Parasite in the development team

[Inarius]

I am developing a Web/Mobile app game, with a team. We are not startup yet, nor we get paid for our work. Actually, I do most of the work, while others help me here and there. There is one person, however, who has been with the idea from the moment I started the development. He looked smart and reliable, so we started the project. The problem is, that this person appeared to be far from what I initially thought of him.

At first, he was supposed to do the design, but he did not. I, in fact, had to do 99% of the work, both design and coding. I realized that he's not a creative person, but rather a good enterpreneur. Yes, he's very good at speech - can convince you that water is not wet. So I suggested him to search for producers, hire team, distribute the project. He did none of them. He only designed a very few assets, maybe 2% of the overall design, when I did the rest.

The guy mentioned above started giving ideas to me. Sometimes I accepted his ideas, even if they weren't that good, but what is the definition of "good" in creativity? But then, when we had some people from the industry watching our games. And guess what? Every time someone criticized something in our project, or giving suggestions, this guy was always like, - "I told you!"... When in fact, he suggested a completely different thing, or anything at all. He was barely connected to what was going on the project. Yet, everybody thought he is the one who runs the project.

During the last presentation, where many developers meet up to pitch their games, this guy crossed the limits. I presented the game to some people on the screen. When someone said that it's a good game, partially the design, this guy said, - "I did the design". After a few times he did that, I quietly told him to stop that, but he started speaking loud, so that everyone heard, and made me really look stupid. He did a few assets, but I did 98% of the design.

The same day, when somebody said that the dynamics were good, he turned to me and said, - "I told you it's gonna work!"... What? He didn't even see what I did in until that present day, yet he convinced everyone that he is responsible behind all that. But this is half of the problem. There were people who criticized the work. And guess what he did? That's right, he was like, - "I told you!", or, - "I told him, but he didn't listen!". And he did that in front of my face.

So when it comes to presentations, he shows up, turns it all the way that he gets credited for every good thing in the project, and blames me for every wrong thing. And many times I hear people around talking about him, saying that HE works so hard on that project, and I spoil it. When in fact, I am responsible for everything there, for good or for worse. I do all the work.

So now I don't know what to do. He builds himself a road on top of my bones. Why I still work with him, is this your question? Well, the Game Development in my country is very small - everyone knows everybody. And as I mentioned above, this guys has a powerful speech skills, so no matter what he says, everyone will think that he is right. And if he is capable of building himself a name on top of my bones, in front of my face, what will prevent him from convincing everyone NOT to work with me? He might simply put a bad taboo on my name or my project. What should I do?

 

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[healthstatus]

Quit doing his job!

 

[AdrianL]

From the way you put it, it sounds like 'his' project will just go downhill if you left. I'd be curious how he'd manage to convince anyone of anything if he ends up being all talk. That might work for a while but without results it doesn't pan out in the end.

Also, the Web/Mobile world is an immense and growing environment, let's assume he managed to convince someone not to work for you, you can probably find people outside your area with whom to work.

You could also find a way to gather some proof of what he's doing (or not doing) in case he tries to screw you over later on, if you want to go the defensive route.

Are you the only one knowing of the current circumstance ?

 

[Camo & Gold]

Take some personal time off around a crucial time of the web development, and make it known! Not just any personal time but a serious family emergency and you've got to sell it. When you leave, they're going to naturally assume that he will take care of everything because he makes it seem as if he does. If he really doesn't know what he's doing, he will make a fool of himself.

 

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[Gsuz]

You need to get real. Call him out on his BS and stop letting him take credit for your work. Never let another man disrespect you like that.

 

[smarty]

Quit being his bitch. This type of person will keep dragging you as long as you allow him. Call him out on his BS and set some clear expectations. If you don't take any credit for your hard work how long could you continue like that? Not for very long.
Face the problem head on, but without being a jerk. He's not more of a man than you are.
You need to talk and decide if you're gonna work 50/50 or part ways. And he will probably need you more than you "need" him.

 

[Waisec]

He's good at taking credit for other peoples work. So... play the game, don't get mad, don't get emotional, simply outsmart him.

Create yourself a situation where your work is absolutely crucial, some step in your project, something that he would most likely try taking credit for. Since he has led on others to believe that he could do your work, simply have an emergency. Maybe you became ill or some elaborate family crisis and then step back and let him do the work.

He will obviously fail, the others will turn against him and plead you to come back. If they haven't thrown his a$$ out by then, raise your suspicions about his contribution to the work and get him out before you come back. Coincidentally, your crisis/illness ends just in time

 

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[Durete]

Let's look at this from another perspective.

You said "Others think he is the leader"

Simple truth in leadership: What the masses think is what the truth is.
Leadership is relationships; he created relationships with them while you did not.

You either need to man up, and claim what's yours. (Through building relationships and influencing the others.)
Or you need to find a way to kick him out. (Register/copyright the project under your name, or by influencing the others in your team.)

If you cannot do that.
Leave the team yourself, take the project, improve it on ways they could not and register it under your name. (Does this sound familiar? - Zuckerberg in the movie about the creation of facebook did this exact thing.)

 

[Digamma]

You are a sucker, he is smart. Simple as that.

Want to outsmart him? Create a mess of the code, stop documenting it well, make sure only you can untangle it.
At the same time build him up. Play into his game. Make him look better, stronger, more important than anyone in public.
Trick him into promising something, like a demo, or a release. Show fake screenshots for features you won't deliver.

In the meanwhile, build relationships behind his back. You need people.

Then, as others told you, leave with an excuse. Let him fail hard and be disgraced, publicly. Ruin his reputation, the team's reputation, your reputation.
While you're away, tough, keep the work up in private.
Come back, save the day, and (this is fundamental) MURDER HIS CHARACTER. Or he will get back at you. Leave no chance of that.
Give him all the blame, as publicly as you can. Say you left because of his unethical marketing practices. Because he lied. Because you had a conscience, but you can't let the game fail because of him.
You're in gamedev, think Phil Fish levels of drama.

You will be called a backstabber. That's good. Be polarizing. People in every industry secretly love the drama; either love you or hate you, the more you are on the spotlight, the better.
Congrats, you made your first enemy.

 

[Kreedos Phoenix]

It sounds like you may be an introvert, and that’s perfectly fine. One thing I’d advise against is trying to “Get even” or make him look like a fool in any way. You don’t want to put yourself in that situation because it could possibly backfire…

Don’t let someone elses snake like tendencies have you acting out of character; the victory on your end will be short lived. I’ve been the guy on the back end before, afraid to burn any bridges and become blackballed…but the truth is, you’re responsible for your own advancement, not whoever this guy is.

If you can, leave the team, dip out and start your own project. Learn from the pitfalls of working with this person and move forward aggressively toward the next steps, whatever they may be, being weary of people like him.

Let your results/success be the revenge that slaps him in the face. It doesn’t appear to be worth the headache to stay.
Peace!

 

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[FastNAwesome]

It sounds like you may be an introvert, and that’s perfectly fine. One thing I’d advise against is trying to “Get even” or make him look like a fool in any way. You don’t want to put yourself in that situation because it could possibly backfire…Don’t let someone elses snake like tendencies have you acting out of character; the victory on your end will be short lived. I’ve been the guy on the back end before, afraid to burn any bridges and become blackballed…but the truth is, you’re responsible for your own advancement, not whoever this guy is.

If you can, leave the team, dip out and start your own project. Learn from the pitfalls of working with this person and move forward aggressively toward the next steps, whatever they may be, being weary of people like him. Let your results/success, be the revenge that slaps him in the face. It doesn’t appear to be worth the headache to stay.
Peace!

I totally agree with this.

The guy's a jerk. He's a crook, plain and simple. Be happy he showed his true face early on. Don't try to get even. Don't try to change him. It won't happen. Don't do business with him. Take what you can from this, whatever it is (experience, contacts, or work that belongs to you) - and move on.

If the partnership is such that code and design belong to both of you, in your place I'd rather start doing something new from scratch, than trying to split things with this guy.

Sometimes I accepted his ideas, even if they weren't that good, but what is the definition of "good" in creativity? But then, when we had some people from the industry watching our games. And guess what? Every time someone criticized something in our project, or giving suggestions, this guy was always like, - "I told you!"... When in fact, he suggested a completely different thing, or anything at all. He was barely connected to what was going on the project. Yet, everybody thought he is the one who runs the project.

You're too much of a nice guy. I know this very well, I was just like that.

You need to start calling people out on things. You need to learn to say NO.

Just like it's possible to be too selfish, it's possible to be to selfless. That's what you are. You need to start caring MORE about your interests, your reputation, your a$$. Be more selfish.

Why do you take s*** from this guy? Why is he not called out on his dumb ideas? Why do you put up with this?

After a few times he did that, I quietly told him to stop that, but he started speaking loud, so that everyone heard, and made me really look stupid.

This alone should be enough for you to never want to talk to him again. He's not skilled, he's a b**ch, making b**ch moves. (Apology to everyone for my vocabulary, but I'm trying to wake up our fellow fastlaner, as I know how it is to be too nice, and it's really not easy).

This guy is not worth discussing things with. By even trying to talk to him, you're already rolling in the mud, and losing, because that's what he's experienced with, spitting words without backing them up.

Well, the Game Development in my country is very small - everyone knows everybody. And as I mentioned above, this guys has a powerful speech skills, so no matter what he says, everyone will think that he is right. And if he is capable of building himself a name on top of my bones, in front of my face, what will prevent him from convincing everyone NOT to work with me? He might simply put a bad taboo on my name or my project. What should I do?

- You're not limited to your country
- Detach yourself from him, do your own thing, and let's see how far he will go and how far you will go
- You're giving too much credit to his "speech skills". According to your story, without you he's nothing. He needs to find another great game developer who will be as creative as you, as dedicated as you, as naive and overly nice as you (no disrespect meant, I was the same way my friend).
- With any kind of success, there will be people who try to put you down or bad-mouth you. But when someone talks bad about someone else, it speaks a lot about themselves too. Of course, if he's that smooth of a talker, he may succeed for a while, but you're the one who builds your rep so keep building it.

The way you do things works in the long run - honesty and integrity. They way he does things may get him a few pats on the back now, but eventually he'll screw over a wrong person. So don't even be there when that happens, because he just might blame even that on you.

He's not worth a moment of your time. Cut all contact and move on.

 

[Inarius]

Many people suggest to quit this project. Well, it sounds easy to "leave", but it's not easy to burn 8 month of work. Well, maybe if coding can be easily adapted to a different project, the design is something that relates to the theme. And if the theme of the new project will be different, the current design becomes irrelevant.

Also some people suggested to leave this guy on his own and see what he accomplishes without me. Well, theoretically, if I was him, I would say, - "After failing to do his duties, he left me alone with all the sh*t he has left. Despite my best efforts, this project was beyond redemption". Well given and pronounced, such an excuse may both victimize himself and drop the blame on me.

Another argument for him, is that it's not that he did nothing. He did a few very minor things. Maybe 2% of the design. Yet he feels the legitimacy to say that he did ALL the design of the game. So I can't say, - "He did nothing". It's ok when someone does some minor work, I don't expect everyone to work full-time for me for free. But they don't try to credit themselves for what they didn't do, nor they try to discredit me.

Also, the Web/Mobile world is an immense and growing environment, let's assume he managed to convince someone not to work for you, you can probably find people outside your area with whom to work.

You could also find a way to gather some proof of what he's doing (or not doing) in case he tries to screw you over later on, if you want to go the defensive route.

Are you the only one knowing of the current circumstance ?

1) - I can go and search for people outside of my area, but this is the same as trying to climb a mountain without climbing a tree first. Why would the "outside" industry be interested in me, if I haven't succeeded in my home area?

2) - If you do something good, show it to others, and then I come and say, - "I told you!". I cannot prove I really told you that, but you also can't prove I didn't. In debates, where no one can prove their arguments, wins the one who shouts louder.

3) - Yes, I am the only one who knows. It's because they never see this person without me being around. Some suspect, however.

He's good at taking credit for other peoples work. So... play the game, don't get mad, don't get emotional, simply outsmart him.

Create yourself a situation where your work is absolutely crucial, some step in your project, something that he would most likely try taking credit for. Since he has led on others to believe that he could do your work, simply have an emergency. Maybe you became ill or some elaborate family crisis and then step back and let him do the work.

He will obviously fail, the others will turn against him and plead you to come back. If they haven't thrown his a$$ out by then, raise your suspicions about his contribution to the work and get him out before you come back. Coincidentally, your crisis/illness ends just in time

The problem is that we do not work physically together. I do most of the work, and I have 3 other people who do some other things - Website, Storyboard Art, Sound, Logo, Testing. They don't work as much as I do, and their work DOES NOT depend on my progress. If I leave for a month or two, they can still work on whatever they do. So they probably won't feel it. And if they ask him to switch me, he will find 999 reasons why he can't. As I said, he is good at convincing.

Simple truth in leadership: What the masses think is what the truth is.
Leadership is relationships; he created relationships with them while you did not.

Speaking of leadership. Isn't leadership also a responsibility? So if something is screwed up in the project, what kind of leader abandons the ship and says, - "I told you! I told you it's not gonna work", - in front of everybody? What kind of leader drops the responsibility on his team members and blames them in front of the masses for every failure? Have you ever seen an officer, who blames his soldiers for his failures as an excuse to a higher ranked officer?

- With any kind of success, there will be people who try to put you down or bad-mouth you. But when someone talks bad about someone else, it speaks a lot about themselves too. Of course, if he's that smooth of a talker, he may succeed for a while, but you're the one who builds your rep so keep building it.
The way you do things works in the long run - honesty and integrity. They way he does things may get him a few pats on the back now, but eventually he'll screw over a wrong person. So don't even be there when that happens, because he just might blame even that on you.

I think there are people who succeed exactly the way you've explained - manipulating, backstabbing, tricking. And it actually brings me to another worry, a distant one, yet possible: what if such a person get power?

P.S. So whatever I can do, leave the project, set up a trap to show him a fool, or kick him out (yes, I can kick him out, but that will victimize him right away) - should I do it immediately? Or should I slow the progress and wait? Because to make him available to credit himself, there must be a progress in my work. No progress - all eyes are not on him - it will be less noticed when I lose him. What do you suggest?

 

[Durete]

Speaking of leadership. Isn't leadership also a responsibility? So if something is screwed up in the project, what kind of leader abandons the ship and says, - "I told you! I told you it's not gonna work", - in front of everybody? What kind of leader drops the responsibility on his team members and blames them in front of the masses for every failure? Have you ever seen an officer, who blames his soldiers for his failures as an excuse to a higher ranked officer?

You are right, it is not the behaviour of a leader.
It is sadly the behavior of many managers. (I believe that 95% of the managers in the world should be replaced at this moment. Most of them are just positional leaderships(Add value to themselves not to others).)

Anyways, others see him as the leader, others are following him, not the OP. That says enough.

 

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[Digamma]

I think there are people who succeed exactly the way you've explained - manipulating, backstabbing, tricking. And it actually brings me to another worry, a distant one, yet possible: what if such a person get power?

That is exactly the kind of person who gets power.

P.S. So whatever I can do, leave the project, set up a trap to show him a fool, or kick him out (yes, I can kick him out, but that will victimize him right away) - should I do it immediately? Or should I slow the progress and wait? Because to make him available to credit himself, there must be a progress in my work. No progress - all eyes are not on him - it will be less noticed when I lose him. What do you suggest?

Build him up, let him fall. He takes all the merits, right? Play on it. With the merits, he takes responsibility.
After he looks bad, then you kick him out.

One thing you need to understand: people like you say the truth, try to reason, try to show by logic that they are right.
Forget it. It doesn't work that way. Twist, turn the truth, that's the way.

 

[Mattie]

Create yourself a situation where your work is absolutely crucial, some step in your project, something that he would most likely try taking credit for. Since he has led on others to believe that he could do your work, simply have an emergency. Maybe you became ill or some elaborate family crisis and then step back and let him do the work.

ha ha! This is the way I work. It never fails!

 

[Inarius]

As I said, this is difficult to just "build him up and let him fall", because I've put much efforts in what I already did. While this guy won't lose much - he hasn't given much. And what guarantees that he will look bad after he fails? He can team up with someone else, and if he fails, he will blame that other person. Or, as I mentioned above, he can say that despite his best efforts, my previous footstep on the project has put it beyond redemption. I probably lose more than I win in such situation. Maybe it will be better if I somehow make HIM leave, voluntarely?

 

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[Mattie]

If it's your company, someone like him isn't going to be concerned about your reputation. From what you're describing he seems more of a person that is taking over your company because you're not disposing of him and setting your boundaries. Fear is stopping you. The fear of your own failure by what he may say, and what actions he may take. Sure, you can try to get him to move out voluntarily. On the other hand, if he maybe one of those people that know how to play the game, manipulate, control, and stick around until you end up taking some kind of legal action if it gets that far.

The longer you're resistant to confronting him and placing your boundaries and making them stick, the more he's not going to take you seriously, and do what he wants to do. He's like dealing with a Narcissist. Before you know it he'll be gas lighting you and making you think you're going out of your mind. lol That's what he reminds me of anyway.

 

[Digamma]

As I said, this is difficult to just "build him up and let him fall", because I've put much efforts in what I already did. While this guy won't lose much - he hasn't given much. And what guarantees that he will look bad after he fails? He can team up with someone else, and if he fails, he will blame that other person. Or, as I mentioned above, he can say that despite his best efforts, my previous footstep on the project has put it beyond redemption. I probably lose more than I win in such situation. Maybe it will be better if I somehow make HIM leave, voluntarely?

Oh, God. No shit it's a risky move. There are no gains without risk. You're going to war.

Now, you could take him in the parking lot and threaten to kill him if he doesn't leave. But if you were the kind of guy who could pull that off, you would've done it.

Then again, maybe, just maybe, his position as face of the project is a good thing. You do what you do best, he does the PR stuff. You're complaining because your creative ego is offended, it seems.
Evaluate that. Why does this bother you this much? Are you sure he's not providing value creating relationships? That's F*cking hard to do, you know.

 

[Inarius]

Then again, maybe, just maybe, his position as face of the project is a good thing. You do what you do best, he does the PR stuff. You're complaining because your creative ego is offended, it seems.
Evaluate that. Why does this bother you this much? Are you sure he's not providing value creating relationships? That's F*cking hard to do, you know.

Good point. "Face of the project", is someone who should PR the project, right? Now imagine someone who uses the project to PR himself, and only himself. He doesn't care if the project fails, he doesn't care how it progresses, he cares what people say about HIM. He will probably harm the project if it is needed to escalate himself.

About "creative ego"... I'm upset not because I get criticized. In fact, critique is part of the Game-Dev road. And I ASK people do it, when I show what I work on. I'm upset, because this guy simply points fingers on me when things go wrong, and "becomes a hero" when people like the project. And what more pisses me off, that he complains that he works SOO HARD, and nobody respects his hard work. And everybody starts feeling sorry for him, that he has to work with me, the main reason why he can't achieve his... DREAM.... makes me sick

And trust me, I know how valuable is it to create business relationships. Yes, this guy can do that. He can do it very good. More than good, perfect! The problem is that he does not do that.

 

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[nordien1978]

I have seen this a lot before in corperate world people with great speech ability and influence blaming other people for wrongs and airing of other people's accomplishments as there own.

So far what I have read you're the develloper and designer of the product which puts you in the position to make people know that the development and design comes from you. By reading your post I would say he doesn't know the code you have written or how the game is designed, maybe in your next presentation you can explain not the code but how the design of the game came to be.

There is a great book the 48 laws of power and 50th law of power by Robert Greene and 50 Cent that discusses these kind of problems and how to handle them.

Hope this helps and keeping your reputation in the business intact
In this world you have to keep learning even how to handle certain personality types, you will never know when you cross paths with these people in Life.

kind regards,
Nordien

 

[Inarius]

I have seen this a lot before in corperate world people with great speech ability and influence blaming other people for wrongs and airing of other people's accomplishments as there own.

So far what I have read you're the develloper and designer of the product which puts you in the position to make people know that the development and design comes from you. By reading your post I would say he doesn't know the code you have written or how the game is designed, maybe in your next presentation you can explain not the code but how the design of the game came to be.

There is a great book the 48 laws of power and 50th law of power by Robert Greene and 50 Cent that discusses these kind of problems and how to handle them.

Already reading.
It seems that this guys has read, learned and mastered the rule number 7. Yet there is no counterattack there, in this book.

About design - of course he knows what is the design and what is the style. What he doesn't know, is what comes in the next version, what will I do next.

During presentation I explain the next:
1) - Overall concept idea in 1 sentence.
2) - Gameplay mechanics in 2-3 sentences.
3) - Target platform (Web, PC, Mobile...).
4) - Target audience.
5) - What is the player's goal.
6) - What is the main obstacle.
7) - What are the smaller obstacles.
8) - Explain the progress/leveling?
9) - Explain the replayability?
10) - Additional feature (bonuses)
11) - Business plan
12) - Who are the development team.

All in 4-5 min.

 

[nordien1978]

Already reading.
It seems that this guys has read, learned and mastered the rule number 7. Yet there is no counterattack there, in this book.

About design - of course he knows what is the design and what is the style. What he doesn't know, is what comes in the next version, what will I do next.

During presentation I explain the next:
1) - Overall concept idea in 1 sentence.
2) - Gameplay mechanics in 2-3 sentences.
3) - Target platform (Web, PC, Mobile...).
4) - Target audience.
5) - What is the player's goal.
6) - What is the main obstacle.
7) - What are the smaller obstacles.
8) - Explain the progress/leveling?
9) - Explain the replayability?
10) - Additional feature (bonuses)
11) - Business plan
12) - Who are the development team.

All in 4-5 min.

=================================================================================

Thank you Inarius, for this frame work explanation in 4-5 min flat.
It is true that the book handles in concepts and no counter attack in the books.
But it does help to recognize the way people work in team/projects or corperate environment

regards,
Nordien

 

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[FastNAwesome]

Why would the "outside" industry be interested in me, if I haven't succeeded in my home area?

Because it's all about the value. People care what you can do for them.

When your car breaks down you look for a GOOD mechanic, not the "one who succeeded in his hometown".
You don't even care where the dude's from, but you care very much about whether he specializes in your car brand,
does he have all the tools etc.

yes, I can kick him out

After this I couldn't read further, but was also hesitant to post my opinion, because it seems you have a hard time making decisions, and I don't want, and can't be making them for you or anyone else. So this is just an OPINION, of a random internet guy, and all responsibility for your actions is yours.

That said - you're overthinking this. If you can kick him out, why don't you do it already? You brought him in, you kick him out. He can take his 2% of design or whatever he did with him.

What do you want?

If you want to not make difficult decisions
If you want for everyone to love you (and that will never happen anyway)

Maybe business isn't for you, because it's always been rough and it always will be.

But come to think of it, it's the same when you're an employee, just milder, but you would still have to deal with difficult people, envy, competition, dirty punches...

So life is tough, and you need a thicker skin.

EDIT - UPDATE: And you made this more complicated than it needs to be. Hopefully you can prove you did the work. Letting him take the credit, and not calling him out on it RIGHT AWAY was a mistake. So who knows how this guy might react. So only you know what is the best solution - kicking him out, or going away. But staying in this seems like the worst option of all 3. Your call.

 

[Inarius]

Because it's all about the value. People care what you can do for them.

When your car breaks down you look for a GOOD mechanic, not the "one who succeeded in his hometown".
You don't even care where the dude's from, but you care very much about whether he specializes in your car brand,
does he have all the tools etc.

Suppose you have a GREAT mechanic that lives 1000 km from you, and a LESS good mechanic 5 min from you. Where will you go? This is not a case when the one that lives 1000 km is many times better. He is better, but the latter is good enough to fix your car. Will you bother to cross 1000km?

EDIT - UPDATE: And you made this more complicated than it needs to be. Hopefully you can prove you did the work. Letting him take the credit, and not calling him out on it RIGHT AWAY was a mistake. So who knows how this guy might react. So only you know what is the best solution - kicking him out, or going away. But staying in this seems like the worst option of all 3. Your call.

Thank you for honest reply. My current decision is to wait 2-3 month, and then kick him out. I need the buzz of the presentation to end. In the gaming industry, like in every entertainment, success also depends on what people think about you. So I want him to come out of attention. And he will, because if I don't do progress, he gets forgotten. Well, unless he himself does something, but that's unlikely to happen. So this is my decision.

The only problem might be, is that I will need a trigger. I will need a last drop as a reason to kick him out, otherwise it seems stupid.

And BTW, I AM looking for opinions, so I'm not casting any responsibilities on any one

 

[firmwear]

Bzzzzzz...

P.S. So whatever I can do, leave the project, set up a trap to show him a fool, or kick him out (yes, I can kick him out, but that will victimize him right away) - should I do it immediately? Or should I slow the progress and wait? Because to make him available to credit himself, there must be a progress in my work. No progress - all eyes are not on him - it will be less noticed when I lose him. What do you suggest?

I think you are overthinking this. If you can kick him out, then just kick him out already. Let him know he is kicked out of the project because he committed the sin of taking credit for other persons' hard work. Do not hesitate. Do it like a professional running his team.

Sure he will talk, so what? Other people are not running your project. If another team wants to pick him up for their project, what are you going to lose? 2% of your design?

He is giving you a headache and all the bzzz is giving me a headache.

Also, like Kreedos Phoenix said: do not try to act out of character or outsmart this guy at his own game. This guy you are dealing with is much better at playing tricks than you are.

 

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[AdrianL]

1) - I can go and search for people outside of my area, but this is the same as trying to climb a mountain without climbing a tree first. Why would the "outside" industry be interested in me, if I haven't succeeded in my home area?

2) - If you do something good, show it to others, and then I come and say, - "I told you!". I cannot prove I really told you that, but you also can't prove I didn't. In debates, where no one can prove their arguments, wins the one who shouts louder.

3) - Yes, I am the only one who knows. It's because they never see this person without me being around. Some suspect, however.

1) I merely suggested that climbing a broken tree might get you falling and even breaking something. I think 'climbing a mountain without climbing a tree' in this context might be analogous to you opening your own game studio and expecting people to come from all over the world to work for you, without them having any idea who you are.

2) From what I came to understand, it wasn't debate that was the problem there, it was the lack of responsibility. You might not be able to prove that he 'told you so' but you might be able to reveal his bluffs.

There's usually more than one solution to a problem, and if you want a honest opinion, if I were in your place, I wouldn't care that he MIGHT be making it so that others wouldn't work with/for me, I care too much for my work and for my health that I wouldn't want to stay in such a spot for long and would make it a primary goal to find the best solution possible to turn things to go my way. It might be challenging, I might need to learn a few things to be able to show my work properly, I might have to deal with others trying to push me down, but at least I'm presenting my ideas and my work for what they are, and not have anyone else take credit for something they didn't do.

 

[liquidglass]

I've personally had some people like this work for me, so I know where you're coming from. They come in, talk really REALLY big, then they get everyone else to do the work for them and take credit if something goes well. It happens. As you've mentioned he's following the 48 Laws of Power, get others to do it, take credit, look awesome.

Traditionally this is how people build empires, however, he is missing one crucial element...he has no vision. Ford, who wasn't a dick like this guy is, surrounded himself by people smarter than himself and told them his vision and then said make it happen. They did. He had vision, he knew the steps that had to be taken and told others to take them. This guy doesn't and will eventually fail at everything he attempts.

Here's my advice, get rid of him, period. Don't try to make him look bad, don't try to undercut him, don't try to beat him at a game he's better at than you are. If you own the company/team then eliminate him, it's simple. If he had value to add to to the team then you could learn how to harness it to your advantage and put up with his attitude, but people with his personality rarely have value to add.

In my company my mentor and I have strengths and weaknesses that balance each other out. He, for example, doesn't see the downsides of people and their personalities until the damage is already done. I on the other hand watch people very closely and get rid of people quickly anticipating their next move based on their past behavior.
So people that talk big usually get on his good side very easily until they ultimately produce nothing of value. I, on the other hand, play the part of being helpful to a person I suspect is just talking big, I'm easy going, I'm friendly, but most of all I watch quietly. Then once they slip up and I see their true intentions (usually they intend on talking big and want to ride the "rollercoaster" for free) I get rid of them quickly and effectively.

I'm a big believer in walking softly and carrying a very big stick.

Trust me, the sooner you eliminate a parasite the better.