OutRunning Failure: Navigating Project Decisions like a 1980s Video Game
What can retro videogame OutRun teach us about project management? According to nPlan Product Manager and Principal Risk Engineer Richard Bendall-Jones, a lot more than you might think...
Full disclosure — I’m a bit of a retro video game nerd. And I’m also fascinated about how games and software push our psychological buttons.
I’m going to do one of those articles with a heavy-handed metaphor. Soz. It’s just a bit of fun; I’m not actually trying to reset the paradigm of project management / controls / risk using a clunky 8-bit switch-and-bait. Though I think some of the above could do with being made a bit more fun. So let’s get started:
I was looking for some images related to 1980s arcade classic OutRun — specifically the map that sets out the progress a player has made — mainly because it looks a bit like a network diagram / Gantt chart in reverse:
This iconic bit of literal roadmapping throws up some interesting parallels with project management and controls, not all of which are as apparent as others. Let me accelerate (shakes head) through the more obvious and cringe:
- Changing Environments — OutRun’s dynamic landscapes parallel the ever-changing project environments. Macroeconomic trends and project challenges require project managers to be agile and flexible. Things get twistier and turnier, requiring change of pace and reflexes. Sound familiar?
- Balancing Speed and Caution — In OutRun, speed can be thrilling, but reckless driving leads to crashes. Project managers must balance efficiency and caution to avoid costly mistakes that burn up their time allowance.
- (Hopefully) Reaching the Finish Line — OutRun’s ultimate goal is reaching the finish line. Similarly, project managers guide their teams to successful project delivery and stakeholder satisfaction with the resources permitted (in this case, time). Don’t make it? Learn your lessons and try again.
The one that resonates most with me, however, is that dotted along the way, the driver (you) encounters decision points. In OutRun: turn left, and you’re coasting in some greeny oasis. Turn right and welcome to Sandy Columnsville, Nevada — Population: you. In any case, your decision here influences the outcome. There is a somewhat brutal analogue here with making decisions on projects, whether that be technology, resource allocation, or project methodology; the decision you make will influence where you end up.
And that’s where the map comes in. While we might look at Gantt charts as a way of converging on a final goal, in reality this is achieved by an ever-expanding decision network. In planning, you could find a parallel in probabilistic branching. In strategy, you could find this in dynamic adaptive pathways. If you like Marvel films, you can see this in ‘the Multiverse’. Whatever way we look at it, the decisions we make are both in response to projects as complex entities, and also contributing to their complexity in terms of all the plausible project futures.
No wonder controlling and managing projects is so hard. Be kind to yourself!
Conclusion
Embrace OutRun’s wisdom in project management — making decisive choices, adapting to change, managing complexities, and balancing speed with caution. By channeling your inner OutRun racer, you’ll lead your project to a triumphant finish line. And it’s hard, so don’t be afraid to pick it up and start again. Add other forced metaphor here.
