Building a Strong Development Culture

Introduction

Marcus R. Brown

Co-founder of Precision Mojo, working out of Game CoLab.

Game Programmer

9+ years professional
4+ years homebrew (pre-indie?)

Seen Some Things... Would Recommend It

Worked at Budcat, Big Bang Entertainment, and 2XL Games
~25 teams/projects, 18 shipped
Second try at going independent, determined not to fail!

Building a Strong Development Culture

Team members usually have a shared vision, which is to make something unique, personal, and awesome.

Problems are both discovered and solved rapidly.

Those teams ship games consistently, without major hurdles or bugs.

Publishers and customers are happy with the team's output.

How Not to be the Smartest Person in the Room

Obligatory Starter Quote

Don't put too much stock into who you think you are, because you might not be who you think you are.

How Not to be the Smartest Person in the Room

Obligatory Starter Quote

Don't put too much stock into who you think you are, because you might not be who you think you are.

Gary Busey, TSG Presents The Worlds Dumbest Drivers, c. 2008

How Not to be the Smartest Person in the Room

Obligatory Starter Quote

If you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room.

Various Sources

Who are these people?

Are constantly trying to prove themselves or their capabilities.
Are combative when they hear an idea or point they don't agree with.
Often have the same point to make behind one made by someone else.
Often follows a point that was disregarded, or even off-topic.
Causes teammates to become defensive of to shut down.
Are eventually written off by other teammates as "smart (or OK), but annoying to be around".
Doesn't seek counsel with teammates before taking tasks that directly affect teammates' productivity.

Diagnosis Fail

Smartest Person In Room Syndrome

Or SPIRS, for short.

Smartest Person In Room Disorder

Or SPIRD, for short.

Made up disease, but totally legit.

How Not to be the Smartest Person in the Room

Listen first, get the full (or best) picture of what is going on before deciding to speak.

Consider the merits of someone else's idea before framing a rebuttal.

Prefer asking questions when a teammates' idea is unclear.

Don't try to educate unless asked, or unless you're giving background on your point.

Don't try to prove yourself. You already did to get inside the room, so prove anything else with merit.

Even less smartest...

Have an idea of who is in the room, and what their motivations are.

Never assume you hold an advantage over someone else you don't already know.

Let other people think they are the smartest, it will draw them out.

Hand off some of your ideas to others, and give them ownership.

Team Works: Build, Fuse, Conquer

...the Smartest Person in the Room is the Room

David Weinberger, Too Big To Know

Building a Strong Development Culture

Introduction

Marcus R. Brown

Game Programmer

Seen Some Things... Would Recommend It

Building a Strong Development Culture

Team members usually have a shared vision, which is to make something unique, personal, and awesome.

Problems are both discovered and solved rapidly.

Those teams ship games consistently, without major hurdles or bugs.

Publishers and customers are happy with the team's output.

How Not to be the Smartest Person in the Room

How Not to be the Smartest Person in the Room

Obligatory Starter Quote

How Not to be the Smartest Person in the Room

Obligatory Starter Quote

How Not to be the Smartest Person in the Room

Obligatory Starter Quote

Who are these people?

Are constantly trying to prove themselves or their capabilities.

Are combative when they hear an idea or point they don't agree with.

Often have the same point to make behind one made by someone else.

Often follows a point that was disregarded, or even off-topic.

Causes teammates to become defensive of to shut down.

Are eventually written off by other teammates as "smart (or OK), but annoying to be around".

Doesn't seek counsel with teammates before taking tasks that directly affect teammates' productivity.

Diagnosis Fail

Smartest Person In Room Syndrome

Smartest Person In Room Disorder

How Not to be the Smartest Person in the Room

Listen first, get the full (or best) picture of what is going on before deciding to speak.

Consider the merits of someone else's idea before framing a rebuttal.

Prefer asking questions when a teammates' idea is unclear.

Don't try to educate unless asked, or unless you're giving background on your point.

Don't try to prove yourself. You already did to get inside the room, so prove anything else with merit.

Even less smartest...

Have an idea of who is in the room, and what their motivations are.

Never assume you hold an advantage over someone else you don't already know.

Let other people think they are the smartest, it will draw them out.

Hand off some of your ideas to others, and give them ownership.

Team Works: Build, Fuse, Conquer

Build

Mentor teammates where appropriate.

Commend teammates when they put in good effort or accomplish something big or unexpected.

Challenge them as you would challenge yourself.

Treat them as an expert when you are stuck or need help.

Fuse

Talked to them about their troubles on other projects.

Go to lunch with them.

Find out what they like to work on, games they like to play, art styles they are into.

Connect to them on a personal level.

Conquer

Team members who like your style and approach will adopt it too.

Less in-fighting.

Better games.

Soon your whole team will be playing softball together on Saturdays.

New Game+