Calming Down
It was a bit of a rant yesterday and I changed what should have been one argument and through in a couple others so that my main point didn’t really stand out. This morning though I made a few comments over at Darren’s site to really specify what I meant. I’ll quote the important bit here.
I don’t think anyone really does “get it� yet, and that’s my biggest concern. I say, you say it, we all end up saying it whenever we hear a developer make a logical statement like this…�Oh, they ‘get it’� but if they have to say it then they already don’t because it isn’t a byproduct of any work they do, it is a thought process that they have to specifically undertake.
Why is it that I get the feeling these developers, every meeting, have to repeat the phrase “Quality is good� so they get it through their heads? They just repeat it constantly so they won’t forget…because it isn’t deeply entrenched in everything they do. And that is the entire problem, as I mentioned before. Quality requires a dedicated thought process when it should be second nature.
That’s my real argument. Brent made a comment on yesterday’s post which said this:
Good observation. One never hears film directors talk about their products in the way you describe - because it should be obvious that they’re trying to make a good film, right?
That’s basically exactly what I wanted to say, I was just far too frustrated by what I’d been reading recently to not type it all out as a rant.
Let me put it this way. Assume you are going to get a house built. You hire some construction company to do this work for you and when the work starts you hear the supervisor constantly yelling at his men to “do a good job” and to “do quality work.” How does that affect your confidence? If it was me I’d be searching for someone else to do the work…immediately. Obviously there is a problem. They should be doing quality work because it is their job. Any work they do should be “quality” work. No one should have to tell them to make sure they keep the walls straight or to securely screw in the drywall. It needs to be second nature. And if we wouldn’t accept anything less than quality in other industries why should we in the game industry? Why should we praise those who go out and tell others how important quality work is when in any other field that would be tantamount to us immediately searching for more qualified people to do the job?
September 14th, 2007 at 10:14 am
If we go by the building example you put in there, they usually have some sort of statement of “quality to the customer”…its everywhere. Software companies, phone companies, building companies, jeesh…even Walmart:
“Service to Our Customers
We’re nothing without our customers. We make sure their hard-earned dollars stretch further by offering quality merchandise at the lowest prices and with the best customer service possible.”
You’re going to have to get use to the message and filter as you see fit. Some are talking bullshit, some aren’t.
September 14th, 2007 at 11:27 am
I’m not necessarily against mentioning quality in its entirety. Company slogans, ideals, etc. are going to exist. It shouldn’t, though, need to be repeated to others inside the industry. Conveying the fact that you want to provide a quality experience to your customers is good, so long as it isn’t overdone but having to talk with others inside the same industry about how important quality is (and AGDC is directed at people inside the industry talking to one another, not for those outside) shouldn’t happen.
I guess my illustration was kind of off. It would have been more accurate to say the relationship was not owner to contractor, but perhaps more fitting, architect to contractor.
Both of them work in the same industry. It is not something that needs to be verbally communicated. The architect doesn’t need to say “we want to make sure this building is well built” because it is obvious. The very fact that anything like that would need to be spoken already means there is a problem.
September 14th, 2007 at 11:44 am
Ahhh, if this was a private conversation between two architects then yeah, they wouldn’t talk to each other about quality…but they weren’t alone, where they. Mr. Press was watching and that’s who they are talking to when they say stuff like that.