#7 - Too much management

Let's face it: game developers are unruly, undisciplined, opinionated folks.  You'll have enough trouble imposing whatever structure you really need without going off on power trips.

For example, development studios are chronically messy.  Artists need room to draw, programmers must have books and listings all over the place, and office space is pricey, so there is never enough room for everything, and stuff will pile up.  It's a fact of life.  Now, that doesn't mean that you should let your studio turn into a fire hazard, but it does mean that forcing everyone to shove their stuff into boxes once a week for inspection is both useless and offensive.  Another example: project-management software really shouldn't be able to specify task durations in increments of less than one day; if something takes 30 minutes to do, there is no need to keep track of it in a time sheet.

I have seen near-riots sparked by over-eager managers planning on imposing daily meetings, factory-style hiring/layoff cycles and even (gasp) dress codes and regular working hours.  Sure, "the way things are" might seem inefficient, but sometimes inefficiencies are a good thing, no matter what they tell you at graduate business school.  (I know; I've been there.)  Remember: small victories now may come at the price of disaster later.

Step #8