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NaturalMotion's Julian Widdows on creating an independent thinking culture at the studio

Looking for emotional intelligence and curiosity in new staff

NaturalMotion's Julian Widdows on creating an independent thinking culture at the studio

As part of Pocket Gamer Connects London 2018, NaturalMotion general manager Julian Widdows gave a talk on taking a "deliberate" approach to culture and people.

He started by talking about Nancy Klein's model of thinking, and how people should give others attention, equality, appreciation, encouragement, and offer ease in communication.

NaturalMotion used these theories in its studio, and encouraged an independent thinking culture at the company to help the team flourish.

Emotional intelligence

This also applies to its hiring practices. When looking for new team members, the studio looks not only for smart and competent people, but also emotional intelligence and curiosity.

New team members also need to tap into their own sense of "purpose", and Widdows noted that new staff need to believe in the shared purpose of the studio and the games it creates.


Editor

Ric is the Editor of PocketGamer.biz, having started out as a Staff Writer on the site back in 2015. He received an honourable mention in both the MCV and Develop 30 Under 30 lists in 2016 and refuses to let anyone forget about it.