Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 258 Incentive Plan

As Tripp Hawkins took his seat, the second team's stage presentation officially began.

Ethan walked into the meeting room at ten in the morning, and when he came out, it was already lunchtime.

Since both plans of the R&D department were very good, Ethan was very happy after seeing them, so he decided to pay for everyone to have a big meal in nearby San Jose.

After satisfying his appetite and returning to the company, he watched everyone go into the office and waved to Damio Dean, motioning him to follow him.

"Boss, is their plan not working well?"

As soon as I entered the office, before I even sat down, Damio Dean couldn't wait to ask me about my concerns.

This behavior made Ethan confused, "Why do you say that?"

"Because you called me over." Damio Dean is a very honest boy.

"Before, when you talked to us about the game, you always pointed out the design flaws directly, but you didn't do that today, so I guess you don't like the two solutions they came up with?"

Ethan was a little amused and confused by the attempt to guess the emperor's intentions.

Ethan punched him in anger and said helplessly, "Oh Damio, don't do my reading comprehension here. The reason why I'm not talking is because their ideas are clear and their plans are complete, and there is nothing that needs to be modified in the projects they described, okay?"

"Really?" Damio Dean was somewhat pleased with the result.

"Do I need to lie to you?" Ethan rolled his eyes and motioned for the guy to sit down quickly.

This result made Damio Dean sit down happily.

That silly smile made Ethan put away his thoughts on chatting, and he got straight to the point and said, "I called you over here mainly because I want to know something from you. How is the environment of our company's R&D department in the past period of time? Or in other words, how is the atmosphere?"

"Uh, everything is fine."

This question left Damio Dean a little confused. "We have a high degree of freedom in our work, and the salary is the best in the industry, so everyone is happy every day."

Ethan curled his lips at the slightly official words. "This is not what I want to hear." He said, "What I want to know is what the R&D department thinks of my behavior in assigning work."

When Ethan felt the love for video games from those guys, he thought that they might have some ideas of their own. This idea did not refer to job-hopping, nor was it about dissatisfaction with his boss, but rather wanted to talk about their own creativity and inspiration.

When they are able to express themselves in the composition assignment, they will definitely want to draw by themselves, but Ethan has only allowed them to do this kind of open-minded creation once.

It's not that Ethan doesn't want to delegate power, nor is it because the sales of "Taken" and "Need for Speed" are not good, but because the company is short of staff and has heavy business.

Although normal people can understand this kind of thing, when Ethan did not explain the reason and just continued to assign tasks to the R&D team, his behavior might make those people feel disappointed?

This is not Ethan being sensitive!
But today's conversation made him realize the distance between himself and them.

Those people craved his approval.

Those people were a little bit unconfident about their designs.

"Oh - Boss, I think I understand what you mean." Staring at Ethan's inquiring eyes, Damio Dean laughed, "Do you think that the act of drafting a scope and assigning work will make them feel that they have lost the opportunity to create freely? This - not really."

“Although they are a little sad about the failure of Taken and Need for Speed, everyone can accept this fact. After all, the original purpose of everyone coming to Destiny is to learn from you, to learn how to make video games, and to make a video game that people like.”

“This goal has actually been achieved. Every time you come up with new ideas and new creativity, we are very excited. When we find that we can learn something new every time we make a product, we are really willing to accept the work you assign, because this can get your guidance and also allow us to verify how big the gap is between our design ideas and your design concepts.”

Damio Dean tilted his head slightly, and Ethan saw the joy from the bottom of his heart.

However, while revealing his inner thoughts, he changed the subject and said, "As for the thing you said about having your own inspiration... that does exist. For example, Tripp likes to write and draw in his spare time."

"He was very interested in the sport of rugby and wanted to make a rugby-related game, but he never found the opportunity on the Apple II."

"Other people have similar ideas. Some are interested in shooting games, some are interested in war games, and some are interested in word games. They will record those interesting ideas when they are full of inspiration, because they believe that they may be useful in the future..."

Damio Dean is not a man of many words.

Back then, when he was desperately trying to protect the factory, Ethan knew that this guy liked to speak with actions.

But once he started talking, especially when the topic was about his favorite field, he would chatter non-stop. He entered the office at around one o'clock and left at almost two o'clock.

After seeing him off, Ethan also went into his sister's office and leaned back on the soft sofa. The comfort that enveloped his body made him squint instinctively.

“Evelyn~ Do you think we should establish a promotion mechanism for the company?”

“Or, in other words, we should develop an incentive plan for the R&D department.”

"What's wrong?" Evelyn raised her head which was drawing.

"Why do you suddenly think of such a thing?"

"Because of Edgar Codd." Ethan said bluntly, "Edgar Codd's case made me realize that all R&D personnel want to turn their inspiration into reality."

“Everyone wants to develop something that interests them, but oftentimes, management that can’t see the future will be skeptical of projects that have unclear prospects.”

"At this time, it's very scary to be a family."

“This will kill countless dreams and disappoint countless researchers.”

"But if the company has a fixed incentive mechanism, a lot of problems can be avoided."

"Even if the money is only 100,000 or 200,000 yuan, it will make them feel that their efforts are meaningful. Their relationship with the company is not just employment, but mutual progress and unlimited growth."

If time could go back to four years ago, Ethan would definitely not have such thoughts at that time. With the memories of his past life, he would feel that what is in his mind is the future.

But the experiences of the past four years have made him realize that many times what he knows is just the general trend of the times, or a visible wave under the tide of the times.

Before he met Chuck Pettle and Bill Mensch, he had no idea that there were so many secrets behind MOS 6502 that had never been publicly reported.
After getting to know Steven Spielberg and others, he finally understood that in his previous life, those successful capitalists had already used various means to bury the dirt on their road to wealth.

When stories become life, and we remain respectful, we will avoid being hit by the boomerang of history.

Likewise, if he is careful and cautious in the process, he may be able to gain more.

For example, he had never heard of Nintendo's COLOR TV GAME.

For example, the oracle bone inscriptions that I missed before.

Or rather, those things in the future that he can no longer remember but that definitely exist.

These--

In fact, they can all be found.

"Ethan."

"Ok?"

"You're a little deep today."

Evelin held her chin with one hand and looked at the guy lying on the sofa with a smile.

"Really?" Ethan, who had already laid on the sofa, turned his head and said, "Are you saying that I have the aura of a melancholy handsome man?"

"Oh, I know that - but thank you all the same, thank you for telling the truth again."

“Pfft…” The narcissistic tone made Evelin laugh.

Giving Ethan a big hygienic look, the girl said, "An effective incentive mechanism can indeed help a company go further, especially companies like ours that rely on creativity to survive."

“So, if you really have inspiring ideas, I support you in turning them into reality.”

"but--"

"How do you want my share?"

When Evelyn expressed her support for Ethan, the guy who was resting his head on the armrest of the sofa laughed out loud, but when the girl said that Ethan couldn't be partial, the guy lying there was speechless.

"Oh - Eve - you still need motivation? The whole company is yours, right?"

Ethan raised his voice and said unhappily, "I've been in business for so long, how much have I spent? In total, I bought a house and a car. Where's the rest of the money? You spent it all!"

"Your father said to use the dividend money to buy land, so let's buy land. You want to build a manor, so let's build a manor. You said to get an aquarium, so let's get an aquarium... I never objected to anything you said, and now you want to ask me for motivation? Haha - I'm the one who needs motivation, okay!"

"Oh—Ethan—what do you mean? Are you going to settle accounts with me?"

Ethan’s complaining words made Evelin’s smile even wider.

"I want to settle accounts with you? There must be accounts to be settled!"

Ethan jumped up from the sofa and turned to leave, "My pockets are cleaner than my face now!"

"I don't want to bother with you——"

The figure who left in anger made the girl laugh out loud, while the banging sound made her shake her head.

After sighing, she continued to work, but before she had written or drawn for a while, she put down her pen, pressed the pager on the desk, and called her assistant, a girl who had just graduated from Stanford last year.

"Chairman, do you have any instructions?"

"You know President Jones' car, right?" "Yes, Dino. It's a sub-brand of Ferrari."

"That's fine. Go and help me look for cars. If there's a suitable one, I'll buy it."

"Ah?" The assistant didn't understand.

Evelin, leaning back in her seat, explained lazily, “President Jones likes Ferrari, but I don’t know much about cars, so you go see if there’s anything good and just buy it.”

"I only have three requests."

“First, we need to act quickly and find the car as soon as possible.”

“Second, money is not an issue.”

"Third, don't make it public. I want to give him a surprise."

The assistant was stunned by the rich man's words.

And when she called her colleagues from the administration department to accompany her to San Francisco to choose a car, they were stunned by the neatly arranged supercars waiting for inspection in the dealership.

"Ladies, is there anything you need?" the salesperson in a suit and tie asked with a smile.

"Uh--let's look at the car."

“……”This answer stunned the salesperson for a moment.

The next second, the assistant realized that what he said was nonsense and immediately said, "Our boss likes Ferrari. Do you have any good recommendations?"

"Oh--"

The salesperson responded, “So, what does your boss want?”

"The car is here, it looks good."

The salesman felt that the topic was a bit difficult to answer due to its broad scope, but when he learned that the two girls who knew nothing about cars were from the Fate Game in Palo Alto...

The corners of his mouth lifted up involuntarily.

With light steps, attentive attitude, and respectful introduction——

"Ladies, this car is the 512 BB. It is the latest Ferrari sports car and the first sports car equipped with a mid-mounted twelve-cylinder engine. The blade-like body is super cool..."

"This is the discontinued 365 GT 2+2, a very popular coupe in the past few years. Its streamlined body will definitely attract countless films when it is on the road..."

"This one is the 365 GTC/4. It has a prismatic body, a sloping back, and sharp creases, all of which are what men like. The difference between it and the GT 2+2 is that the headlights of this car can be hidden and can be raised or lowered by pressing an electric button. It's really cool to operate..."

After leaving his sister's office, Ethan went back to his own nest.

After spending two hours writing an incentive plan and confirming that there were no problems, he once again walked into the R&D department and held a small meeting with those guys.

"You should have noticed that a few hours ago, I had a private conversation with your supervisor, Damio Dean. During the conversation, I learned that everyone here can get excellent inspiration every day, but due to various reasons, they are temporarily unable to realize it."

"This situation makes me very sad. When I announced to the people of the United States through television signals that I wanted to share the progress of the times with everyone, you around me did not get the most needed attention. In order to solve this problem, I just thought of a temporary incentive plan."

"From now on, you can record the inspirations that come to your mind as much as you want, and the company will support you in turning them into reality. And this support is also easy to obtain. Starting from the projects you are currently working on, as long as the sales of the next two projects meet the target, the company will pay for your inspiration."

"As for the standard of achievement..."

"It's very simple. If it's a game development or sequel to a well-known product, as long as the sales of the new product are not less than 50,000 or 80% of the original, it will be considered as meeting the standard."

"For example, if you are currently developing a sequel to Pac-Man, then if the sales of Ms. Pac-Man exceed 100,000, the entire production team will have met the target as long as the sales of the sequel reach 80,000. And now, since the genre of The Empire Strikes Back is not consistent with that of the sequel, as long as the sales of the work reach 50,000, it will be considered as meeting the target."

"If it is a self-developed new product, then as long as the sales of the new product reaches 10,000, it will be considered as meeting the standard. This situation can be referred to in previous works such as "Fat Man", "Taken" and "Need for Speed".

"After you have achieved the target twice, you can prepare your own plan. When you submit it to me, you will receive $50,000 in R&D funds. Since different projects have different R&D times, we will communicate about the paid R&D time when the time comes."

"Of course, all the sales I'm talking about now are arcade machines."

"As for consoles, since they are not on the market yet, we cannot set sales targets for the time being. But don't worry, this incentive plan is just a temporary draft. We will revise it every year based on actual conditions. So, if you have any ideas, you can report them directly to Damio. As long as the suggestions are reasonable, we will definitely adopt them."

"Finally, I would like to say one more thing. When your grades meet the requirements, if anyone wants to start their own business, the company will provide you with at least 200,000 yuan in angel investment."

"If you accept, then in the future when you start your business, the company will help you produce and distribute games, and all costs will be the lowest in the industry."

“Game of Destiny is where my dream was born, so I know how important a successful business is to a man. Since you are all here because of your dreams, I hope that one day in the future, you can all realize your dreams.”

"If I can help you in this process..."

"It would be an honor."

When Ethan pushed open the door of the R&D department and announced his plan amid everyone's puzzled gazes, the incentive plan that paid real money made everyone excited.

"Oh boss, is this true?"

The guys simply couldn't believe it.

"of course it's true."

Ethan smiled and nodded.

Following his confirmation, screams like pigs being slaughtered were heard at the scene.

Someone slapped him in the face, and the sudden pain made him jump three feet high.

Some even rushed to Ethan with open arms, hugged him and shouted -

"Boss, I love you so much!"

"You must be the best boss in the world! You must be!"

Ethan naturally accepted this kind of joyful enthusiasm.

Accept the hug from everyone, listen to the noise around you, and look at the smiling faces...

Ethan was also very happy at this moment.

Although his generosity may seem silly on the surface, all good things must come to an end, and capable people cannot always be inferior to others.

When these guys in the R&D department are either the founders of Activision or the bosses of EA, Ethan cannot guarantee how long they can work in the company. Since no one knows which will come first, tomorrow or leaving, why not maintain good relationships before the unexpected happens?

If a certain amount of incentive funds is used, limited angel investment can be exchanged for countless disciples...

Then this business must be worth doing.

Of course, in the process, he was also able to snag talents like Edgar Codd.

Just as Ethan was accepting thanks from his subordinates, exclamations suddenly came from the outside world.

The sudden noise made the guys in the R&D department look strange. After they opened the window and stuck their heads out, the red light caught everyone's attention. It even made those who were cheering change their expressions and started talking loudly -

"Oh Sxxt! Why are there so many supercars?"

"MFxxk! And they're all red! They look so cool!"

"That's not right! Are these supercars being brought here by car transporters? We are in the Stanford Research Park! This is not some storage base! Why are they bringing the cars here? And why are they parked in front of our building?"

"Hey, look! The one signing downstairs seems to be our chairman?"

After hearing the word "chairman", Ethan, who had no intention of joining in the fun, immediately squeezed in front of the window.

He looked down and glanced around, and the familiar figure made him frown.

Full of doubts, he hurried downstairs. When he passed through the crowd and arrived at the door, the girl who was supervising the parking lot saw the confused figure.

“Yo~ You’re here so soon~” Evelin greeted with a smile.

"What are you doing?" Ethan asked puzzledly.

"you guess?"

"…How can I guess that?"

Although Ethan's tone was harsh, Evelin was not angry.

He hummed twice, raised his right hand slightly, and drew a line in the air with his index finger.

"Do you know what kind of cars these are?"

Ethan is not blind, the prancing horse logo already tells their identity, "Ferrari."

"Good, now they are yours."

The girl said the fact with a smile, and at the same time she raised her left hand hidden behind her back.

He opened his five fingers and a bunch of red keys fell out.

(End of this chapter)