By Jeff Houchens

1. LEADING CHANGE IN THE GAME INDUSTRY
By: Jeff Houchens
Leadership
Full Sail University
August 22, 2015

2. ABSTRACT
Leading change is about creating a vision within an organization, sharing that
vision with others through effective communication, and making long-term positive
changes through short-term goals and practices. As I continue to expand on my
personal developmental goals I will research several game industry leaders to
determine how they effectively lead change. I will also review Dr. Jennifer
Kahnweiler’s article, called The Introverted Leader, to learn additional steps I can
take to meet my goals. Finally, I will implement strategies that will help me take
those steps as a current and future industry leader.

3. Part I: Leading Change in the Game Industry
Sid Meier is one of the biggest names for simulation games in the game
industry. He has released major titles such as “Sid Meier’s Civilization” series, “Sid
Meier’s Starships”, and “Sid Meier’s Gettysburg”. He has also released many fighter
plane simulations back in the 1980’s, which started his career in the game industry.
Having one of the biggest names in the industry, Sid Meier is also a champion for
leading change. Throughout the last three decades, Meier has invented and
reinvented his simulation games and kept them interesting, meaningful and current.
Sid Meier leads change by consolidating improvements and sustaining the
momentum for change. Kotter (1995) explains that leaders use this phase to turn a
victory into motivation, to dive further into a company’s goals, to consider new
changes with new projects, and to move new people that are onboard for changes
into new key roles.
Jason Schreier (2013) talks about Sid Meier in a biography and highlights a
good example of how Meier led the industry even when he started making games
back in the 80’s. Jason explains that during the game industry crash in 1983, Meier’s
(then) company MicroProse continued to be successful by creating simulation
games he enjoyed. By focusing on growth and the future of change for his games
and not worrying about the stigma of the industry, Meier avoided losing momentum.
Within the next couple years, his small company was a multi-million dollar gaming
industry competitor.
Another way Meier leads change is by his ability to create a vision not only in
games, but also in his organization. Jason explains that when Meier helped create

4. Firaxis, one of his visions for the company culture was for everyone to have a
positive attitude. He didn’t like personal conflicts and anyone that had one was
dealt with right away.
I personally have experienced many personal conflicts in different
organizations and it is very distracting. It takes a lot of attention away from the day-
to-day work activities and I can only imagine how negatively it could impact a
gaming company where they need as much focus as they can get. It’s also rare to
find management that pays attention to individual personalities as much as Meier
does.
Another leader in the game industry is Hironobu Sakaguchi. Sakaguchi used
to work for Squaresoft (now Square Enix) and is the creator of the Final Fantasy
series: the game series that saved Square from collapse in the 80’s. Final Fantasy
VII, in my opinion, was one of the best games ever made. Rating websites such as
Complex.com and Gamesradar.com (n.d.) typically rate Final Fantasy VI and Chrono
Trigger (another game created by Sakaguchi) in the top 25 of games with the best
stories of all time.
Sakaguchi effectively led change in the game industry by empowering his
organization to act on his vision of the Final Fantasy series. Final Fantasy essentially
brought the fantasy RPG genre to America. Gek Siong Low (2001) describes in his
article called Coming to America how the series actually affected gamers. Prior to
Final Fantasy I, we didn’t really have any options for RPGs in America. Foreign game
companies assumed Americans weren’t smart enough to handle complex game
mechanics since we basically only played fighter or side scrolling games at the time.

5. With the release and major sales of Final Fantasy in the U.S., Squaresoft saw how
Sakaguchi created a masterpiece and changed their entire culture around the series.
Today, console sales in Japan are at an all time low due to the growth of
mobile gaming. Azalea Pena (2014) elaborates that console sales are actually $1
billion below mobile gaming as of 2014. In the same article, Hajime Habata, the co-
director of Final Fantasy XV, explains that he believes Final Fantasy XV is the last
best hope for the console industry in Japan. For him to say he’s putting his faith on
the success of one game to determine the future of console gaming for an entire
country is something to be admired. It may be cockiness or it may be the truth, but
either way it speaks volumes for what Sakaguchi started some 30 years ago. What
is ironic about the Final Fantasy series is that it saved (then) Squaresoft from
financial trouble back in 1987 and it may be the last game that (now) Square Enix
creates.
So what makes Sid Meier and Hironobu Sakaguchi champions for leading
change in the game industry beyond what I’ve already mentioned? Their success all
started with their own visions and values. Their values were very different. Sid is
someone who is passionate about programming, he enjoys a peaceful office where
everyone gets along, and he likes to be left alone for the most part so he can work on
new games. Sakaguchi created a game he called “Final” back in the 80’s because he
thought it would be the last game he was going to create. The game was such a
success; it promoted leading change as much as Sakaguchi did and the series lives
on today. In essence, the vision of each person was shared by others even if they
didn’t intend it to just by being the natural leaders they are.

6. Part II
How could you use the The Introverted Leader 4 P's Process of Preparation, Presence,
Push and Practice to Lead Change in fulfilling yourLeadership Development Goals?
Dr. Jennifer B. Kahnweiler (2010) says the introverted leader can use preparation
by observing others with interpersonal skills and integrating their techniques. One of
my leadership development goals is to develop my charisma around the office. By using
preparation and watching others with charisma, I can take note of their techniques to
make my own personal method of approaching people. Once I’ve mastered that, I can
gain the teams trust and motivate them easier.
Kahnweiler (2010) says the introverted leader can use presence by “listening”
and “remembering to breathe”. One of my leadership development goals as a servant
leader is to build a bond with team members and help foster a community based
environment. By using presence and by listening to others, I can give them the
attention they deserve when they talk to me. When conflict or stressful situations arise,
I can remember to breathe so I can stay calmand professional. The leader at my
current job forgets to breathe when stressful situations arise. He then blows up at
whoever is in front of him causing additional stress and discomfort for everyone in the
office. To lead change, I want to ensure I never get into a situation like that.
Kahnweiler (2010) describes push as “pushing past fears to overcome them”. I
think that this has a lot to do with my situational leadership goal of navigating issues to
focus on tasks. As a leader, there’s always the fear of not leading everyone effectively.

7. The realization is that we’re all at work to do a job. Encountering conflict is going to
happen and I can’t be afraid of it. I need to push passed the conflict and help everyone
understand why we’re there. That way I can lead change in the office and help to
prevent future conflicts from happening while still being productive.
Kahnweiler (2010) gives several tips for how an introverted leader can practice,
such as “acting the part” and “strike up conversations in random places”. I’ve always
heard the phrase, “fake it until you make it” and I believe that to be very similar to
practice. A leader can’t automatically be social with all types of people. It takes time
and practice to get comfortable talking to team members, managers and other leaders.
As that leader, I need to take every opportunity I can to practice being communicative. I
think that striking up conversations in random places; especially with people I don’t
normally talk to, is a great way to practice my communication skills. Through better
communication, I will be more effective at communicating my vision to others.
Mystery Word: Confidence

8. References
Gamesradar.com (n.d.). The Best Video Game Stories Ever. Retrieved from:
http://www.gamesradar.com/the-best-videogame-stories-ever/
Kahnweiler, J. (2010). The Introverted Leader. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
Kotter, J. (1995). “Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail”. Harvard
Business Review, March-April 1995.
Pena, A. (2014). ‘Final Fantasy 15’ news: Game is last hope for dying console market
in Japan. Retrieved from: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/
final.fantasy.15.last.hope.dying.console.market.in.japan/
40477.htm.dying.console.market.in.japan/40477.htm
Schreier, J. (2013). Sid Meier: The Father of Civilization. Retrieved from:
http://kotaku.com/the-father-of-civilization-584568276