Embracing Ambiguity: How to Do Good Work When You Don't Know What to Do

In this 2017 GDC session, Oculus' Ruth Tomandl discusses the concept of ambiguity and methods for determining whether it's a problem or not in game production.
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[@voltcorp]

Right away, saying you have a "love/hate relationship with ambiguity" is such a chuckle-worthy statement. Very nice.

[@alvaroplol]

This is one of the most useful talks I've ever seen. Required viewing for all producers. She provides a lot of clarity and a simple way to think about things that seem insurmountable.

[@rosiestormborn9578]

Agree!! So happy I found this years later!

[@alpha3305]

I've start on my transition into game production and I found that many of these tips, tools and methodologies overlap almost 100% with most forms of program management. It's like sliding into a sportscar after driving a minivan for years.

[@r0flcopter]

amazing talk, you can tell she's good at what she does

[@nicktheslayer95]

You can tell she's good at what she does, but not that she knows what she's doing. 🤔

[@PurpleFreezerPage]

I love logical, analytical people like this.

[@TJ-nk8vm]

I have two profesional certificacion in Project Management, PM Master Degree with many years working as PM, etc.... I need to say that this seccion is one OF THE BEST that i have been saw from a long time relate with Project Management and how to manage dificults (ambiguity and high risk) projects in general... what she say is NOT only for videogame industry, this apply for ANY type of project in general. Excellent presentation!!!

[@AnecProductions]

Amazing talk, and what a lovely person too. Kept me engaged all the way through props to her

[@Ziplock9000]

This is a huge problem I have when developing games where I have total control. Too many unknowns or unknown unknowns. It can cause production to freeze for a couple of days or worse sometimes. Similar to having 500 TV stations but not being able to pick anything to watch!

[@TaschDraws]

Cannot express how helpful this is, NOT JUST for producers, but for anyone in the pipeline honestly. Context like this helps us do our jobs better, and not take things as personally when things are cut or reworked. We're all in this together and just trying to juggle all the puzzle pieces without knowing what the finished picture is going to be.

[@VyvyanTheGreat]

Super helpful and inspiring for even solo indie devs like me. Ambiguity is the single largest roadblock I run into, but I never really was aware that's what it was! Eureka moment, for sure.

[@MasterofTights]

This talk 100% is for everyone managing or leading in games, not just useful for producers! If you're a lead, scrum master, team leader whatever title you have if you in some way deal with the running or interactions or planning between staff this is a worthwhile watch. Or if you're one of the vision holders of a project, I double down to 200% worth a watch.

[@GypsumGeneration]

This talk blew me away!

[@RGcrasyRG]

The Q&A part was the best.

[@xalener]

THIS IS WHAT IT'S ALL BEEN LEADING UP TO

[@sk00sh]

Awesome talk! Thank you

[@rewindcat7927]

Really great talk thanks!!

[@superochoo]

I was lonely, until I watched this talk

[@pole]

Very interesting talk! Just wanted to live my 2 cents: ambiguity/uncertainty and creativity are two sides of the coin. That's why understanding when to reduce both it's important in every artistic process

[@w4fer]

amazing talk

[@LilayM]

Daym, this is GOOD.

[@aster5031]

Terrific!!

[@sinkler123]

Great talk , Wish my ex-manager had watched it before i met him... I hate Ambiguity. xD Thanks !

[@tanmaypanadi1414]

xD

[@roninbadger7750]

This may not make it back to Ruth, but if there is confusion on her email, she can broadcast it in capital letters, emails are not case sensitive.

[@rtomandl256]

That's a great idea! When I write it I put a little tail on the 'l', but I never thought of all caps. Thanks!

[@shire7949]

Very nice

[@Pr3tzelz]

Such a good talk... But what is this thumbnail???

[@NicolasLeclerc]

Looks like all 2017 confs had bad sound that's weird.

[@EricDaily]

THIS!

[@TDuD3]

CDRP could use this .. someone link it to them

[@kappabravomusic2101]

This is great for any level of gamedevs

[@moocowp4970]

I disagreed with her definition of ambiguity vs risk from the outset (Im a project manager, ambiguous things ARE defined as risks within a project space.), so I was dubious, but this was actually a great project management presentation. Lots of great info in here that isn't just related to games development but applies to any project regardless of industry.

[@arcan762]

The mic feedback ringing is super annoying.

[@ossiehalvorson7702]

GDC has a pretty crappy sound guy. Every video there's some kind of sound issue going on, even when the speaker isn't trying to deep throat the mic.

[@ivragi]

It's funny how in those talks they just describing agile. And when you indentify it mid-talk everything becomes clear and logical for someone who worked in agile team.

[@edwardroh89]

@@kidmosey Agreed, agile is too "ambiguous" to even define. As a tech lead, I've had a project manager try to instill "agile" onto our team, that came in the form of these extremely strict and rigid processes that only added work without solving any of our problems. People need to get off their useless buzzwords because most people won't really understand. I'd rather that project manager try to find a workflow that "fit my team the best" and actually listened to me and my team.

[@MalrickEQ2]

@@kidmosey Agile = Scrum

[@ossiehalvorson7702]

@@edwardroh89 I work as a hobbyist and freelancer, but I have friends working in the corporate sector, and they basically describe it as micromanagement hell to the highest extreme. Their companies all use Agile 24/7 rather than a crunch time contingency. I had been considering taking on a corporate job, but that flipped me right back around on that decision lol. I could tolerate that for a few month catch-up stretch, but I don't know how people are tolerating that for years on end.

[@Zach-mv3le]

It's funny that the first four minutes of this talk is managers admitting they make technology and design decisions from a place of complete ignorance.

[@mohammadsadeghlavaie5560]

Such an ambiguous video.

[@santozard]

Isn’t producer the one knows most of how to make his/her game? This more sounds like a hired PM that only tracks a already defined game project.

[@rykehuss3435]

no that would be the game director

[@senshai1267]

Still puzzled when Neil got the best director...when his team was complaining about forced work crunch ...bruh.

[@JastheRob]

Is this a bot account? Posts unrelated copy-pasta drivel five minutes after a 1-hour long video gets uploaded? ...bruh.

[@brandonthomas6602]

Yeah it should have gone to hades for best director but we all knew TLOU would take every single award

[@peter-mangelsdorf]

@@JastheRob Yeah, this is weird. It's like their commenting on a completely different video. Should we report them? They might be grinding for reputation, so when they start advertising later they aren't immediately flagged.

[@takashy87]

Great talk, but unfortunately it's a bit "one sided" as it's management related and doesn't really apply to those "hands on" positions, like artists, programmers, etc., etc. It's good for bringing attention to potential problems while working in teams, but unfortunately this doesn't do much for those that might be the sole developer responsible for everything in a project, like in my case. I'm fairly new to being in charge of the whole thing and all the decisions that need to be made to get it done, so I had hoped for something more specific for people like me, who might be struggling to figure out what to do in certain situations where you have that "you don't know what to do" part of the talk. I'm sure that like any other position, you'll just gain experience over time and find your way of facing those problems, but for people who "just started out" it's can be a lot of things to consider. Something that normally might be easier to figure out, if you work with others in a team , since you have somebody to talk about it.

[@vapx0075]

If you work for yourself you have to manage yourself. It's the same difference, just that 100% of the psychological problems you can't walk away from. You are your team, you are your manager. The only part of this video people like us can't find much use for are the case specific examples.

[@vapx0075]

Tbf, I've probably never argued with myself quite so hard that required a detailed section on conflict resolution, but this is made for the general developer community and I appreciate it as such.

[@duangduang3855]

Well, I think it’s still good to know these even if you are not in managing related role. As it’s good to know what happened to you and your project then you know how to manage your own stress and what’s going wrong. Especially you won’t always be with a good manager or producer

[@TechnoFreud]

See the "Indecision" section at 43:22. You can first take the role of the producer, and create the list of things to do for your backlog. Then take the role of the project manager and prioritize them (and figure out if there are dependencies where one thing has to be done first). Then take the role of the devs and designers and knock out one piece at a time.

[@swearsoft]

"Being heard is the more important thing I think sometimes"... yeah, no

[@thechaxxe3565]

You’re the professional I’m sure

[@ossiehalvorson7702]

@@thechaxxe3565 Well they have "soft" in their username, as in software, so they must be, right? They couldn't possibly be some Unity solo dev who's never shipped a game. It's not like these comments sections are full of those types or anything.

[@hgzmatt]

Yeah, after filling out countless company surveys, without anything happening, I tend to agree with you. The goal is to make things better and if you can't please at least admit it. But don't collect it and put it in a drawer somewhere. Also, don't ask if you really don't care.

[@santozard]

Again, if you are a producer that has that many unknown in your producing game. Please stop and do something you do know and passion about.

[@saulnores3477]

That's not ambiguity. It is a word or expression that can be understood in two or more possible ways : an ambiguous word or expression. What she speaks about is uncertainty.