I recently read the new release When Everyone Leads by Ed O’Malley and Julia Fabris McBride. The book is full of bite-sized examples, questions, and advice. There’s even advice about asking powerful questions (page 208)–I really like that.
Three of my favorite questions the book poses are about “The Gap”, referring to the gap between your greatest concern and your greatest aspiration. These can apply to any part of your life:
- When you think about the future (of your company, your organization, your team, your community, or your family), what concerns you the most?
- When you think about the future, what is your greatest aspiration?
- What makes it hard to close The Gap between those concerns and aspirations?
In addition to sharing these questions with you (and hearing your off-the-cuff answers in the comments), I’ll share my answers for Stonemaier Games.
When you think about the future (of your company), what concerns you the most?
My biggest concern is uncertainty. I mean this in both a global sense (the world is chaotic, unpredictable, and unstable) and in terms of the game industry (we never really know which products will thrive, survive, or dive). Our lead times are around 6 months, but what works now may not be feasible in 6 months–in the blink of an eye, everything can change.
When you think about the future, what is your greatest aspiration?
My goal is to bring joy to tabletops worldwide. In a more specific sense, I would love to publish another game that resonates with people on the same level as our big three: Viticulture, Scythe, and Wingspan. Those games are all ranked in the BGG top 40 (indicating that people really enjoy them) and they are also our bestselling, evergreen games (indicating that they are continually reaching new tabletops).
What makes it hard to close The Gap between those concerns and aspirations?
Imperfect information. If we had perfect information about the future, we could much more easily close the gap. It’s for this reason that we try to get as much information as possible from playtesters, distributors, and localization partners before we go to print; it’s also for this reason that I subscribe to hundreds of tabletop game channels, blogs, and podcasts. As for the global-level information, it’s more about mitigating risk and having backup plans if a key partner is no longer an option.
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What are your answers to these questions? What do you think about my answers?
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11 Comments on “What Is Your Most Important Challenge?”
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I have been grabbling with the Challenge of How Do I start when Everything is Broken? I recently came across Ed & Julia’s book When Everyone Leads – and ordered. Waiting for the delivery.
Great questions to really make one reflect…
When you think about the future (of your company), what concerns you the most?
That I never really will climb the steep learning curves and just make it happen. That I worry too much about following every piece of advice and not make any mistakes that I never really “take the plunge” and try to publish a game.
When you think about the future, what is your greatest aspiration?
I just want to be a contributing member of this community that has brought so much joy to my life. Whether playing great games by fun designers, enjoying meeting new people at a convention, or reading blog posts and comments, this industry has been a singularly exceptional joy and I just want to be a valued part of it.
What makes it hard to close The Gap between those concerns and aspirations?
Fear? I hope not, but maybe. But fear of what? Failure in my own eyes – I don’t think so (I have had enough practice!) and I have had plenty of successes in my “real life” work, so confidence is not at the core of this fear. Failure in others’ eyes – maybe. I have close people in my life that don’t understand this passion and I don’t want to let the hobby down, if that makes sense. Guess I have to keep reflecting on this one…
Thanks for posting this!
Thank you for sharing your answer, Anthony!
My greatest fear or concern is to get called out for hurting or offending someone. My greatest aspiration is to create something meaningful that will inspire people the way that others creations have inspired me, whether it is a work of fiction or a game design.
To avoid my greatest fear I try very hard to find out what people want me to be and follow along rather than thinking for myself… in most important issues my perspective is biased and not to be trusted anyway. That attitude is only going to widen that gap but I would rather never achieve my dreams than to find out I hurt someone and that someone else thinks I’m a terrible person. Besides I’d still like to think I can be creative in some small way without needing to lay my soul bare before the world.
I hear you, Jev, and all of that resonates with me.
Jamie, thanks for reading our book. I love the affirmation that our ideas and questions are useful in your world!
Thanks for writing this book, Julia!
* Greatest aspiration: run a sustainable business (financially and mentally)
* Greatest concern stems from 2 observations:
1. I can’t compete with established players in quantity, reach, budget, or reputation. I can only compete in quality and innovation.
2. I believe that quality and innovation are poor predictors of success.
* How to bridge the 2: I have no clue. My best plan literally is to try things until I get lucky with something.
Thanks for the book recommendation, I’ll give it a read !
That’s an interesting dilemma! I like trial and error as long as the stakes are low.
“Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security”.
All you can do is to sit tight and enjoy the ride. You’ve been doing pretty well so far ;-)
I like that quote!