Creating Accountability: 4 Simple Steps for Managers

Accountability. It comes up all the time, leaders demand more of it, many people try to escape it. But honestly, most people don't know what it means. In this GDC 2024 talk, Ben Carcich walks through what accountability is, why our misunderstandings of it lead to unhealthy models of accountability that cause many people to avoid it, and finally go through a simple four-step model to create healthy accountability

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[theobrominator]

GDC is probably attended mostly by individual contributors, not managers. This is not just game dev related, it’s corporate management structure. There has to be buy-in on all levels for this to work. From my experience, many managers think they make everything happen but usually have no hard skill other than delegating.

[piranha]

Remember when GDC was about cool tech and nerds presenting their quirks how to save memory with this cool new terrain mesh algorithm?

Good old times.

[JonasErik]

That's the wrong person on the thumbnail 😂👍

[CagBejhe]

Quite right. Managers often seem to evade responsibility when it comes to properly supporting regular employees in terms of time, resources, budget oversight, and product knowledge. It would be far more effective if they took greater accountability, rather than shifting the blame onto other teams when things go wrong. A more efficient approach to management, with a clearer sense of responsibility, would certainly go a long way.

[nubby]

I don't know if I am going to make it through the presentation. Does he ever mention the importance of unions in the games industry? I think that is a much better way to get accountability from management then hoping they develop innocuous soft skills.

[thim]

If you're unsure what this talk was about, it's about effecient soft skills.

[Go_Home_British_Raj]

Great stuff from real experience, cheers!

[crazyfingers]

Everything about this industry has become depressing. It's turned into a daycare.

[FaticusDolphinius]

This comment section really makes me wonder if people have romanticized the game industry so much that they don’t think managers are a big part of it.

[IllusionMan-smhv]

This is called Game Developers Conference, not Manager Conference. Give us cool tech and games

[nopens]

Dont you have some cool bearded guys showing off their experimental algorithms? I want to see more of that, not this.