Direction
So what is Direction?
The following is a phrase I often use to describe a lack of direction "I don't know what I want, but I know what I don't want" - it is a good description of something that describes Reaction and not Direction.
Giving direction does not mean making a vague request and waiting until the work is finished to see if it's what you had in your head. If I personally don't clearly define what I'm looking for, and someone doesn't deliver what I want then it's my fault not theirs. If I'm waiting to see what someone comes up with and then provide feedback, then I'm reacting not directing, and I think this is a very important distinction.
Here's an example scenario to illustrate:
Director - Can you design me a 'cool' and aspirational vehicle!
Designer - here's this super cool tank, it has 2 main guns and rocket boosters for extra speed
Director - ah I wasn't really thinking about a tank, was thinking more of a plane
Designer - ok here's a cool plane , based on a spitfire with laser tail guns
Director - hmm, I think I would prefer it if it had 4 wings instead of 2
Designer - Here's a 4 winged version
Director - still not quite 'cool' enough, it should be able to land on water
Designer - Ok, here's a 4 winged flying boat version with atomic armour
Director - Hmm, still not doing it for me, maybe it should be a helicopter, that's probably cooler!
Designer - Ok here's a cool helicopter with rocket boosters, it can also land on water
Director - This needs to appeal to our female audience too, colour it pink and take the weapons off
Designer - Shove it up right up your ............
There's the obvious issue of the Director not being specific about what they want in that scenario and just reacting to what is being designed, but another key issue is the use of abstract terms like 'cool' as cool means different things to different people and is completely subjective. Using words like cool without any clarification/context leaves it completely open to interpretation. The same principle applies to referencing films or other games to describe things, you have to be careful as people may not have seen the same obscure Japanese animation or played the same 20 year old arcade game as you.
Drip feeding essential information such as the target audience and how that needs to influence style and functionality is also ‘bad’ process. It's easy to get anal and pedantic about these kinds of things as you can't plan for every requirement up front, especially in a rapidly changing market. That's not really the point, the key thing is being aware of how you are communicating and how that is being interpreted. As someone giving direction it requires constant vigilance to make sure your team knows what is required and expected, and that they have all the 'information they need to do their job effectively.'
A lack of clear direction can cause major issues in a team, and that's before you even consider the financial ones. As a manager of a team, before they engage in any tasks, they need to understand what the parameters are in a clear and concise way, and also the reason why those decisions have been made. If people do not understand the thinking behind why decisions have been made they will never be in a position to use their own initiative. There is nothing more demoralising than to work with people who don’t know what they want, but they know what they don’t want, and from incomplete, vague or even conflicting direction you constantly have to make changes to your work to appease them while you try to work out what it is they actually do want.
To be clear, I am not talking about iteration which is a natural part of the design process, or even changes in direction while the concept is being developed. It is important to make sure that any vision is agile enough to deal with changing demands, market conditions, and input from key stakeholders.
So I guess the principle here and the one I follow is that if you receive work that doesn't meet your requirements or expectations, first check that you have given clear enough direction to start with before you start examining someone else's performance. If you're directing something it's your responsibility to make sure people know what they need to know to get the job done. Sometimes this is largely out of your control, publishers are infamous for their lack of ability to give clear direction and knowing what they want. In this scenario you still have responsibility to be aware of the issues and manage the communication process but this starts getting into client management, which I may go into at a later date and is a whole other kettle of fish.
