Texts for retelling and discussion 1. Read the text and retell it: Sending a strong message: protecting your employees In 1985, a film company facing financial pressure hired a new president. In an effort
to cut costs, the president asked the two leaders of a division, Ed and Alvy, to conduct
layoffs. Ed and Alvy resisted—eliminating employees would dilute the company’s value.
The president issued an ultimatum: a list of names was due to him at nine o’clock the
next morning.
When the president received the list, it contained two names: Ed and Alvy.
No layoffs were conducted, and a few months later Steve Jobs bought the division
from Lucasfilm and started Pixar with Ed Catmull and Alvy Ray Smith.
Employees were grateful that “managers would put their own jobs on the line for
the good of their teams,” marvels Stanford’s Robert Sutton, noting that even a quarter
century later, this “still drives and inspires people at Pixar.”
