Shirobako and lessons in project management

Why read this story?

Editor's note: Imagine that you are the director of an animation studio. The livelihood and work of the 30 people under you depend on your creative vision, your storyboards, your ability to communicate and consistently delegate work to your art directors, animators and production team. And suddenly you’re hopelessly stuck. The malaise of production stagnation is seeping through your team, your past failures are haunting you like a ghost, and you are paralysed with inaction. You can’t seem to figure out how to conclude the original anime your studio is producing. What is the solution? Your stern production manager decides to lock you in a well-lit storeroom with paper and pencils and refuses to let you out until you have sketched out the storyboard for the final episode. With the stick, he also dangles a carrot, in the form of the wafting smell of fried chicken kept just out of your reach, which he will give you once you have finished your storyboards. This, among many other scenes, is why I love Shirobako. For someone who has binged on a lot of …