Should there be a requirement for a CEO to have a passion for the product?

[Evil Midnight Bomber]

Just heard that Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision, hasn't even picked up a joystick and that he dislikes video games. He always seemed like a scumbag, but now he's a scumbag without an interest in what he asks to be produced. Seems insane to me.

Should there be a requirement for a CEO of a company to actually have an interest and being passionate about what a company is about? I think the quality of the product would be much better then.

How would anyone even enforce such a ridiculous concept?

Board: Hey Bobby we can't hire you unless you're passionate about video games. Are you passionate about video games?

Bobby: Yes. I am passionate about video games...as a means to make money.

Board: Good enough for us.

[Lynarii]

If you are in a position to be deciding who is a CEO for a company, then you can make a passion for the product one of your requirements. If you're not then... well... the people who are deciding that seem to disagree with you.

I also seem to think that you massively misunderstand what someone like Kotick does in his role as CEO of Acti/Blizzard. Do you honestly think he's going down into the dev team, looking at their work, and saying "That seems too high quality. I want shitty reskins and I want them now!" because he's not. His job is primarily about allocation of resources, whether he has a love of the product or not is of very little relevance to the decision making process. If anything, a passion for games could hamper his work, because an emotional attachment to a project can lead to some bad decision making.

You do want people passionate about games in the industry, but I'd rather have them be the ones actually making the games. Kotick does not do that.

[Mihalik]

I have bad news for you all...

The higher you make it in C level position in corporate environments the less connected you are to the actual product/service you're providing.

It's literally the nature of the job. You end up increasingly hyper specializing in a certain aspect of the many facets of corporate operations.

[Ihavewaffles]

A ceo needs to have passion for the company, not a particular product.

[Cosmic Janitor]

A ceo needs to have passion for the company, not a particular product.

i always wonder how such values would look when not applied to US sillycone (sic) valley and entertainment industries, but the old guard, like automobile manufacturers. For a moment imagine the CEO of Ford, BMW or Ferrari telling people they actually don't like cars at all and have never driven one themselves. Even if that was their belief, they would never openly admit to such a statement.

[Shadowferal]

Bobby Kotick should be top-rated in PvP. Indeed, we should be in awe of his pvpenis...and only then should he be CEO of Norrath..o shit, that's wrong on a couple of levels.

...just..never mind.

[Elegiac]

i always wonder how such values would look when not applied to US sillycone (sic) valley and entertainment industries, but the old guard, like automobile manufacturers. For a moment imagine the CEO of Ford, BMW or Ferrari telling people they actually don't like cars at all and have never driven one themselves. Even if that was their belief, they would never openly admit to such a statement.

This is a very telling point about the disconnect between the people investing and running in these companies as moneymaking enterprises versus the people producing and consuming the product/services. And again, how we wind up in a situation where 90% of game releases are Call of Duty rehashes with lootboxes and DLC galore.

I really don't buy into Michael Eisner's belief that feckless pursuit of profit is fine and dandy because on occasion something profound comes of it. It's like saying we should be at war constantly because occasionally we get a technological leap out of it... The entertainment-industrial complex, lol.

[Dhrizzle]

Just heard that Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision, hasn't even picked up a joystick and that he dislikes video games. He always seemed like a scumbag, but now he's a scumbag without an interest in what he asks to be produced. Seems insane to me.

Should there be a requirement for a CEO of a company to actually have an interest and being passionate about what a company is about? I think the quality of the product would be much better then.

Not actually true, he has played and enjoyed video games. Last interview I saw with him he said when he wasn't working he wanted to spend time with his kids, so only gamed if they wanted to play at the time.

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Requirement? Absolutely not.

But I do think it's important for someone someone at the top of a company to have some notion of what it's like to be "on the frontlines" so to speak.

I at least thought it was reassuring, when I worked for a freight forwarding company a while back, that we weren't slaving away for someone detatched from- and ignorant of the processes that made money for the business.

Having a notion of what game development is like for instance, is going to make you able to empathize better with your project manager when they ask for more time.

Kotick got good results from Activision at the start of his tenure because he had been a software developer starting his own company. when he got to know the technology business. Admittedly 30+ years later his direct experience may not translate well.

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How would anyone even enforce such a ridiculous concept?

Board: Hey Bobby we can't hire you unless you're passionate about video games. Are you passionate about video games?

Bobby: Yes. I am passionate about video games...as a means to make money.

Board: Good enough for us.

Plus the way he got the CEO job at Activision was basically saying "you're nearly bankrupt and my investors and I have half a million dollars."

[Bryntrollian]

The only thing a CEO needs is a passion for making the company more money.

[draynay]

If he was passionate about it people would just complain about meddling, "they buffed mages cuz Kotick plays a mage!"

[Shadowferal]

If he was passionate about it people would just complain about meddling, "they buffed mages cuz Kotick plays a mage!"

That...umm...yeah, that does make sense.

...memo from BK to devs; "feral druids...just do it"

[Forogil]

Just heard that Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision, hasn't even picked up a joystick and that he dislikes video games. He always seemed like a scumbag, but now he's a scumbag without an interest in what he asks to be produced. Seems insane to me.

Hm.. Bold claims with no source; my gut feeling was that it was unlikely to be true.

Checking - https://kotaku.com/a-delightful-chat...o-game-5559201 includes a similar looking claim that is actually opposite. It's not that he doesn't like playing games - but that he doesn't do it as a single father of three; and he also claims that he like playing, but is just too passionate.

I'm not sure about the relevance of a joystick. Do you need a joystick to play WoW? Or Guitar hero? Or ?

Should there be a requirement for a CEO of a company to actually have an interest and being passionate about what a company is about? I think the quality of the product would be much better then.

The job is certainly not to get too passionate about a singular product, but to see the big picture for the company. Delegating authority is important.

[XDurionX]

A few simple questions during the interview would be simple enough. In Activision's case, "what is your favourite game?", "What is your favourite game memory?". "How do you hope the industry moves forward?".

And you think they wouldn't lie to whatever committee decides whether they are "allowed" to keep their jobs?

[Hellobolis]

there is no way to force CEOs to care about the product directly. if you want to do that you have to do it indirectly by tying their bottom line to it, but coming up with a set of incentives do actually achieve that is easier said than done. i'm more of a fan of tying CEOs rewards to the average workers rewards, happier workers should in theory lead to better productivity.

but no matter what you come up with, there will always be some way to game the system.

[Fencers]

This seems one of the most irrelevant things to be concerned about. Frankly, it seems like a take on business by someone who knows nothing about business.

[Graeham]

Ideally? Yes. Though it'd be very hard to enforce and it's pretty easily faked. Many employees will pretend to be enthusiastic about their product, yet in reality they're just half decent at acting and regurgitating the buzzwords that they've been told to spew.

[Thereturn]

In an ideal world; yes. CEOs should be entrepeneurs, strong leaders, inspirational, flawless and with passion for their product and employees. They invest their earnings back in local markets, employees and good causes. Focus on energy neutral business and changing the world for the better. Sadly though, thats only the case as long as you have family companies (where original stakeholders and their generations hold those positions).

As soon as a company turns to stock market/private equity it becomes a shitshow. Employees get laid off, salaries and benefits frozen and the profits get maximized to please a few fatcats. You often see numbers fabricated or inflated without reason just to sell the company off again with a profit. Quality gets poor, employees get poor, benefits get poor, customer service gets poor, prices get higher.

There is a shift coming where actual purpose of a company becomes a selling factor but were a few generations from that shit dying out.

The saddest thing is that we (look at the first reactions) just accept it and perceive it as normal. Whereas if i came to your store, slapped your employees around, put a big swastika on the wall and fucked your wife on the counter you wouldnt allow it, hell you would probably get angry, even if i payed You a big sum for taking over your business.

[Logwyn]

A few simple questions during the interview would be simple enough. In Activision's case, "what is your favourite game?", "What is your favourite game memory?". "How do you hope the industry moves forward?".

You realize that people practice interviewing and at that level would know the "correct" answers to get a job.

[Witchblade77]

passionate? no. understand the target market? yes. capable of recruiting people who can help them understand the market and then actualy listen to suggestions? yes. its not CEO's job to love the product. they shouldn't hate it either, to be fair, since they are running a company that makes that product and their decisions affect creation of the product. but they do not need to be passionate about it.

[Nastard]

"Sorry Bill. I know that our sales this quarter have TRIPLED under your guidance, but you just don't show any kind of passion for our product. You've never even TRIED our product, so we're afraid we have to let you go. We here at Tampax will miss you."