Question posed to David Allen about his time with Quest Online:
If you could redo Quest Online today, what would you do differently?
David Allen: I’ve always been a big supporter of Virtual Companies, which is why I built Quest Online based on a virtual infrastructure. As far as I know Quest Online, or QOL, was the first virtual company in the world to build and ship a commercial MMOG. This proved the virtual model worked and the cost savings were phenomenal. However, while the overall productivity value of the company was exceptional, important aspects of the "human factor" were missing. This resulted in a disconnection between certain Quest Online team members and the overall nature of the company. This was very apparent as I developed strong relationships with those who were located in Arizona and I saw on a weekly basis vs. those I never met, even though they may have had important positions and worked at the company for years. I believe the virtual nature of the company was more supportive of “guns for hire” than not, but it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing; companies need strong producers and talented individuals. You can benefit from these key requirements with virtual people you’ve never met. It’s just human nature that those who you meet with and know personally developer a stronger bond, and ultimately commitment.
Having said all of this, if the financing was available, I would create a hybrid virtual company. One with centralized offices and a "core team" that worked together on site composed of leads, and also have an infrastructure that allowed for remote work for any members of the company, allowing for full remote work for certain positions and when necessary. This way if a development lead found the talent they needed in other states, they could properly manage and utilize the talent remotely using the virtual infrastructure rather than inheriting the costs of relocation, etc.
Other David Allen Resources:
