in defense of the generalist

        A while back (years almost, come to think about it), I made a post on a friend's facebook on why I thought generalist as it related to Tech Art was probably a bad goal to pursue in the long term. I'll admit at the time I was definitely not in the best of headspaces and not at all thinking straight.  I'd also been through a few interesting work stints that had me questioning the value of Tech Art in general, or in other words I was feeling sorry for myself and projecting onto other people, trying to "save" them from a professional fate worse than death.  Or something to that effect.  But as I alluded to in my post the other day and as I remarked (or maybe admitted) to the same individual who i had previously publicly lambasted for being a generalist, if it were not for my own background as a generalist, there's no way I could be doing the job I'm currently attempting to bungle my way through...



As with many things, happiness is found somewhere in between...
        It's true, at every stage of my career I've picked up more skills and honestly, the only reason I ended up where I was doing what I was doing was because I felt it necessary to fill a niche in production.  My first job was actually as a VFX intern, but I did some facial animation, rigging, cinematics, modeling, hell, I even have a sound credit from my first job, of all things.  So I, of all people, definitely appreciate the value of the generalist developer.

        Now, I'm probably not telling anybody anything that they're not already thinking, or more correctly, haven't already realized.  At the same time, I feel like I've been one of the more vocal proponents of the Tech Artist as Tools Programmer, or at least the notion that Tech Artists should specialize in something at some point.  And yet, here I am, finding myself not really specializing in anything, or even more ironically, specializing at being a generalist...talk about taking the red pill.



Just take both of the pills, seriously, the purple pill is f'ing wicked...

        I guess what I'm really saying is not to specialize or generalize, but more like don't pass up an opportunity to learn new things.  One of the most disheartening statements I'd ever heard uttered was something to the effect of "Well, i'm working in Max right now, I don't need to learn python".  Yeah, but you could!  It's not about learning python, or C#, or C++, or Lisp, or MSP, it's about LEARNING.  When I was at Bungie, sure, I was a Maya guy through and through, but that didn't stop me from taking advantage of the fact that I was working with some great C# developers and learning C#, a skill that's serving me really well now.  And once you're comfortable with that new skillset, Apply It!  Take some time and come up with some creative solutions, in the process you'll gain a deeper understanding of said skillset.  I started learning Django just for fun, but in the process, I realized what a great asset management system Django would make, or to be more specific, what a great asset management you could write on top of Django.  Being able to apply technologies in new ways is a great way to keep your interests up, especially if it's technology that already exists and is just waiting to be put to a creative use.  As Grandmaster Harper says "Take What's In Front Of You".



Tech Art...The Kajukenbo of Game Development
        The industry being what it is, you never know what your job sitch is going to look like in the next few years, heck even in the next year.  The skills you learn now are going to protect you for your entire career.  Who knows?  If it ever comes down to it and you have to jump from content creation, the fact that you used Python to do more than just write Maya scripts may be your saving grace.

        So in the end, expand your horizons, learn all you can, and embrace your generalist self.  I'm definitely not sorry I did, given the dividends it's paying now.

NOW I remember what being happy feels like

        It's 10:30pm on a Friday and I'm sitting in my apartment mere blocks away from the downtown San Jose nightlife working.  And not working on anything really "cool" or "sexy", at least not to most people, in fact it's about as dry as you can get.  I'm working on a comparative analysis doc for different software components of the continuous integration system we're putting together at work, and I'm having a blast.  Realizing this made me stop and think, not about the specifics of the task itself, but the implications of the situation.

        My friend and fellow tech artist Rob Galanakis made a blog post a while back regarding a change in jobs/life he had gone through recently, and I guess it's my turn now.  It's so funny, you know, I'm the guy that's always saying "Ah, it's just a job, work's just a passing phase, etc", but you know, looking back I spent so much time propping myself up that I don't think I realized I wasn't following my own admonitions.  Even when I was in L.A., I feel like, in retrospect, that I was the guy who was married to someone who he wasn't really that into, but publicly proclaimed how incredibly hot his wife is, in a really feeble attempt to make himself feel better about it.  Clumsy analogy, but you get what I'm saying, that is, i feel like i've been deluding myself (poorly, I might add) in an attempt to miss the bigger issue.


"That's delude yourself, dummy..."
        Maybe it's too early to tell, i've only been with Perceptual for a month, still in that honeymoon phase, but you know, I've never felt this sold after just a month.  That could just be because I'm so happy to be doing something different, but I think it's more than that.  I've told everyone this and it's true, this is seriously the hardest job I've ever had.  I'm having to pretty much draw on every bit of software development experience i've gathered in the last 12 or so years just to keep up, but you know, I wouldn't have it any other way.  Not being challenged at work is worst than death, and I mean GENUINE challenges, not the challenges of having to manage your managers.  I have ONE manager now who I report to, and by report to, I mean i tell him what i'm working on for the month and if it aligns with the groups charter, he gives me his blessing and doesn't bother me again for a month.  And when people ask my opinion and tell me to go do something, they mean, "we trust you to leverage your experience, so we're just going to get out of the way and let you execute".  Having been paid that lip service for the last 2+ years, this is a refreshing change.

        Ultimately, I know we're sitting in the pressure cooker.  In a year, we may not be around, but you know, I'm going to try my damndest to make sure that doesn't happen.  And you know, i feel like at this point, I actually can do that.  I feel like my contribution matters, I feel like my contributions are actually valued, I feel like I really can make a difference.  I haven't felt that at a job in...about 4 years.

        And you know, the most telling part overall is that at a high-stakes, high-pressure team inside of a large company like Intel, I've found that working environment I've been looking for.  The one the games industry claims to espouse, but really doesn't have a clue about how to create...that's interesting.

       Ah well...not gloating, not whining, just thinking.  It's good to be happy at work again.


Not quite like this, but close enough considering...