So What Matters Most to You?

I've been hobbling on a sprained ankle this week, which forced me to sit still and think.  I started out thinking about an online casual game we're working on.  Three stream-of-consciousness links later I remembered a lunch I had with a friend of mine a few years ago.

Fair warning:  This post will not make every reader happy.  Sometimes managers have no good choices and have to take the best lousy choice from an array of lousy choices.  That's what this post is about.

 

A Case Study

Here's the problem, altered so my friends won't recognize who was at that lunch!

My companion was a producer for a major publisher.  The project was a high-profile RTS for the PC.  The game had innovative game play, a decent budget, and as an internal project it was on track for a good marketing push.  It could be a hit.

The game's levels had variety and the terrain looked natural, with its own unique style.  But on one level there was a problem.  The colors of several primary units blended into parts of the background and they were hard to see.  The producer had noticed it in the early builds, but let it go to see what comments they got in-house.  "Units are hard to see on Level X" came up multiple times on the player feedback.

The lead environment artist on the project was talented and understood games, even if he wasn't a devoted gamer.  He worked well with the other artists, and was the de facto art director for the project since the other art leads looked up to him and there was no official project AD.  

The producer asked the artist to change the colors of the level so the units would be displayed clearly against the background.  

The artist refused.  

The producer was stunned.  This was their first project together, but they'd worked well together for months.  The team had gotten feedback from multiple sources that images weren't visible to players.  Playing with the colors on an object or environment to resolve this kind of issue was routine stuff. 

They went back and forth, but the artist refused to change anything.  He thought it looked fine, and since he was the most senior environments artist on the project he was not prepared to take art direction from a non-artist.

(Side note: I've seen this approach taken by a programmer, a designer, a whatever.  This article is not about artists, it's about human nature.)

The artist reported to the producer, so this was their issue to resolve.  To let emotions cool off, the producer asked the environments lead to think about his request.  He did not give a direct order to make the changes.

The next day they talked again, for a very long time.  The producer kept his tone of voice calm, thoughtful and respectful.  He probed to see if there were other issues bothering the artist that were the real cause of the refusal.  The artist likewise was professional and discussed the issues thoughtfully.  But he still refused to change a pixel.

 

The Producer's Dilemma

So we're sitting at lunch and the frustrated producer is running through his choices.  As usual, I had no magical answers, so I spent most of the time asking him questions. 

In the end, I suggested he sit down alone in a room and rank "the list of things you want to be true at the end of the project."  I think it works best when written on Yellow Stickies, so you can move them around easily.  

Once you look at the final, ranked list it usually tells you what you need to do next. 

Here are some things that might have been on his list, in no particular order:

• The game will ship on schedule.
• The artist will do what he's asked to do by his manager, although the producer will discuss difficult issues and explain controversial decisions
• The artist will be happy and motivated and spread a positive mood in the office.
• The producer will be happy and motivated and not yell at the kids when he gets home.
• The game will be a hit and sell millions of copies.
• Players will be able to see all the units clearly on the terrain in each level.
• The game will earn a 90+ on GameRankings or Metacritic or whatever the suits use to justify decisions.
• The other artists won't get upset because there's a conflict between the environments lead and the producer.
• The lead environments artist will still be working for the company when the project ships.
• The lead environments artist will still be working for the company a year after the project ships.
• The team will display good morale, stay focused on the work at hand and not be distracted by personal issues.

 

 

How would you have ranked the list above if you were the Producer?

Are you struggling with a tough issue on your project?  What happens if you list all the things you want to be true at the end of the project and rank them based on their importance?

Often that ranked list suggests changes in how you're running a project.  

What would you do differently next Monday morning if you were actually going to implement those priorities in all your actions and decisions?

If you're not willing to make those changes next Monday morning, why not?

 

Copyright (c) 2009, 2010, Don Daglow.  All Rights Reserved.

Comments

[music search]

This is truly a great read for me!!Thanks for the quality articles you post on your blog!! That is very interesting.And you presentation is also good. Keep on posting the good articles.

[labatterie]

Often that ranked list suggests changes in how you're running a project.

[music search engine]

i liked this case study a lot. thanks for sharing