Episode 6: Optimum Ideation The Four Swords With Paul Tozour

We are proud to present Paul Tozour - Longevity biohacker & award-winning book author: "The Four Swords: A Parable of Leadership, Video Games, and Dead Dragons" (to be published in early 2023)

Longevity biohacker & leadership book author. 

25-year game industry veteran, designer of Aven Colony for PC, Xbox One, & PS4

MSE in Technology Management from University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School. 

Video game professional Paul Tozour announces the release of his new book, The Four Swords: A Parable of Leadership, Video Games, and Dead Dragons. The book is scheduled for release early this summer and tells the story of four hardworking game developers that struggle with leadership issues and toxic work culture in their careers.

All four main characters experience different struggles based on the studios and positions they work in. Through their journey, they learn how the core responsibility of leadership is to build culture based on values that drive positive outcomes. Their perspectives are interesting for any reader that has experienced toxic or negligent leadership. 

Paul wrote the book because no other material described how the industry truly worked, especially from the standpoint of values, culture, and illustrating how those impact organizational outcomes. Since he entered the field in 1994, Paul has seen studios crumble from the lack of understanding of culture and values, which is why he based The Four Swords on key principles that steer a company to success. His 28 years of experience offer useful lessons for future generations looking for the same change he is.

The Four Swords will also be distributed as an audiobook once it’s released. Paul wanted to distinguish the listening experience from other books, and selected nearly 40 voice actors to play his book’s characters. Each actor has a distinct voice and accent, making them instantly recognizable. Paul functions as the main narrator, but redundant narration has been minimized to leave the book feeling more like an audio play. To create a more immersive experience, Paul added music and sound effects, including introductory music to indicate setting. Overall, Paul hopes that the book can illuminate the bigger problem frequently occurring in the video game world.

“I want The Four Swords to instantly give new or veteran game professionals an added level of understanding to the problems faced in game development. I want my book to be a direct source to help debug and diagnose the problems employees are experiencing, that often stem from the management. By drawing parallels to repetitive outcomes in the real world, The Four Swords is an easy method to comprehend why values and culture in the workplace really matter,” said Paul Tozour, author of The Four Swords.

Chapters

• 0:00 When did you become passionate about your focus?
• 1:37 Introduction to Optimum Ideation
• 2:15 Welcome to Optimum Ideation
• 2:43 How did you get to here?
• 5:14 Gaming seems fun but its real hard work!
• 7:39 What layers did you have to reveal to become who you are now?
• 12:16 What is the next layer to remove?
• 13:03 What trails and tribulations?
• 16:33 When did you become passionate about your focus?
• 20:20 Challenging?
• 22:56 Who are you at your lowest & highest?
• 24:22 Advice for others?
• 26:33 What practices help make your day a success?
• 28:09 Future book?
• 29:03 For the Audience
• 29:41 Best Way Audience can get in contact?