Picking your core competency

About a year ago I set a firm goal that I wanted to create an iphone game.  But I wanted to design and create a game worthy of being featured on Apple’s AppStore.  

Joel Spolsky wrote a great blog post back in 2001, and he said:  “If it’s a core business function — do it yourself, no matter what.” So this meant I’m going to need to take on some form of visual design.

I started with the fundamentals.  Learning the tools was the easy part.  But getting results I was happy with has been insanely difficult.  It hasn’t been impossible though, and I’ve finally reached a phase I can start creating passable game art.

My core competency had to grow to fit my entrepreneurial goals.  

This focused attention on growing new skills forced me to lose old skills .  It’s hard to admit to yourself that you can’t do everything, but it’s a sure a relief when you let go of things that are holding you back.

I’ve slowly been abandoning web development and focusing on iOS development and visual design.