Author: Murad Musakaev
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Context Matters… Why?
Have one of your friends ever asked you some vague theoretical question like “Would you rather never be stuck in traffic again or never get another cold?” and you answered “It depends” but the friend says that you are evading the answer? But it really depends on the context of the situation: how often are…
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4 Keys to Success Each Manager Should Consider
As we refine our understanding of effective project management in game development, this article revolves around four critical areas that every competent project manager or producer should master. Often overlooked, these elements are crucial for effectively steering projects within the dynamic game development field. Disclaimer: assuming that you are proficient with Google, I won’t explain…
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Failing to Plan = Planning to Fail
Many of us begin each new year with resolutions, and despite their mixed success rates, they symbolize a powerful moment of renewal. Even smaller naive things like “I will quit smoking… starting Monday” have a proven psychological effect of higher success of kicking off a new habit with the beginning of a new period (week,…
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Leading the Pack – Lessons in Building a Thriving Team
Recently, at the GamesForum in Limassol, Cyprus, I was approached by someone from an indie game studio seeking for production advice. After a brief chat, he mentioned he was a reader of both my blog and LinkedIn articles and suggested compiling all that material in one place. While I’m not planning to repost my blog…
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F.A.Q.: Producer In Video Games
“But what exactly are you doing?” – a question I get a lot from all kinds of people, from grandmothers to industry peers. I started my journey in the video game industry with a small company, where, as in most small companies, managers have to wear different hats. I’ve been a lawyer/legal consultant, business development…
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Co-Op Gaming: Team Work Make the Dream Work
I recently posted a thought about coop gaming on my LinkedIn page (I split my content into thoughts for short random messages on hot topics and Articles for thought-through knowledge sharing about some topic that resonates with me). I was praising the success of Helldivers II, thinking out loud about the benefits of playing with…
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When Learning Becomes a Problem
“I love learning something new!” is a trend in modern society. With information becoming so accessible and the flow of it being unstoppable, people try to be effective and adopt the growth mindset. While I enjoy learning new things myself, I would like to talk about learning processes in general and discuss when (and why)…
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Rules are like Recipes: Know When to Tweak the Mix
I can’t really cook. I’ve been saying that for a while. When my wife tries to argue with that, listing all the delicious dishes I made, I disagree: following the recipe step by step is one thing, while understanding the flavors, the techniques, and the essence of cooking itself is the next level of art.…
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Six Lessons I learned in Tactile
In 2021, I left my hometown behind to move to Denmark and work for Tactile as a Penny & Flo producer. I knew a lot about management already from my previous jobs, and I also was pretty deep in the mobile F2P industry but never worked in an international company or story-driven game. My previous…
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Value Stream Mapping
#1 tool with underrated Value Coincidence or not, several of my current and former colleagues asked me about this tool recently, so I thought: “Maybe it deserves an article to spare the repetitive explanation.” As all the managers, I have a myriad of different tools and rituals to make it through the production pipeline. You…
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Killing Communication With Kindness
In our efforts to be “kind and polite”, we sometimes create more problems than we solve. This was clear in a story my wife shared about a colleague – let’s call her Kate – who was let go by a CEO of the company because of poor performance. Despite her struggles at work, Kate’s manager…
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Why I Love Diversity In Creative Teams
You definitely noticed that diversity in management and hiring lately became a topic as debated as pineapple on pizza. Some think it’s a modern must-have, some think it’s a fashion choice of agenda, and some don’t really get it. Tactile Games is a company with 50+ nationalities, 40% women, many LGBTQ+ people, and a kaleidoscope…
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Hello There!
Do you remember that wonderful feeling of starting something new, and learning through trial and error? I do. In fact, my job consists of bathing in this feeling to 75%… Hello there, reader, and thanks for stopping by! My name is Murad Musakaev. I’m a producer/project manager in a game development studio, and this is…
Retrieving Thoughts 