The critical mistake leaders can make when saying ... yes.
The pressure leaders feel (especially within software development) to say ‘yes’ to any project or work for monetary reasons, is palpable. But it’s wrong because the trail of disaster you will leave behind when it all fails through poor planning is ‘real’. Damaged people, damaged business and lost money.
Generally, when a studio is looking for work or has a great concept they want a publisher to pick up or an investor to finance, there is a tendency to go into high powered meetings with a tremendous amount of fear.
A bit like development crunch, it becomes an “at any cost” scenario.
The promises flow! Saying yes to all the requests from around the table, “how about this?” and “it needs to be as successful as this project.”
Your whole focus is to put some cash in the bank so you can pay the team, keep the lights on and heat in the studio.
The trouble is, during that conversation, that you went in well prepared for (or so you thought) you hit a point where what you are nodding and agreeing to, is now outside the scope of your teams’ knowledge and capability.
However, it’s okay! We can recruit, we can move office, John (your industry mate) will help out.
None of which is true at that point, but how do you say no? Or tell them what you really need?
Well the problem is, and this is the mistake leaders make, you are now talking about planning, time, resource, cash, not just for creating the game but for all the additional setup items you’ve just made very simple - in your head.
Nine times out of ten you will:
- Underestimate the time it takes to hire the right people.
- Underestimate the amount of time and cost it takes to move and get set up.
- Overestimate ‘John’s' availability as your go-to guy.
- Grossly underestimate the additional spend required to do all of the above.
- Massively underestimate the extra time, stress and pressure on you and the team to make this happen.
As you put your perspiring hand out to shake the cold, calm flesh of the most important person in the room, in effect giving a resounding yes, you feel like you've had a win!
Why then, as you walk back to the car, aren’t you as happy as you should be?
In reality, you have signed up to their deadline for your delivery method, their milestones for their assumed development cycle and their release date based on other agendas and spending in which you have no say or part.
You did secure the money, right? All of the above is part of your “unknown unknown” project management process. Managing the lack of knowledge is the hardest part of the planning. If you have milestones to meet to get payments, did you actually secure that cash? Can you really deliver?
If you have experienced this situation, or if you fear this happening then the 3-Stage System will mean you can remove or reduce this effect.
If you manage to smash those meetings, in your favour every time, great! There is always useful incremental improvement.
The 3-Stage System
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