Building the Perfect Team: Leadership Insights from Michael Capps at Epic Games

1. Building the Perfect Team Michael Capps, Ph.D. President, Epic Games, Inc.

2. Overview • Audience check • What gives me the right… • Defining success • Hiring • Rewards • Saying Goodbye • Critical Positions

3. Epic Games • Founded 16 years ago by CEO Tim Sweeney • About 110 employees in Raleigh • More in Utah, Warsaw, Shanghai • Early success with Jill of the Jungle, Epic Pinball, then Unreal • Licensing Unreal Engine since 1996, hundreds of games using • 2006 shipped Gears of War, 5M units and 30+ GOTY awards • Gears of War 2 comes soon: November 7th worldwide

4. Leadership expert? • Not really… • I lead because I hate inefficiency • Or that which I perceive as inefficiency • Or really, when it’s not done how I’d do it • So I guess I lead because I simply hate following…

5. Mike’s fascinating story • Socialization via Education 1976 - 2000 • America’s Army 2000 – 2002 • Scion Studios 2002 – 2004 • Epic Games 2004 – until I’m hit by a bus

6. Visualize Success • What’s our end goal? • “Team dynamics” and “Culture” • Really, we want: • People to work harder than average • People to work hard on the same thing • Not in scope: • People to work hard on the right thing

7. Visualize Success • In other words, we want a team with • Unity of purpose • Willingness to sacrifice for that purpose • This doesn’t mean ‘sacrifice your family’ • Rather ‘sacrifice enjoyable inefficiencies’

8. Enjoyable Inefficiencies • Petty squabbling • Intolerance for failure • Territorial behavior • Random web browsing • Random ‘research projects’ • Tasks that look deceptively like progress but don’t help to ship games • Unreal Tournament during lunch • Unless you’re working on UT of course…

9. Team case studies • Project Lowlife: • “get it running on almost anything” • America’s Army: • “keep a secret and shock the world” • Scion Studios: • “beat Epic at their own game”

10. Team case studies • Epic Games • be the undisputed best in games and tech • Okay, so we think we did that. So now: • “Against the odds, stay on top!”

11. Team case studies • Do you see the trend in these cultures? “MISSION: (Almost) Impossible”

12. Believing in leadership • Your team needs to be confident in you • You don’t have to be perfect • you can’t be! • Earn their trust and they’ll support your decisions

13. Believing in leadership • So if you’re going to screw up • Please do so with confidence • Panache even • Heck, blame your screwups on this talk • Or, if you’re making a game • Blame your engine middleware

14. HiringDisclaimer: I am not an artist…

15. …but I can hire them!

16. Epic’s Hiring Process • Resume review by HR • Resume review by experts • Skills Test • HR phone call • Experts phone call(s) • Reference checking • On-site interview • Background investigation

17. A good resume • Bad spelling is a pass • Programmers who don’t spell check probably don’t test their code • Artists who don’t spell check probably don’t ask peers to review their work

18. A good portfolio • Should include only great work • if they send something weak, assume they don't know the difference • or they don't ask for advice from peers / mentors • Both mean “no-hire” • Look for crediting, clean presentation, etc.

19. Demonstrate Passion • Good teams require passion • So we look for this first and foremost • What projects are they working on at home? • For junior hires: • Look for game focused internships or extracurricular activities • Best tests are outside of the classroom • Hobby projects, mods, etc. are king

20. Skill test • As per Joel Spolsky: make them juggle • See how they take direction • No matter how perfect the results, we always send back for more • “I don’t take tests” • Don’t hire this guy • He’s probably too important to write input code or clean up LODs • Or any of the other stuff that ships games

21. The on-site interview For artists: not for skills, just team fit For coders: technical interview and team fit What are we afraid of? • that they won’t work hard • or that they will bail on us • or that they are a jerk • or that they secretly want to be a designer

22. Interview psychology • We look for people who: • Are nice and friendly, pass the elevator test • Are respectful of your team’s work • Show excitement about working there • Want to learn from your team

23. Interview psychology • You want a team full of people who feel lucky to be here • You MUST turn down brilliant people who don’t fit your culture • Someday, your lead coder will get mad at you for passing on a brilliant jerk programmer • Tell him it’s my fault

24. Hiring Strategy • This industry is startingly small • There are at most two degrees of separation between every game company in the world • So play nice with offer timing, other companies, etc. • You don’t get lots of chances to screw up, so use them wisely

25. Environment is important

26. Environment • Read Peopleware • Physical environment • Environment foments collaboration • Or more frequently, prevents it • Manage interruptions • Interruptions are surprisingly costly

27. Environment • Team environment • Epic is game teams and engine team • Game teams: • Producer • Lead designer • Level designers and lead • Gameplay coders and lead • Artists and lead

28. Rewarding Performance • Rewards are very dangerous • People will do what you reward them for • So much can go wrong: • Infinite defect methodology • Doing that which is noticed • Working when it’s noticed • Reward based on performance reviews!

29. Reviewing Performance • Details of the epic process • Twice yearly • Leads and random peers • The Big Conversation • Epic’s review points • Quality and Attention to Detail • Creativity and Problem Solving • Communication and Teamwork • Work Ethic

30. Reviewing Your Performance • 360-degree feedback • Climate surveys • HR one-on-ones • Compliments, Concerns, Criticism meetings • Lots of informal discussions, lunches, etc! • Managing by walking around isn’t just a cliché

31. Saying Goodbye • Employee reviews aren’t always positive • Punishment and firing is critical to maintaining team trust • Nothing demotivates like working next to someone who isn’t working hard • Act carefully • Treat them like you’d want to be treated • Employees need to be confident that you won’t fire on a whim • Maybe they’re just on the wrong task?

32. Saying Goodbye • Epic’s process • Disclaimer: rules on doing this legally are quite complex • Epic’s contracts are at-will • Having reviews is helpful • Initial informal discussion • Formal discussion with a performance plan

33. Saying Goodbye • Epic Performance Plan • Written statement they must sign • Producer, discipline lead, and HR • Immediate, significant, and ongoing improvement • Short lifetime for review, usually 2 weeks • If it goes poorly, terminate • Otherwise repeat, increase interval, finish

34. Saying Goodbye • I have roughly a 60% success rate… • But I’ve felt better 100% of the time • And I don’t work next to the guy • Be open and honest about termination • Tell the team immediately • His team shouldn’t be surprised! • Reassure team it was a long discussion

35. Critical positions • The “Hit by a bus” bus is coming • What do you do?

36. Critical positions • Find the most critical position • Figure how to make it (more) bus-proof • Repeat throughout the organization • Warning: if anyone is actually hit by a bus on your team, you will be the logical suspect

37. Leadership and promotion • We usually have the luxury of time at Epic • So we test extensively under fire • “Responsibility without authority” • To lead this way, they must earn respect • Also makes promotions nice and smooth… • “Oh yeah? It’s about time …”

38. Critical positions • You could be hit by a bus, too • Make yourself replaceable • Who are you grooming for your job? • You are be paid to create a sustainable organization • Not to keep yourself in a job for life

39. Critical positions • Not all employers appreciate this, sadly • You usually must have a clear replacement before you can be promoted • And it’s polite to prep a replacement before you move out • So prep now before either opportunity knocks

40. There is no trick to teams • Many necessary conditions for team gel • But no sufficient conditions • Make a lot of teams • Experiment with sub teams and ad hoc teams • Build a toolchest • Learn from others, it’s less painful • In the end, you’re training your gut

41. There is no trick • Read everything • There is no perfect book for game production • Managing engineers is an art form with hundreds of books • Producers must manage artists at the same time… • Steal from books – Good to Great, Drucker, Peopleware, Slack, Flow, Wisdom of Teams, etc.

42. In conclusion • Success comes from motivated teams • Teams can come from good luck • But they’re more likely to come from diligent culture planning • Hire the right people • Reward them • Firmly remove wrong people • Watch your critical positions • And you’ll have the team you need

43. Questions?