I’d have you consider that we can’t just keep developing software in the same way as we move into the future. The burnout and destructive way crunch gets a project to its end is just not sustainable.
The view you have of the studio when you are sinking under the pressure of the work.
In this article, I’ve listed some of the content from my book “Zero Crunch – The Best Way to Ethical, Cost Effective Software Development. It explains how and why we can find ourselves in a position of damaging crunch. Many possible factors include poor efficiency and effectiveness concerning project management, maintaining quality, and managing change.
We find ourselves compelled to say yes to most opportunities and to develop ‘at any cost,’ this is neither ethical nor sustainable for studios, teams, and developers irrespective of the financial gains. There are some learning takeaways in this article that will help you to explore better, more ethical, and cost-effective development.
The reason I developed a “3-Stage System” is that there is a different and better way. I can live with the fact that traditionalists will develop software their way, I used to be one, so I understand.
There will be industry and development veterans out there that have a different viewpoint regarding crunch and delivery, we all need to take a view.
My view? I can live with the fact that I can help studios and developers finish projects on time and budget while traditionalists still crunch. I can live with showing studios a more efficient and effective way to move through projects, while traditionalists scrabble continuously to finish. I can live with the idea that the whole team can have fun delivering projects, while traditionalists apply pressure, fear, and blame to meet deadlines.
I can live with the fact that with this system, a studio and its team can say no to a project because it can’t be done or isn’t right for the studio. While traditionalists, search and take as much business development work as they can and then try to work out how to deliver it.
Most of all I can live with the fact and feel proud that any studio and team that utilizes the 3-Stage System in their particular way are making their journey in software development a fun, comfortable and successful one.
There are several significant side effects of teamwork and development in this way, that only add strength and fortitude, giving us that bravery to take risks and not be reckless or driven by fear. To push the boundaries of what we know and develop, to continuously improve.
Have you considered the possibility…?
That crunch is the single biggest threat to the long term future of development in any software environment?
In my experience it is. I have no doubt that it reduces creativity, drives burn out, it affects everyone, and it destroys teams. The worst part? For many studios and corporates, it’s the only way they want or know how to build software.
It’s time for you to take back control, develop software ethically and sustainably for you, the teams you work within and to safeguard the industry that we are part of, for generations to come.
Making software is complex, understand that, and we are already winning.
Let's just get through today …
You’re sat at your desk, you've made a list of what you need to do, you hear the “ding” that signals another email is dropping into your inbox, helping the “unread” number to tick up mercilessly.
This last arriving email is going to be a call to a meeting, or a request for information, worst still some indication that there’s a change to your work.
You dare not look, just ignore the email, and that little knot in your stomach … when you heard it drop in.
I’m going to burn down my task list, that’s where my comfort zone is …
Bloody hell I need another coffee (rubs eyes), the commute was dreadful this morning.
Getting up in the dark in winter is always hard. Coming to work in the dark, going home in the dark … depressing.
(Ding) ….
(Sigh), leave me alone! I'm sick of these 12-hour shifts. They promised us; they said four weeks.
I could manage four weeks of extended shifts, the game will be great, but we’ve been crunching now for three months.
I'd made plans for a holiday when the game was finished, a thank you to myself for what I had achieved as part of a good team on a great project. That seems a long way away now.
Will we ever be finished? I just can’t see the end, more and more tasks added, even at this late stage …
(reads the email) Meeting in 10 minutes … changes to the schedule … who can work more at the weekend …?
No more. I'm going to look for something else, and I hope no one in I.T. is checking my search history. When this project is over, I'm off!
(gets a coffee, goes to the meeting, yes, it’s yet another change meeting.)
Acceptance of the role you play and the development challenge.
As an engineer in my previous working life I understood the difficulty regarding physically tiring work, and in harsh conditions; when it's so cold outside, and you can't even feel your hands but have to put a spanner to good use.
Sitting in a warm office (well, unless you are under the air conditioning blower, we all know how that feels) seems more comfortable. It is, but development isn't about physicality, it's about keeping your brain engaged.
It is being able to think logically, creatively, consistently. To be able to understand what all the others around you are doing, how that affects your work, and how you change theirs. It's about focus.
Feeling like you are achieving for the project, the team, not being a burden, being recognized for a task well done.
All that is just challenging!
I'm not going to list the “White Papers” out there that prove diminishing productivity with additional hours worked. Adding creativity into the mix, logic, and problem solving, it's worse.
As a leader, you need to give space to those that are being creative, thinking, exploring, building. Those that fix, do tasks, they need time to grasp logic, to see the loops of development in the game. Build those core loops that mean the code is robust and lasts the test of time.
As a developer, if you have the time to be the best you can be, to defeat the biggest challenge for the studio, which is creativity hitting immovable deadlines, you need to be as accurate as you can with forecasting.
Be clear about where your knowledge is most reliable and the weakest. Be open about learning or where expertise is required so that it can be provided.
Team, team, team.
You're all trying to build something new, something unique, add that “secret sauce” that could make us all successful.
Be clear though; I’m not talking about the randomness of games like “Flappy Birds,” you can't plan for that!
