That towel is not in USC colors, but almost everything else at the show taping was. They set up the stage with cardinal and gold everywhere, including flowers behind the pseudo-windows. They also had a clone of Tommy Trojan– which I think was actual size– and a copy of the VKC globe. Alex Trebek, the famous Jeopardy host, initially came onto stage wearing Trojan garb: complete with helmet and cardinal cape with gold trimming. This was the first time the college championships were being filmed in Los Angeles, which is where Jeopardy started. These shows taped today will air April 30-May 2. They have another show later this afternoon, and two more tomorrow. The taping I went to was from 12:45 to 4 PM, and we filmed 3 days’ worth– three games. Unfortunately, the contestants representing USC, including Sarah Nothnagel, were not at the taping I attended. Still, it was a lot of fun, and there was very USC-themed.

Security at the Galen Center was very, very high: no water and no cameras allowed, no exceptions. No backpacks. Cell phones must be turned off; if they ring or you use them, they’ll be confiscated. I wasn’t expecting this: I had my backpack with me, so I had to go back to Marks Hall, which is fortunately near the Galen Center, to drop it off. We all had to walk through metal detectors in order to enter. It was all very reasonable, however, and I think they handled it very, very well. It was a good thing that they did this. I certainly felt perfectly safe.

So no cameras and no photography: they claimed that the flashes (required to get a good photo) would mess up their cameras. Well, when the show ended and we got up to leave, I quickly turned on my cell phone and shot one picture:

It’s not a great picture, but hopefully it gives you a general idea of what it looked like

Look for me on TV in the audience when the shows air at the end of the month!

Do you have any questions about the recording of Jeopardy? The experience cleared up a lot of my questions, but it’s so much that I don’t have time to write about it now. If you have questions, I’ll do my best to answer them.

Over at the 37signals blog, David wrote the post Don’t be a hero: Giving up is good to do. I think it’s a very good thought that I should keep in mind for the future. He says that everyone, especially techies, wants to be a hero. However, he cautions us that this usually isn’t the case:

Most features need not heroes. They need realists. People who are willing to give up and walk away. Being a hero is all about sitting aside all costs and winning anyway. That’s not a prudent way to drive everyday development.

Here’s the problem: You agree that feature X can be done in two hours. But four hours into it, you’re still only a quarter of the way done. The natural instinct is to think “but I can’t give up now, I’ve already spent four hours on this!”.

So you go into hero mode. Determined to make this work, but also embarrassed that it isn’t already so. So the hero grabs his hermit cape and isolates himself from feedback. “I really need to get this done, so I’ll turn off IM, Campfire, email, and more for now”. And some times that works. Throwing sheer effort at the problem to get it done.

But was it worth it? Probably not. The feature was deemed valuable at a cost of two hours, not sixteen. Sixteen hours of work could have gotten four other things done that individually were at least as important.

That’s where the concept of sunk cost gives us a guide on what to do. It doesn’t what you’ve already spent. That time and money is gone. It only matters whether spending what’s left is worth it or not. Business school 101, but one of the hardest lessons to internalize.

In other words, stop being so afraid of calling it quits. You’re playing to win the full season, not a single game. Every time you play the hero card, you’re jeopardizing the next game. Heroics are for when you have no other choice. When you can afford to take on tremendous risk because there’s no alternative.

Can it really be a good idea to give up? Are there any projects I’m doing for which I should call it quits? How do you think the desire to be a hero makes us weaste time doing work we should just drop?