Dopass.com

As a member of the working class, I often struggle with reconciling my values and what we laughingly call "professionalism" - our devotion to the bottom line or the company line - or whatever bit of dogma our managers present to us as "work ethic."

I don't personally feel like the people I work with are cogs in a machine, replaceable parts that can be exchanged as needed. I think they're people - living breathing souls with their own hopes, desires and emotions. I think this is more important than making a buck - more important that shipping product.

Well OK, maybe that last part is not quite true - I really like making games and I'd do it alone if there was no one else. Regardless, I can't look at the people around me and say, "Well, they're not working out - time to throw them out and start a new batch." I think that if you ever finding yourself saying that - you made a mistake and you need to try to fix it before giving up. Yet, even more so now than in the past, tossing people out like so much garbage and doing it with a smile seems to be exactly what is expected of someone exhibiting "professionalism."

Over the last few years, I've watched several highly talented and very skilled designers lose their jobs for doing what they felt was right. In two very specific cases, what the designer did was point out the mistakes being made by their managers - the things that were actually making it harder for the team to get the job done. To me, this is the height of professionalism - the ability to say what needs to be said as the first step towards to finding a solution...

But, apparently to the industry, this is "unprofessional." The last person I watched this happen to was told "he didn't get along well with others." - But I worked with this guy for years. Literally years. I can tell you from personal experience that he is one of the most humble, self-effacing and easy going designers that I know. Sure, he was never one to candy coat things when there were problems, but to claim that he didn't get along well with others is a little like claiming our strategy in Iraq is perfect. It's indefensible.

I'm not an idiot (or at least, I've got enough experience in this industry to spot problems early) - I saw trouble brewing weeks ago and I went to my manager - the creative director - and I said, "If this guy doesn't work out on this team, send him my way. I know how to work with the guy." My creative director told me he'd look into it and get back to me.

Flash forward two weeks and I'm receiving an IM from the designer telling me he was fired.

So what should I have done? Apparently, as a "professional" what I was supposed to do was nothing - I was supposed to keep my mouth shut and say nothing.

Of course, there's no way I could do that. There's no way I can sit idly by and let a talented designer get shown the door. Now, admittedly this is more from a sense of compassion than it is from a sense of professionalism, but let's look at it from the professionalism angle.

This guy is *good.* He did some of my favorite maps on Auto Assault (if you've played, I guarantee that he did some of your favorite maps, too). Why would I let a valuable resource like that go, if I knew I could place him with a team that both wanted him there and could benefit from his presence? Isn't it unprofessional to let whatever personal issues existed between this designer and the guy that fired him get in the way of using him, to the benefit of the company?

I couldn't tell you; they've never given me the chance to find out - not at any studio where this has gone down (this is not the first time).

So now what? I mean, my creative director told me he'd do what he could, but then apparently did nothing - and didn't even have the decency to tell me to my face that he'd decided not do as I suggested. (Which while lame, would have been acceptable to me) Again, I guess I was supposed to keep my mouth shut and say nothing... But I couldn't. That's unacceptable. It goes against the very core of my personal ethics. Team > project > company - it's really that simple. At least, it should be - for everyone.

So, I did what I felt was right. I spoke out again. I pointed out that the creative director had failed me and in doing so exhibited none of the honor, integrity or honesty an employee expects from his or her managers. You know what happened?

I got called into his office. I was told that I needed to be more professional. That I needed to learn some professional ethics. Me. I needed to learn me some ethics. I felt like Inigo Montoya from the Princess Bride for a moment... In the back of my head I kept hearing, "You keep on using that word; I do not think it means what you think it means." But what could I do?

The last time this happened, I kept pushing and I lost my job as a result. This time around, I decided I'd play it "professionally" and I kept my mouth shut, but you know what I think?

I think that was a mistake. Deep down inside I know that what I should be doing is pushing the point. I should be teaching my manager why what he did was neither ethical nor professional - that regardless of why they fired this guy, not giving me the chance to correct the error through proper management was a failure of management - of this manager specifically, since managing and mentoring the designers is his job description. Further, I think I should have pointed out that telling me he was going to do something about it and then not even telling me to my face that he decided against it was in and of itself dishonorable. That it leaves me in a position to believe that the opinion and word of a lead designer at his company has no bearing on the way things are done, there. That it reduces what I have to say to nothing but meaningless vibrations in the air. The buzzing of an irritating fly.

Sooner or later, it's going to come out and I won't be able to stop it, because I know that what I did in his office was wrong. I should have spoken up and I'm never going to be able rectify that. Deep down, I can feel the mistake I made eating at me. One day, it's going to slip out again and it's going to come down to him or me; problem is, I already know how that plays out... I've already lost a job by doing that.

Maybe I am unprofessional. Maybe compassion, honor, integrity and honesty really don't have a place in the professional world. I value my own honor and integrity way too much to sacrifice them for anything less than someone else's well-being. I always thought that made me the consummate professional - that it was why I was able to achieve as much as I have. I guess I was wrong.

So where does that leave me?

- Snipehunter