… everyone would do it. I often say this as not exactly an excuse, but as a reasoning for why our best plans do not go exactly the way we plan. It wasn’t until I started writing this, that I found this clip from A League of Their Own, though not word for word the same, the sentiment is.

On one hand, as in the movie clip, this is simply explaining that there are going to be difficulties. The struggle is what makes it worth while. This is a worthy idea and a great use of the phrase.

But on the other hand, if it’s not hard, then you’re not extending yourself. You and your team are not reaching to achieve something above and beyond. Imagine the situation where you’re making a game and just everything is going perfectly. Every decision is easy, team is working well together, whatever challenge might be in front of the project turns out really to not be a challenge. I think this is akin to lifting weights that are too light or taking a jog where you’re heart rate does not hit the target. Yes, you’re doing the action and probably gaining some benefit, but you’re not really stressing your body. Likewise, if the project is a cakewalk, you’re not stressing the team and org. And without stress, you can’t reach those accomplishments that are at the limits of capability. And if it’s not special, it’s ordinary and how do you make some ordinary stand out to the player? Maybe some luck and hope, but hope is not a strategy.

Now, I seriously doubt most teams struggle to have ambition and if anything, they are more likely to be overly ambitious in my experience. There are thousands of horror stories around crunch that prove this out, though of course, not all crunch is the sole result of ambition. But as a counter-measure to those days where everyone is upset and nothing is going right, just remember, it’s supposed to be hard, cause if it was easy, everyone would do it.