as well, handsomely produced in an easy-to-hold small format. Levy demystifies the technical part of the computing story and remembers to include the jokes (“What’s the difference between Apple and Boy Scouts?”). Another great help was Robert X. Cringely’s breezily written but information-laden Accidental Empires: How the Boys of Silicon Valley Make Their Millions, Battle Foreign Competition, and Still Can’t Get a Date (Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1992). Cringely, who proudly calls himself a computer-industry gossip columnist, is awfully good at limning the personalities behind the millions, but he also writes clearly and amusingly about ideas. We also watched his three-hour video version of the book, which aired on PBS in 1996, Triumph of the Nerds (from Ambrose Video). Dennis Shasha and Cathy Lazere s Out of Tlteir Minds (New York: Copernicus, 1995) was also invaluable. Gary Wolfs interview with Steve Jobs in Wired magazine (February 1996) is a fascinating look at the current thinking of this major figure in the evolving story of the personal computer. Also helpful was Laurence Zuckermans updated profile of Mac artist Susan Kare in the New York Times (August 26, 1996). Lloyd Kriegers tribute to the Macs he has known and loved ran in the New York Times (February 18, 1996). The Gates-Jobs anecdote is from Gates by Stephen Manes and Paul Andrews (New York: Doubleday, 1994).
Virtually anything you want to know about the 1992 presidential election is contained in The Quest for the Presidency 1992, an exhaustive and compelling example of journalism as history in the making by Peter Goldman, Thomas M. DeFrank, Mark Miller, Andrew Murr, and Tom Mathews, with Patrick Rogers and Melanie Cooper (College Station: Texas A & M University Press, 1994). This team from Newsweek had rare behind-the-scenes access to the Clinton campaign, and they flesh out their massive account with documents as well as vividly written scenes of ever}’ stage of the process that led to Clintons election in 1992. We found it invaluable. The same team was responsible for another good source, the special election issue of Newsweek (November/December 1992). In some ways that special issue, released only days after Clinton s win, is even more impressive than the book—an example of journalistic grace under deadline pressure. Another indispensable source was All’s Fair: Love, War, and Running for President (New York: Random House, 1994). Cowritten by political odd couple Mary Matalin and James Carville, with Peter Knobler, this is an insider s account of the race from both sides. Since our focus was mostly on the Clinton side of the campaign, we found Carville’s material especially helpful. The Ragin’ Cajun starred in another important source, The War Room, Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebakers 1993 Oscar-winning documentary film about the campaign. It is wonderful to be able to see the visuals as this Great Group coalesces, labors mightily, and then suddenly finds its work over. We were also helped enormously in bringing the chapter up to date by an interview with Presidential aide John Emerson in 1996. He was especially helpful in making us appreciate how many people played important roles in the campaign effort—a useful corrective to the somewhat narrow focus of the film. Throughout the 1996 campaign, as Dick Morris rose and fell and as Bob Dole struggled heroically against widespread indifference to his candidacy, we followed the coverage of the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, other major papers, and Time and Newsweek, among other periodicals. Doyle McManuss cover story, “Into the Final Fray” on the emergence of a new, more conservative Clinton in the Los Angeles Times Magazine of February 11, 1996, was especially illuminating. Also helpful was Alison Mitchell’s peek into the White House campaign center in the New York Times, May 7, 1996. We also read the campaign novel Primary Colors (New York: Random House, 1996), and, no, we didn’t recognize Joe Klein as Anonymous.
Given our focus, the best book on Lockheed’s super-secret division is Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed by its late head Ben R. Rich and writer Leo Janos (Boston: Little, Brown, 1994). We relied on it both for its admirably lucid descriptions of the complex projects undertaken there and for what Rich and others had to say about their tenure. Rich did an especially good job of contrasting his leadership style with that of his predecessor. Also enormously useful was Kelly: More Than My Share of It by the departments legendary founder Clarence L. “Kelly” Johnson, with Maggie Smith (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1985). Kelly’s book was written when much about Skunk Works’ projects was still classified, but it does an excellent job of describing complex work in accessible language. It also captures both Kelly’s crustiness and the pain of his last years. We were also fortunate to have an extensive interview on the Skunk Works with Chris Karen, former head of research at Lockheed. H. S. “Blackie” Shanliar.’s description of how Johnson recruited is from Tom Peters’s A Passion for Excellence (New York: Random House, 1985).
In 1972, Martin Dubermans pioneering Black Mountain: An Exploration in Community (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1972) brought the extraordinary school to the attention of a new generation of social and sensory explorers who could appreciate its pioneering spirit—its vibe—and mourn its passing. Duberman not only collected and analyzed prodigious amounts of information, he wrote a courageous, personal book about the process of writing history. We admired it when it came out, and we found it invaluable in writing this book. Another major source was Mary Emma Harris’s The Arts at Black Mountain College (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1987). This, too, is a wonderful book, full of much new material, meticulously documented, and lavishly illustrated. Black Mountain ran on talk, and it is no surprise that many who were associated with it have written compelling reminiscences. Mervyn Lane collected many of these in Black Mountain College: Sprouted Seeds: An Anthology of Personal Accounts (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1990). Thanks to Lane, we had access to the memories and voices of several dozen Black Mountaineers. People continue to remember Black Mountain, gone since 1956. We found much rich material, including candid recollections and wonderful photos, in the special Black Mountain College Issue of the North Carolina Literary Review (vol. II, no. 2, 1995). Archivist Shonnie Finnegan kindly answered questions about Olson. We were also most fortunate to have been given a tour of both Black Mountain s former campuses by Mary Holden, a resident of the tiny town of the same name and founder of the Black Mountain Museum and Arts Center. Holden found us, strangers, on her doorstep one Sunday morning in 1996 and took time out from making biscuits and taking children to dance class to show us the places where Rice, Albers, and Olson had defied educational convention. She generously shared her knowledge of the college s cast of characters, including her memories of the Black Mountain reunion that she organized in 1995.
Even Oppenheimer probably didn’t know as much about the Manhattan Project as Richard Rhodes does. Rhodes’s monumental history, The Making of the Atomic Bomb (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1986), was indispensable both for making the science and technology comprehensible and for its vivid material on all the players, from Vannevar Bush to Enrico Fermi. Another important source was Reminiscences ofljos Alamos, 1943-1945 (Dordrecht, Holland, and New York: D. Reidel, 1980). Edited by Lawrence Badash, Joseph O. Hirsch-felder, and Herbert P. Broida, this useful volume is the fifth in the series Studies in the History of Modern Science, The pieces by the late Richard Feynman and George Kistiakowky were especially bright and thoughtful. Women connected to the project often played multiple thankless roles, coping with balky stoves and acting as helpmates to spouses utterly engaged elsewhere. One of our best, most colorful sources was Standing By and Making Do: Women of Wartime Los Alamos, edited by Jane S. Wilson and Charlotte Serber (Los Alamos, N. M.: The Los Alamos Historical Society, 1988). This collection of reminiscences by women humanizes the project in ways that no other single source does. We also reread Robert Jungk’s classic, Brighter Than a Thousand Suns: A Personal History of the Atomic Scientists (San Diego and New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1958). Weisskopf’s description of how Oppenheimer would seem to materialize just when he was needed is typical of the rich material contained in interviews with the participants conducted by the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Wilson s memory of Oppenheimer is from All in Our Time, edited by Jane S. Wilson (New York: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 1974). I. I. Rabi’s tribute to Oppie is one of many collected in Oppenheimer (New York: Scribners, 1967).
Released in 1989, the film Fat Man and Little Boy was directed by Roland Joffe and written by Bruce Robinson, Tony Garnett, and Joffe. Feynman s tale of how meaning transformed work and his recollection of the aftermath of the Trinity test are both from Badash, et al.