干货：游戏公司有必要进行“编程马拉松”的3个理由

【手游网译稿，转载请注明出处】

手游网注：“编程马拉松（hackathon）是一个流传于电脑迷（hacker）当中的新词汇，它是一种活动，时长一般在几天到一周不等。在该活动当中，很多程序员相聚在一起，他们以合作的形式去进行电脑编程。编程马拉松不是编写些一次性作品那么简单，其精髓在于：以参与想要的方式，去做他们想做的事情——整个编程的过程几乎没有任何限制或者方向。” 这是维基百科对于Hackathon在活动形式上的解释。

那么，这样的活动对游戏企业而言有何意义呢？近日，曾任EA高管的资深游戏人Andrew Pedersen提出了自己的观点，他认为游戏公司很有必要开展公司内部的“编程马拉松”，并提出了自己的观点。手游网特译此文，供从业者阅读参考。

国内举行的“编程马拉松”活动

新的一年已经到来，游戏产业的领袖们可能从未停止对于“如何提高公司工作质量”的讨论，以便更好地实现公司的财务目标、并在2014年推动公司创新发展。但是，可能许多公司的领导人都没有意识到有一个可以推动公司发展的好策略——那就是全公司范围内的“编程马拉松”。编程马拉松是一种活动，时长在一天到一周不等，在活动中很多人相聚在一起，他们以合作的形式去进行电脑编程。这个词最初起源于软件开发，但现在它的适应范围已经扩展到了编程外的技术领域，例如市政规划、市场营销、可持续发展等等。必须要指明的是，我并不是在说举办一个“游戏制作节”，那只能算是编程马拉松的一种特定形式，我们讨论的是一些更“大”的东西。

编程马拉松为游戏公司提供了人事发展的机会，带来文化提升和灵感的迸发。如今游戏产业正在以比以前更快的速度发展，能拥有更大胆的想法才能在行业中保持领先地位。不论你是一个公司的CEO、工作室组长亦或是独立游戏开发者，我都鼓励你抛开公司杂事，将注意力放在组织公司内部的“编程马拉松”上面。

我将分为3篇文章来分享我个人的经验，将会清楚地说明：为什么游戏公司有必要开展编程马拉松、如何开展活动、以及如何扩大编程马拉松的价值。这是第1篇文章。我非常欢迎大家发表自己的观点和建议。

为什么我认为全公司的编程马拉松至关重要：

1、编程马拉松可以培养跨职能人才

员工通常都是各司其职，每人有各自负责的专业领域，划分好了界限。但通过编程马拉松，可以打破这些划分好的界限，揭示不同员工感兴趣的领域，并发掘新的人才。举个例子，GSN（即作者所在的游戏公司，手游网注）的主美，在半年内举行的编程马拉松活动中成功地领导了6个游戏研发项目，并且这位主美此前没有任何游戏研发的背景，也没参加过有关培训。换言之，通过举办编程马拉松，员工可以有机会接触到自己专业领域以外的事情，可以让他们有机会表达自己的想法，那是很有吸引力的事。他们常常能带来新的观察视角和新的解决方法，并且在构建有价值的跨职能关系的同时，也能让员工更好地了解彼此扮演的角色。

2、编程马拉松可以培养文化创造力、协作意识和创新意识

在编程马拉松进行期间，个人可以将自己的idea抛向集体，以此招募更多的人来加入他们的团队当中。因为每个人都可以选择他们喜欢做的事情，团队中的所有成员都满怀热情、致力于完成他们的项目目标。许多人在此前的工作中是没有交集的，但现在，在这些由横跨不同领域的人才组成的团队中，他们聚在了一起。通过编程马拉松中的一系列有意义的工作，可以使得公司更好地融合：让新员工更容易融入集体，让老员工相互间深入接触的机会。编程马拉松是非常民主的活动，让每个人都有发出声音、扮演重要角色的机会，并且诞生出一些绝妙的产物。

3、编程马拉松让每个人都出彩

游戏行业既需要快速发展，也需要有长期战略。一家游戏公司陷入日复一日的琐事当中是非常危险的。而编程马拉松则鼓励每个参与者挑战公司内传统的思维方式，每个人都渴望在对项目的介绍中激发同事的兴趣，这可以促进员工们积极向上，取得更好的成绩。在活动最后的全公司范围的项目演示上，参与者还能够在其他同事和公司领导面前增加曝光度，这将为他们在日常工作中带来更多的机会。

当每个人，团队乃至一个公司上下都进行了出彩的工作之后，其他有着非凡想法的人也会渴望参加进去。编程马拉松不仅仅对工作业务有帮助，对公司文化建设、提高员工归属感等方面也大有益处，更重要的是，它也是一个发掘顶尖人才的好途径。

手游网总结：如作者所言，编程马拉松可以改变一个员工、一个团队乃至一个公司，使之成为创造者，可以让他们突破自身瓶颈，我们也乐于看到一些团队或是公司能尝试着开展编程马拉松，体验一下从中发掘到的价值。而对于“如何开展编程马拉松活动”、以及“如何扩大编程马拉松的价值”，我们期待Andrew Pedersen后续带来的经验分享。感兴趣的朋友可以关注手游网的后续稿件。

Andrew Pedersen

关于原文作者：Andrew Pedersen是国外知名游戏开发商GSN的高级副总裁。在此之前他曾在EA旗下的Pogo工作室担任总经理。Andrew Pedersen有超过20年从业经验，其专业知识跨越了产品战略、内容研发、货币化等多个领域。

（如需阅读英文原文，请点击下页）

With the new year well underway, game industry leaders have likely had no shortage of discussions about improving their company’s work quality, accomplishing financial goals, and of course, advancing innovation in 2014. One strategy that many business leaders may not have considered to make strides in these performance areas is to run company-wide hackathons. A hackathon is an event in which individuals collaborate on an intensive project in a short period of time, often ranging from one to seven days. While the word “hackathon” originates in software development, the term has expanded to include innovation efforts outside technology in areas such as civic, marketing and sustainability. It’s also important to note that I’m not just talking about organizing a game jam, which is a specific type of hackathon in which games are developed. It’s time to think BIG.

Hackathons offer game companies personnel development, a cultural lift and inspiration for innovation. Our industry landscape is shifting faster than ever, and it takes bold ideas to stay ahead in such a creative-driven field. Whether you’re a CEO, studio head or an indie game developer, I encourage you to reject logistical concerns and instead focus on the tremendous benefits of organizing internal hackathons.

This is the first in a three-part series, which will outline why game companies should run hackathons, how to organize the events, and finally, how to extend the value of the hackathon. I invite you to share your thoughts and participate in the conversation along the way.

Why I believe that company-wide hackathons are crucial:

1.      Hackathons develop talent into cross-functional rockstars. Work often pigeonholes people into a single specialty and defined set of responsibilities. During a hackathon, this notion is thrown out the window, revealing employees’ wide areas of interest and talent. For example, GSN Games’ Lead Artist has successfully spearheaded six game production projects in the semi-annual hackathon events, even though he has little background or training in game design and production. Through the event, employees have a chance to work outside of their day-to-day responsibilities, and are able to express their ideas in a fun and engaging way. These fresh perspectives introduce new ideas and ways to approach problems, while building valuable cross-functional relationships that allow teams to deeply understand each other’s roles.

2.      Hackathons cultivate a culture of creativity, collaboration and innovation. During hackathon kickoffs, individuals “pitch” their project ideas to the entire organization and recruit other people to work on their team. Since everyone has their choice of what they’d like to work on, all of the team members are passionate about and committed to the project’s goal. This united effort brings together cross-discipline teams, often comprised of people who do not frequently work together. Hackathons can quickly integrate new staff members into the organization’s culture, while also offering more tenured employees the opportunity to deepen their relationships through meaningful work. The democratic nature of the hackathon process builds morale by asserting that everyone has a voice, plays an important role and has the full potential to create something great.

At a company-wide level, hackathons demonstrate that the organization values its employees personally and professionally. For example, in a recent hackathon, several engineering team members traded code for tool belts to construct an original Arkeg, a classic arcade game machine with a built-in kegerator, all in the name of building company culture with a startup feel. Leaders and participants alike enter the event with an open mind to be most effective and innovative, fostering a culture of trust. This accepting work environment turns the hackathon into a company perk, showing employees the paramount importance of people to the organization.

3.      Hackathons inspire everyone to be even more amazing. With the importance of rapid innovation and long-term strategies in our industry, slipping into the day-to-day grind is dangerous for game companies. With all eyes on each small team, hackathons encourage participants to challenge conventional ways of thinking within the organization. Everyone wants to excite their peers with their hackathon project presentation, which motivates employees to deliver outstanding results. During the final, company-wide presentations, participants are also able to increase their visibility amongst peers and leaders, which could lead to new or more opportunities in their everyday roles.

When individuals, teams and a company overall does amazing work, other amazing people want to be involved, too. Not only is a hackathon beneficial for a business, its company culture, employee retention and more, but it’s also a great tool to recruit top talent.

Conclusion

Hackathons have the power to transform individuals, teams and entire companies into innovators, which positively impacts a company’s culture and potentially the bottom line. I’d like to hear your comments – does your company run internal hackathons? What’s the rationale?