Error is Opportunity (and how to avoid it)

One of the earliest times I visited the local comic shop I saw a book on the shelf that immediately changed my occasional visits into weekly imperatives: Star Wars Dark Empire. I had recently gotten a dose of new Star Wars from the Timothy Zahn book: Star Wars Heir to the Empire. My appetite had been whetted and I wanted more! I recall being super bummed that it was issue 2 and there were no copies of issue 1 to be had. Starting part way in was just the way it would have to be.

I eagerly read through my new purchase featuring all the original characters, massive machines called world devastators, and clones of Luke Skywalker and the Emperor!* Leia was pregnant with a baby [RECORD SCRATCH]. Hold on a minute. Like I said, I’d read Heir to the Empire shortly before Dark Empire. In Heir to the Empire Leia was pregnant, but with twins!

* Anyone who bitches about the Emperor resurrecting as a clone in Rise of Skywalker can suck it! Tom Veitch set the table and J.J. Abraham’s merely sat down to a feast of possibilities. -Geoff

I reread enough of each story to verify that Heir took place before D.E. But there was no reference to the twins in the events of D.E. Yup, there seemed to be a continuity problem. Now I don’t recall which book fixed the issue. I have a vague recollection that Leia’s handmaid come the twins nanny, Winter, was given charge of Jaycen and Jaina, while the events of D.E. unfolded. What I do recall more clearly is that LucasBooks became the governing authority of the Star Wars Expanded Universe once the Solo children and several other contradictions became problematic. They would be in charge of canon, the rules of what was forbidden to be used, and facilitated communication between concurrent projects to keep them from crossing their stories. I learned a lot from this:

• Anything can be retroactively made consistent. It isn’t a bad thing and can lead to creative solutions.

• When working in systems with wide  tolerance for interpretation, it’s best practice to create guide rails and standards otherwise you can end up with an incomprehensible mess.

• A diverse organization pursuing different goals needs to have an authoritative body resolving conflict that arise.

I’ll admit there have been some shaky years for the Star Wars franchise, but it’s looking up again. The true heir to George Lucas, Dave Filoni, embodies these key lessons and it shows in his work from The Clone Wars to Ahsoka.

More importantly for me these lessons have served me well in my professional and personal life.

• Even the best laid plan can go wrong when new considerations come to light. My projects get new requirements regularly that are not aligned with previous functionality. Finding a place where the two can me and each be fulfilled can be challenging, but it almost always can be done (Retcon).

• Having a set of best practices and consistent conventions allows me to focus my abilities, communicate intentions to others working in the same area, and prevent losing time reinventing solutions to solved problems. My company has an evolving set of best practices and standards to achieve this. I also bring some of my own where no explicit rule exists. (Guide Rails).

• Talking through an incongruity and agreeing on the parameters of the solution helps avert larger issues from arising. This is a little more complex as this authoritative body is more democratic and self-reflective within my organization. We regularly meet to discuss the large and small consequences of requirements. We discuss possible solutions when more than one presents itself. We also have to accede that our stake holders want what they are asking for and compromise may not be possible due to budget, timeline, or technology. This is when we bring in the higher pay grades to weigh the right course (Authority).

   

  Funny how my youthful* Star Wars obsession would lead to comic books and yield such useful lessons for me later in life. This is why Dark Empire and the Star Wars Extended Universe are key to me.

*”Youthful Obsession”? You’re still obsessed with Star Wars you card carrying Gen X stereotype. -Editor