Slide deck used during the presentation entitled "Self Inflicted Wounds: When We Are Our Own Worst Enemy", presented at GDC Online, Oct 6th, in Austin, Texas, by Joshua Howard. Contact [email protected] for more information, or check out http://thereisnothem.wordpress.com for more from Joshua Howard.
Self Inflicted Wounds
Self Inflicted Wounds:When We are Our Own Worst EnemyHow we make
it harder than it has to be,even though we should know better.GDC
OnlineOct 2010Joshua Howard{1
Incredible high conceptLarge talented teamSomething for
everyoneImpossible to labelOps, CS, etc. all built outLots of
anticipation2Common management and organizational failures that
leaders talk themselves into accepting, which often end up
negatively impacting your successmistakes that have been made so
often, by so many people, that the consequences of making these
mistakes should be predictable and the mistakes themselves should
be avoidable.
Define Self Inflicted Wound3Most common self inflicted
wounds
For each, why we let them happen
what to do should you be in the middle of it4About the
Business
About the Team
About the GameMost Common Self Inflicted Wounds5No clear
customerBuilding a game for everyone means you have no idea who its
forart can be for its own sake, but commercial products need to
have customersAbout the Business6Too much or too little
planningExpecting very detailed documents and formal sign-offs to
reduce the amount of unplanned change can stifle forward
progressStaying busy is not the same as being productiveRushing
into action without a clear plan is never good
About the Business7Poor communication channelsHow does one group
know what the other groups do?Separation of responsibility can go
too farLike building a neighborhood then wondering how to retrofit
plumbing between the buildingsAbout the Team8No clear lines of
responsibility/no one in chargeWho can make what decision about
what areas?Everyone in the team should have the same answerToo many
fiefdoms inevitably lead to the larger team not working towards the
same thing
About the Team9Punishing bad newsCommunication is hard enough,
but when bad news is punished it results in less communication
overallAbout the Team10HostagesLetting anyone, even star talent,
hold the team or business hostage may work in the short run, but
will bite you in the long runAbout the Team11No clear visionCan
everyone involved articulate the same vision?No single vision
likely means you are not ready to start yet because the team doesnt
know what they are building
About the Game12Fun will come later/the spark of fun is
enoughBuild fun in early and improve it, dont hope it happens when
everything comes together near the endTake the spark of fun and
grow it intentionallyAbout the Game13Customers dont get itIf the
customers dont get it its because you didnt help them get it, or
what they didnt get is not worth gettingCustomer feedback is
discarded too easilyAbout the Game14The obscure we see eventually.
The completely obvious, it seems, takes longer.
Edward R. Murrow 15It happens all the time.How do we talk
ourselves into being okay about any of these?{16No clear
customerblue ocean strategysomething new, so it could appeal to
everyoneToo much or too little planningdetailed docs with official
signoff will make us successfulstart now or we miss our datestart
now because we have a team ready to go (whether the project is
ready or not)About the Business17Poor communication channelslet the
team figure it outthe producers will handle thatNo clear lines of
responsibility/no one in chargewe are all in charge, its a team
effortlets not upset any of the senior teamwe are all smart
peoplePunishing bad newsdont reward bad performance, make it clear
when something is unacceptableHostagesthey are the only expert we
have, we are in trouble if they walkcan be brilliant, even if no
one likes working with themAbout the Team18No clear visionwe are
trying something new thats hard to pin downits too big a project to
have a single visionwe will find it along the waywe have a vision,
we just cant put it into wordsFun will come later/the spark of fun
is enoughits a complex game that only works when all the pieces are
in placethe not great parts are tolerable because the good parts
are so goodCustomers dont get itwe are trying something new so
customers dont understand itcustomers understood when game X did
it, so they will understand usthats already been fixedthats going
to change anywayAbout the Game19So What Do I Do About It?Some
successful strategies.{20No clear customerWork bottom up to
decideToo much or too little planningTo start planning is to
startInvolve all disciplines in planning, bottom upDont confuse
sign-off with buy-inAbout the Business21No clear lines of
responsibility/no one in chargeNominate from below and get group
buy inTake the high road; be ready to bend the knee or
leaveIntroduce RACI*Punishing bad newsReward communication around
you, whether good news or notHave the courage to bring truth to
power or accept complicity for failureHostagesPeer pressure to
enforce acceptable social behaviorBe ready to leave
About the Team* See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responsibility_assignment_matrix for
info22No clear visionStart locally and create a shared visionExpand
those involved and tweak the vision to keep the larger group on the
same pageStop expanding when the vision stops being useful to the
day to day work you doFun will come later/the spark of fun is
enoughGet clarification if Fun is the goal, and if so speak truth
to powerCustomers dont get itAccept you dont understand the
customer and until you do this wont changeListen to the feedback,
dont just hear itAbout the Game23Dont wait for management to fix
thingsThe project will be just as dead because you waited than
because they didnt actYour job is to help the title ship, and
sometimes that means drawing outside the linesDecide that something
not being done right elsewhere wont keep you from doing it right
locallyGet broad multi-discipline support and work bottom upFind
what works for your team, then share it with other teams (share,
not force)If they are not receptive of your effortsLearn how to
disagree and commitOr consider joining a new organization that
values you moreThemes2436 Classic Mistakes of software development,
as presented in Rapid Development, by Steve McConnellHe defines
classic mistakes as mistakes that have been made so often, by so
many people, that the consequences of making these mistakes should
be predictable and the mistakes themselves should be
avoidable.Updated and expanded to 42 in Software Developments
Classic Mistakes 2008 white paper (available at
www.construx.com)Not Just In Games25
Incredible high conceptLarge talented teamSomething for
everyoneImpossible to labelOps, CS, etc. all built outLots of
anticipationChased the spark of funToo high a burn rateNo clear
customerNo clear visionToo many cooksToo long to build26Its
frustrating that the lessons of our failure read like so many other
startup failures.
While I regret not doing more to help fix our problems, and am
deeply disappointed by our failure, I dont regret taking part in
the adventure.- Luke Halliwell, RTW devClosing27Email me at
[email protected] Check out more from me at:
http://thereisnothem.wordpress.com
About Joshua
