The Most Important Skill

“One of the skills mentioned in the previous section, one is far and away the most important, and it sounds so strange to most people that I didn’t even list it. Many people guess “creativity,” and I would argue that this is probably the second most important skill. Some guess “critical thinking” or “logic,” since game design is about decision making. These are indeed important, but by no means the most important skills.

Some say “communication,” which starts to get close. The world communication has unfortunately become corrupted over the centuries. It once referred to an exchange of ideas, but now has become a synonym for talking, as in “I have something to communicated to you.” Talking is certainly an important skill, but good communication and good game design are rooted in something far more basic and far more important.

Listening.

The most important skill for a game designer is listening.”

- The Art of Game Design (A Book of Lenses), by Jesse Schell

A very true statement indeed!  There are a lot of people out there that should read this book (or at least the above excerpt).  While I can’t give The Art of Game Design an unequivocal thumbs up or down yet, as I just started reading the book myself, being a good listener is so enormously important that Jesse Schell gets bonus points for spelling it out in plain English.

Official Website - http://artofgamedesign.com/