growing a successful culture at a new location v10
DESCRIPTION
Presented by: Aaryn, and Yanick from BiowareTRANSCRIPT
Growing a Successful Culture at a New Location
Learnings and Opportunities
Background • BioWare joined EA in early 2008 after more than
a decade as an independent developer• Our second studio in Austin was well underway,
focusing solely on Star Wars: The Old Republic• For Dragon Age and Mass Effect, we felt we
could justify growth, but how? And where?
Growth for RPGsGrowth plans were reviewed, with options:
1. Continue growing in Edmonton2. Grow in a new location3. Combined strategy of of #1 and #2
To make our decision, we had to go right to our core values
Vision & Values• Our guiding principles from the very first days
of BioWare• Critical to:– Pursue our growth strategy with these values in
mind– Seed any future locations with these core values
Vision
Create, Deliver, and Evolve the Most Emotionally Engaging Games in the World
Values1. Quality in the Products2. Quality in Our Workplace3. Entrepreneurship
All in a context of humility in integrity
Plus Some More• “No play, no say”• “The closer you are to the game, the more
important you are” – inverted org chart (managers support team)
• “We are only as good as our next game”
Growth Strategy• After reviewing, we felt strongly that we
needed another location in addition to growth in Edmonton
• Next question was, where would our third location after Edmonton & Austin be?
Candidate LocationsThree locations were short-listed (alphabetically):1. Montreal2. San Francisco (EA campus)3. Vancouver• All had existing large & successful EA
presences with multiple teams
Selection CriteriaWe built some selection criteria, including:
– Access to local talent– Desirability to transfer– Cost of living– Available space in EA location– Impact to existing locations– Long-term viability– Cost-base to run the studio– Plus many, many others
We looked at a LOT of variables!
DecisionIn the end Montreal won out, thanks largely to:• Access to local talent - Vancouver market was very crowded
when we did our analysis• Location – Montreal is on the east coast, balancing Edmonton &
Austin, and a perceived draw for European talent• Familiarity – We had several senior leaders (including Yanick!)
from Montreal• Cost-base – MMTC helps the overall cost structure along with
decent rental costs, etc.
Now What?• With the choice of Montreal made, we
needed a plan to start and grow the studio• On to Montreal!
In the beginning…- September 2008
- March 2009- August 2009
Importance of our cultureMakes us BioWare
More than a sign on our door
Cannot be put in a box
Even the details matter
Defining Culture“The set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices
that characterizes an institution, organization or group”- Wikipedia
– Historically determined– Socially constructed, defined by the people– Soft, changing, malleable, evolving– Paradoxically difficult to change, composed of too many
factors which are almost impossible to determine
In other words…
“the way things get done around here”
Deal T.E. and Kennedy, A.A.
How to transplant a culture:1. Make a big announcement2. Hire 150 people over the first few months3. Trust they will integrate our values
How did we do it?
By taking slow, deliberate steps, valuing “doing it right” over doing it quickly and/or cheaply
The steps…1. Leading2. Seeding3. Filtering4. Integrating5. Protecting
…in action1st year anniversary:
77% BioWare Edmonton veterans, 23% newcomers
2nd year anniversary:66% BioWare Edmonton veterans, 34% newcomers76% more than 1 year at BioWare, 24% less than 1 year at BioWare
3rd year anniversary:58% more than 1 year at BioWare, 42% less than 1 year at BioWare
Easy!
Some challenges…
Different people
Different environment
…and a big one
Asking high-performers to progress slowly and carefully
And some mistakes
• Assumptions about transfers• Assumptions about hiring• Lack of clear timeline• Underestimating remote development challenges
Long distance relationship• Working so closely with Montreal had an impact on
Edmonton– Budgetary restrictions (especially during the global
recession)– Edmonton team members perceived Montreal’s growth
was at their expense at times• Needed to evolve the Edmonton culture at the same
time to grow past these
The recipe
Don’t rush itSweat the small stuffNever compromise on your values
Where are we at?
• Team tamed distributed development challenges• Hard at work on Mass Effect 3• Set up for accelerated growth• A real BioWare studio• Ready for next challenges
Tomorrow
In charge of our own project
Growth, leading to autonomy
Cutting-edge technology
A real BioWare team, in a real BioWare studio, doing real BioWare games… 3,750 km away from where it all started!
Contact Info• Aaryn – [email protected]• Yanick – [email protected]• http://www.bioware.com/careers/
Moustaches Info• Aaryn – Doing it out of sympathy!• Yanick – http://mobro.co/Yanick