We have rules but no solutions

The other day I was witness to an analogy in action.

Two people from neighbouring companies had parked their scooters in our company’s parking area. This is, apparently, not cricket. It’s not that there wasn’t space for them, nor were they obstructing anything or prone to cause a problem later when that space would be needed, as it wouldn’t be. No, there are rules about this. They were parked where they shouldn’t be parked so a solution had to be found.

Two colleagues, as ordered by the boss, started dragging the smaller scooter out of the parking area. It was obviously quite heavy so they were both straining a little. They parked it at a 90 degree angle in front of the parking area. They then proceeded to push the larger scooter away too before realizing the first scooter was now forming an obstacle. So two other colleagues moved the first offending article out of the way a bit, but then it became clear that the space they pushed it too was also in the way of the second scooter’s intended location.

When the intended location was pointed out an impromptu discussion erupted between the four colleagues as to what exactly would be the best location. Some fingers were pointed and arguments put forth. The small scooter was placed in area A, but it soon became clear the bigger scooter was too heavy to carry that far so was put in area B. Then the first scooter was repositioned from area A to near area B. Standing back and admiring their handiwork it was decided it wasn’t good enough. The first scooter was repositioned again to actually be in area B, next to the bigger vehicle but first the latter had to be repositioned, yet again, to make space.

The situation wasn’t ideal, but it’d have to do. The vehicles were simply too heavy to shove them about anymore. The matter was concluded, hands wiped clean and actual work resumed. It only took twice as many people three times as long as I would have had they thought it through from the start.

A more perfect analogy of Japanese game development cannot be found.

Better ways to have dealt with the situation:
Market research
Is there really a problem here? Are people waiting for a solution, a gap to be filled? In this case the boss had commanded action, so there was a presumption a problem existed that needed fixing. In reality, though, there wasn’t one and to avoid it ever becoming one in the future small notes could be circulated to neighbouring companies asking them to avoid parking in our area in the future.
Outsourcing
If the problem needed fixing a single person could be sent round to neighbouring companies to find out who the offending motorists were and ask them to remove their vehicles themselves. It may take a little longer but requires only one worker to go around making enquiries and to check afterwards if the outsourced work was completed satisfactorily.
Proper planning
If we decide to take action ourselves we should have looked at the situation and envision a solution; in this case figuring out where the offending scooters should go and how to best get them there. It would take two persons a fraction of the time had all this been decided in advance. Decide the final location, drag one of the scooters there, then the other. Planned, focused and executed. No need for retakes.

The only real difference with actual game development was the fact the boss didn’t come round afterwards to demand minute, labour intensive and unnecessary changes in the scooters’ positioning. “I want scooter A to be rotated 180 degrees, switched with scooter B, which I want blue, not red.” You know the kind of stuff.

33 comments:

  1. LOL!
    So typical. Instead of questioning whether there was actually a problem, and if in fact there was one, how to solve it... as usual, just follow orders without any further thinking.

    Crazy westerners use "planning" whereas Japanese use "ganbarimasu". No wonder why the current state of Japanese game developers is a little shaky.

    Raw power without proper execution and direction is futile.

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  2. Hmmm....
    I this analogy applies to western developers too.
    And in the UK, when the scooter-movers get back to the office they find that the locks have been changed the company has gone under. And so they go down to the pub and have an extended bitching period about how crap the games industry is and how much better it must be over in Japan :-)

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  3. I just got back from Japan where I had the opportunity to speak with some developers. Certainly I can't speak from a small sample set as to the whole industry but these guys had worked on multiple high profile games so I'm assume this is somewhat of the norm...

    Anyways, there were saying there was MASSIVE outsourcing (by US standards) within the country when developing a single game. A recent high-profile Japanese game that they worked on supposedly had something like 20 companies involved in the art and programming. To me, working in the US, that is absolutely insane. The amount of management required must be astronomical!

    In comparison, the title I'm working on now is a cross platform PS3/XB360 game with about 50 full time developers in a single company. The only outsourced parts are the sound and the publishing/marketing. All of the programming and art is done within a single company.

    Anyways... no way for me to tell if this is the norm. It did sound that way though, which goes against what you just said about outsourcing JC.

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  4. Yes, I believe is fairly standard to do that in Japan. Maybe not all big titles go as far as hiring 20 companies for outsourcing but they do that a lot in here. Sometimes they go as far as the main outsource developer hiring another outsource company and this last one also does the same.

    The truth is this is incredibly hard work and very difficult to successfully execute and I don't believe anyone can possibly get good results with working practices like this. A bit insane really.

    But this is only my opinion...

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  5. Anon is right. Outsourcing seems almost to have become the standard here. Need a lot of art done? Just source it. A lot of smaller developers act as outsource houses for befriended companies when times are lean.

    The next time you're playing a Japanese game and see some wonky art that sticks out from the rest, it's probably cheaply outsourced art. And there is a surprising amount of this if you pay close attention and know what you're looking for.

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  6. Any insight into why business is done that way, JC? Why can't the primary developers employ enough staff to cover the work that needs to be done?

    If it's just cash, are the companies that are not the primary developer underpaid sweat shops that grind out assets with zero input into the product's development? If so, why would someone want to work there?

    -curious after my visit

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  7. "Any insight into why business is done that way, JC?"

    Convenience, I'd say. If you have a project that needs a 100 man art team but you only have 20 then it's easier to just outsource a lot. And I've worked on some projects that had so much outsourcing you could almost speak of "shared development".

    And as I mentioned, the outsource companies are often just developers themselves with a team going spare or in need of some extra cash. Why would anyone want to work there? Why not? It's development work, isn't it? What's the difference creating 3D models with or without the programmers present?

    It's a strange business system but it seems to be keeping the Japanese community afloat somehow.

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  8. I just really value having the ability to offer creative input to the design, even as a programmer, instead of solely being told exactly what to do. I can't imagine that is particularly possible when being 1 or more companies away in an outsourcing chain from the team that is controlling the base creative aspects.

    I suppose that is how the film industry is run though, so not particularly surprising.

    Also, I can imagine significantly longer turn around time on fixing issues / implementing new features if I was an artist working externally from the programmers. You'd really need a rock solid pipeline before outsourcing anything to avoid wasting a ton of time. Something tells me this is not always the case!

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  9. Came across an interesting article on outsourcing in Japan a while a go. I meant to bug ya about it but I forgot to. This seems like a fitting place to post it.

    Tose: Gaming's Dirty Little Secret

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  10. Actually, I'm in the process of writing a post about outsourcing and general dev cycles. I saw that article too (none too shocked). It's the "way things are done round here".

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  11. A感覚開発の最終段階に突入したらアナルバイブで決まりです。

    より人間に近いダッチワイフにいたっては、観賞用や写真撮影に使われるなど、近年様々な需要があります。

    性感開発にはオナニーグッズが一番です。

    今で言う大人のおもちゃがはじめて登場したのは、7世紀初頭。

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  12. the content looks interesting, as they have rules but no solutions, as people dont follow the rules. the basic issue is with parking.

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  13. This post has been really informative and I guess a lot of research have been put into it.

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  14. I am deeply impressed with the overall presentation of the post.

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  15. This is, apparently, not cricket. It’s not that there wasn’t space for them

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  16. It was a very deep thought topic that you have discussed and presented nicely. Thank you.

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  17. I just love this blog for the posts and the design. Wonderful work.

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  18. it became clear that the space they pushed it too was also in the way of the second scooter’s intended location.

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  19. a nice idea that you have discussed and presented nicely. Thank you.

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  20. This is clear to me.This is very wonderful work so far.regarding this matter,the situation wasn’t ideal, but it’d have to do. The vehicles were simply too heavy to shove them about anymore.

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  21. proper planning should be the proper way to overcome this problem..Is is indeed a good solution.

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  22. I am deeply impressed with the overall presentation of the post. HCG Blue Drops, the Faster and Natural way to lose weight..

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  23. They were parked where they shouldn’t be parked so a solution had to be found.

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  24. Yes . You have just talk in to the point . Actually We never want to find solution in some point . You wrote very well .

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  25. They then proceeded to push the larger scooter away too before realizing the first scooter was now forming an obstacle.

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  26. When the intended location was pointed out an impromptu discussion erupted between the four colleagues as to what exactly would be the best location.

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  27. It was obviously quite heavy so they were both straining a little. They parked it at a 90 degree angle in front of the parking area.

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  28. The market research in Japan doesn`t seem to have problems.

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  29. For a proper planning, Japan mus bring new ideas for The market research

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  30. The great thing about rules is that you cand brake them. That feeling is great and many think they are super-heroes when break any rule.

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  31. Never really understood the logic in many rules, but if they exist than maybe the solutions exist and we shouldn't ask so many questions.

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  32. I understand what your problem is, but to make it so big for 2 scooters parked in your parking lot...man you sound like la chick.

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  33. This new process is pretty much easier and comfortable to use.

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