06-24-2015, 07:37 PM
Brilliant post.
The idea of co-ops is a great one but not exactly a new one. I guess the internet can give a whole new context to the idea and I think it is particularly suited to creative industries like illustration and concept art or design which are highly focused on very individual skills, tend to be contract based and have a good sense of cameraderie, so it makes sense that people would come together organically naturally in the field.
I think OnePixelBrush might possibly operate on this type of arrangement at least process wise in that they share the work out amongst each other. Hard to say about pay structures and voting rights and that kind of thing. Shaddy might just be using people on a per contract basis i just don't know. it would have been an interesting question for him to answer on LevelUp.
Some thoughts:
I think the key thing for success would have to be a small size (5-10 people?).
Flat structures are great in theory, but the benefits I think are greatly reduced the larger they get. I mean think of democracy. It is supposedly a flat structure co-op in theory, but look at the diversity of opinion, difference in classes, lack of cohesion and agreement, system gaming, and cyclical navel gazing that happens as a result of that so called flat system. No matter how much people love the sound of equality, they also love getting ahead of their peers and creating hierarchies within hierarchies. I guess it's a product of our tribal nature and not exactly an efficient structure for organising real direction in large groups if history is anything to go by.
Logistics and Operations:
I also guess a co-op can't get too big before it might have to start to think about hiring more specialised operational roles (accounts, admin, contracts and legal etc) Once that happens, you are thinking a little bit more like a small company than a co-op. And it still feels to me that there would have to be some guiding/management structure in place to be able to handle many of the operational parts of the business in a cohesive way. I think it could work, just not if it's too big. You can pretty much get any service outsourced these days, so you could actually hire people in Asia do all your admin for example. It already exists would just need to be leveraged.
One other logistical thing is the fact that the coop would presumably have to operate across different time zones and legal zones, assuming the members are spread around the globe, and make sure that is managed well.
Skill level and Client lists. I think it would be quite hard for entry level artists to start up a successful co-op. Their skill level may not be able to generate enough clients and revenue to begin with to even support one of them, let alone many. Then again multiple heads might be able to drum up more game, but you can't force skill to be higher than it is.
I think Indie game companies are basically rife with prime examples for a "coops gone wrong" reality show. It seems to be how most indie companies work, and they never have revenue and are always working second jobs in order to finance the co-op. Of course their turnaround times tend to be much higher, measured in years not weeks, so it really is stacked against them.
I think therefore it would work ideally when a few already established artists bring their skills and clients together and pool their resources rather than start to0 early, before they are ready.
Another factor I think might be important is vision. The people in the co-op really would have to gel well from the get go and have very synergistic approaches and goals, regardless of their particular skillsets. Interpersonal issues are the cause of so much lack of productivity in most workplaces I've ever worked at, I can imagine this wouldn't be different for a co-op.
Definitely some great food for thought and to start a discussion though. Glad you posted it man.
The idea of co-ops is a great one but not exactly a new one. I guess the internet can give a whole new context to the idea and I think it is particularly suited to creative industries like illustration and concept art or design which are highly focused on very individual skills, tend to be contract based and have a good sense of cameraderie, so it makes sense that people would come together organically naturally in the field.
I think OnePixelBrush might possibly operate on this type of arrangement at least process wise in that they share the work out amongst each other. Hard to say about pay structures and voting rights and that kind of thing. Shaddy might just be using people on a per contract basis i just don't know. it would have been an interesting question for him to answer on LevelUp.
Some thoughts:
I think the key thing for success would have to be a small size (5-10 people?).
Flat structures are great in theory, but the benefits I think are greatly reduced the larger they get. I mean think of democracy. It is supposedly a flat structure co-op in theory, but look at the diversity of opinion, difference in classes, lack of cohesion and agreement, system gaming, and cyclical navel gazing that happens as a result of that so called flat system. No matter how much people love the sound of equality, they also love getting ahead of their peers and creating hierarchies within hierarchies. I guess it's a product of our tribal nature and not exactly an efficient structure for organising real direction in large groups if history is anything to go by.
Logistics and Operations:
I also guess a co-op can't get too big before it might have to start to think about hiring more specialised operational roles (accounts, admin, contracts and legal etc) Once that happens, you are thinking a little bit more like a small company than a co-op. And it still feels to me that there would have to be some guiding/management structure in place to be able to handle many of the operational parts of the business in a cohesive way. I think it could work, just not if it's too big. You can pretty much get any service outsourced these days, so you could actually hire people in Asia do all your admin for example. It already exists would just need to be leveraged.
One other logistical thing is the fact that the coop would presumably have to operate across different time zones and legal zones, assuming the members are spread around the globe, and make sure that is managed well.
Skill level and Client lists. I think it would be quite hard for entry level artists to start up a successful co-op. Their skill level may not be able to generate enough clients and revenue to begin with to even support one of them, let alone many. Then again multiple heads might be able to drum up more game, but you can't force skill to be higher than it is.
I think Indie game companies are basically rife with prime examples for a "coops gone wrong" reality show. It seems to be how most indie companies work, and they never have revenue and are always working second jobs in order to finance the co-op. Of course their turnaround times tend to be much higher, measured in years not weeks, so it really is stacked against them.
I think therefore it would work ideally when a few already established artists bring their skills and clients together and pool their resources rather than start to0 early, before they are ready.
Another factor I think might be important is vision. The people in the co-op really would have to gel well from the get go and have very synergistic approaches and goals, regardless of their particular skillsets. Interpersonal issues are the cause of so much lack of productivity in most workplaces I've ever worked at, I can imagine this wouldn't be different for a co-op.
Definitely some great food for thought and to start a discussion though. Glad you posted it man.