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WHAT IS YOUR MOST IMPORTANT CHALLENGE?
10 April 2023 | 8 Comments
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:
1. When you think about the future (of your company, your organization, your
team, your community, or your family), what concerns you the most?
2. When you think about the future, what is your greatest aspiration?
3. 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.
***
What are your answers to these questions? What do you think about my answers?
If you gain value from the 100 articles Jamey publishes on this blog each
year, please consider championing this content! You can also listen to posts
like this in the audio version of the blog.
*
*
8 COMMENTS ON “WHAT IS YOUR MOST IMPORTANT CHALLENGE?”
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1. Jev Voight says:
April 11, 2023 at 6:48 am
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.
Reply
1. Jamey Stegmaier says:
April 11, 2023 at 7:06 am
I hear you, Jev, and all of that resonates with me.
Reply
2. Julia Fabris McBride says:
April 10, 2023 at 12:55 pm
Jamie, thanks for reading our book. I love the affirmation that our ideas
and questions are useful in your world!
Reply
1. Jamey Stegmaier says:
April 10, 2023 at 12:56 pm
Thanks for writing this book, Julia!
Reply
3. J. says:
April 10, 2023 at 10:58 am
* 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 !
Reply
1. Jamey Stegmaier says:
April 10, 2023 at 12:32 pm
That’s an interesting dilemma! I like trial and error as long as the
stakes are low.
Reply
4. sopel82 says:
April 10, 2023 at 9:32 am
“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 ;-)
Reply
1. Jamey Stegmaier says:
April 10, 2023 at 12:25 pm
I like that quote!
Reply
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