We normally avoid frustrated people — we don’t want to get dragged down into a cesspool of complaints and cynicism. We see dissatisfied people as curmudgeons who halt progress, or, worse yet, Dementors who suck the joy out of the room. And we have good reason to feel that way: A natural response to frustration is the fight-or-flight response. Disgruntled people often go into “Office Space” mode, choosing to fight by sabotaging the workplace, or flight by doing the bare minimum not to get fired.

But there’s a third reaction to frustration that we’ve overlooked: When we’re dissatisfied, instead of fight or flight, sometimes we invent.

Frustration is the feeling of being blocked from a goal. Although it sounds like a destructive emotion, it can actually be a source of creative fuel. When we’re frustrated, we reject the status quo, question the way things have always been done, and search for new and improved methods. But there’s evidence that dissatisfaction only promotes creativity when people feel committed to their team and have the support they need to pursue their ideas.

When Mr. Bird recruited disgruntled people at Pixar, he wasn’t just looking for angry animators.

“I want people who are disgruntled because they have a better way of doing things and they are having trouble finding an avenue,” Mr. Bird told me. “Racing cars that are just spinning their wheels in a garage instead of racing.” He found people who were frustrated because they cared, and he started listening to them. Then he had a choice to make: Should he set an easy goal or a difficult one?

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