Indie Lessons from the Great War
Indie Lessons from the Great War
I recently read A Short History of World War I by James L. Stokesbury. And as I read, I couldn’t help but realize that I was likely making a number of the same mistakes that the generals of the Great War have been (rightly) ridiculed for.
Here are a few of the lessons that stood out to me:
1. Recognize when you’re trying to fight a new war with old strategies. Marching in a line, wearing brightly colored uniforms, carrying your single-shot rifles and a stern look doesn’t work so well against machine guns.
2. Don’t keep trying the same, failing strategy or tactic over and over. That marching in a line towards the enemy gunners thing still won’t work, no matter how many times you try it.
3. Don’t believe that just because your citizens are your citizens that they are, therefore, special. Bullets aren’t connoisseurs.
4. Don’t let a bad first implementation (or second) discourage you from pursuing a good idea. It took a few tries before armored tanks lived up to their obvious potential.
5. When a new idea works better than expected, don’t let the advantage fizzle. Unlike tanks, poison gas proved more effective than expected when first deployed. But just like tanks, the commanders in charge didn’t trust the new-fangled technology and squandered surprise and pissed away advantages gained.
6. A battle plan intended to “bleed” the enemy of men and resources will probably bleed you as well, and to the same extent.
7. New technologies, like airplanes, tanks, and poison gas, work best when integrated with existing technologies. Tanks by themselves … impressive, but not overwhelming. Tanks + infantry = great idea. Airplanes as spotters are great. But airplanes + machine guns/bombs = damn fine idea. Etc.
8. Don’t get so invested in a bad idea that you can’t extricate yourself.
9. Study your successes and your failures. Because if you don’t know why you succeeded or why you failed, you won’t know what worked and what didn’t.
I’m sure there are others, but I think I’ve hit the big ones.
How to apply those to indie software and indie games? Mostly, I think they’re self-explanatory, but I’ll embellish a bit.
1. Marketing for indies has evolved significantly in the last 5 years. If you haven’t updated your marketing efforts in a few years, you’re probably behind the curve now.
2. Trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results is one definition of insanity. Do you have areas where you’re repeating a cycle that, so far, hasn’t worked? Maybe you should try something different, eh?
3. You’re not that eff-ing special. Get over yourself.
4. A good idea remains a good idea. Don’t give up on a product just because its initial reception wasn’t great. Adapt the product, and/or adapt your marketing, and try again. (No, this doesn’t contradict #2.)
5. When something works, do more of that thing. Don’t let opportunities slip through your fingers.
6. Focus on your users/players, not your competition.
7. Look at your product or your game, and see how it could be combined with other products or games (yours, or someone else’s) to enhance the value of both. Look at how your product or game could be presented differently, as well, and how it could be used to solve a totally new set of problems than originally intended.
8. Learn to recognize when you’ve hit the point of diminishing returns. Don’t throw good time and money after bad.
9. Track everything you possibly can–and then use the information you’re gathering to improve your planning and your processes.
One final lesson, I think, is this: If you spot someone doing something stupid, don’t just laugh and assume you’re so much smarter than that. Instead, pause and wonder if maybe you’re doing the same thing.
-David
