Episode 10 is the first arbitrary milestone episode for Program B, and we celebrate with a discussion on project leadership and management with The Green Herring (CC4, CC3) and Esselfortium (That terrible mapset. Oh you know, the one that’s about going backwards in an X shaped Saturn or something). Although the episode is cut short due to Tarnsman unexpectedly being recruited to haul a TV through a building, some great measure of discussion is had on the merits of being a project leader, and all that comes with it. There’s also quite a bit of drama and shit-flinging.
Enjoy! And remember: “It just isn’t the same without Glaber Base 6.”
Where’s All the Data? episode 4 should have been here days ago. We’ve notified the technical assistance team and they did nothing but laugh at the irony of poor leadership over the matter when leadership was being discussed on the show.
I had them all fired.
I think st. alfonzo is right on the money about people pitching idea threads, and consequently having to be the leader of the project if it snowballs. Being a project leader is a totally different task than being an idea guy, and with how things appear to be going, whether you like it or not, if you post a thread about a wad idea that people start making maps for, you’ve basically appointed yourself as the leader of that project.
I don’t think it’s right to bash people for being poor leaders of their seemingly good idea for a project. There’s a lot to learn from making a flop and it can only mean that their next project will (probably) be better. If they aren’t managing a project as well as you think you could, then the better solution would be to manage one (even a similar one) yourself.
But as Tarnsman says, the idea of spending all day being in charge of one thing, then coming home and having to be in charge of another thing is just not that appealing to me. In fact, there are many fully capable leaders on Doomworld forums that rarely participate in any of the WADs and Mods section of Doomworld. I’ve got plenty Doom wad ideas bouncing around in my head with a much stronger focus on texture themes and gameplay styles than simply some kinda editing limitation gimmick that I’m afraid to share on Doomworld forums. As ridiculous as it sounds, I run the risk of people LIKING my idea, and then I’d have to take on the burden of making sure the idea works the way I envision it, among keeping track of the other tasks I’ve got going on in my life. Having a few carefully chosen people to do the other jobs for you sounds like a good way to do it though.
Very interesting listen. It made me think of my own experiences as project leader, both as a solo and co leader of different projects and how I had percieved the situations from back then. Essentially, my voes as a project leader was what eventually lead me to manage my own projects as close to by my own as I could master, keeping the outside influence to a minimum. Even as far as beta testing was regarded.