In my on-going quest to be a Producer in the game industry, I've been soliciting a lot of advice around books to read that can better arm with logic tools to be a better connective tissue for development teams.

I've noticed a trend.

incoming thread ---->

The underlying themes in these books are around
- transformational thinking
- psychology
- fear
- leadership
- feedback culture
- de-conditioning of how capitalism and the education system has colonized our imagination

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Ultimately the presentation of these ideas, from the book cover to the flow of ideas is packaged in such a way to say "Look at this revolutionary new way of thinking!!!"

only...none of it is new.

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It is as if it's parodying itself at the same time because they are taking old concepts that have existed for as long as humans have congregated into groups and claim it as a discovery.

Peak appropriation.

The common current I run into is the following:

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"From such person to such person, what they had in common was this radical concept of focused attention and will power."

These authors then go on to list a dozen more "geniuses" or "High performance individuals". These "innovators" also happen to all be white men.

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Now I'm sure you're thinking, "Damn it Javiera, are you going to bring up race and privilege again?" and the answer to that is:

Yes, yes I am. Because we're not talking about it enough.

Now hear me out. (you're on twitter so you've got the time.)

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All these successful thinking books written in the last 30 years and even up until this current day center the genius of white men, and what I'm finding that's interesting much more than cultivating myself as an individual is asking the following questions:

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In what ways am I being complicit in this value system that favors white men?

Am I coming to queer communities of color and asking for mentorship there as much as I am for communities where white men are the most elevated and supported?

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How can I do my part in breaking this abusive culture?

What are the connections and relationships I can build TODAY to start the foundation for actionable and immediate resistance to the pre-conceived notion that genius looks like white maleness?

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Who are the allies I can rally around that are already doing this work?

(if you know of any groups/individuals please tag them for me!)

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I sincerely believe we get better games from a diverse dev team. There is a richer more varied life experience that is being drawn from, with better checks and balances so that games don't continue to push harmful ideas simply by ignorance.

All this to say: what are some books you'd recommend for production, development, design or collaboration that are written by women or QTBIPOC?
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Can't recommend @CeliaHodent's books enough:

The Gamer's Brain: How Neuroscience and UX Can Impact

https://www.amazon.com/Gamers-Brain-Neuroscience-Impact-Design/dp/1498775500/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&qid=1612203460&refinements=p_27%3ACelia+Hodent&s=books&sr=1-1

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Anyways, cheers for reading. Distractions lurk in every direction so I appreciate your time

Oh! If anyone's curious, the running list of Game Dev Library recommendations I've been collecting is here: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1HZO0VZ5CW9EE?ref_=wl_share

Bah, I wish we could edit tweets already.

A key point I forgot to mention is that a lot of these "White Geniuses" enjoyed a wide web of intersecting privilege from:

- racial
- male
- economic
- societal
- collegiate
- stable family home

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The primary thing I want the industry to change it's attitude on is the collective responsibility of Publishers, Platforms, Successful AAA/Indie studios to cultivate their community and not just look for new talent from university programs but to

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to assess WHERE they are putting their support, what is the quality of social penetration (heh) from their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs.

Are you actually going to underserved and marginalized communities and reaching out to where THEY ARE?

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Are you staying radical in your approach to mentorship?

There are so many ways this is beneficial to game studios. It prevents a "monocrop" of experience. It builds network, connections and provides leadership opportunities to devs of medium/senior experience.

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Don't be the "got mine" successful person that pulls the ladder up behind you. Junior talent has limitless potential in what it can bring to dev team environments.

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Fresh perspectives are critical to examining processes that no longer serve your organization but are there simply from inertia.

New blood is vital to sustainability.

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anyways, done for now. Back to work!