Project management applied to life | Jorge Audy | TEDxLaçador

We each have dozens of personal and community projects every year, even if most of them are not perceived as such. And many of us work on projects in the professional world, but we don't always apply that knowledge to our personal lives. After all, who is the project manager of our life, in our house, for our children, or in our volunteering? How many good practices do we use in planning and executing projects away from work in search of the best results? Jorge presents us with several ways to apply good planning and project execution practices in all areas of our lives.

Jorge Audy is a professor at the polytechnic school of Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul - PUCRS. He tries to disseminate good practices so that people can always have plans and dream of a better life. He is always focused on his environment and prioritizing his network and city. As an aggregator, he seeks to be, whenever possible, available to talk, debate, and help. Jorge holds a degree in systems analysis and a master's degree in information management (both from PUCRS). He is an enthusiast of agile methods; has been a blogger since 2012, with more than 1,400 posts; has three edited books, a game, several techniques, and some author's workshops. He considers himself addicted to community, suggesting and making available networking opportunities, contributing in society, and sharing good things for people.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

Let's talk a little about uniqueness.

How much of what happens
in technology parks, universities,

and large innovative businesses

do we bring into our reality

and make use of in our family,

our actions, group activities,
and personal life?

How many of us have dozens,

some of us, maybe,
hundreds of projects each year?

It could be the car, the house,

a community action, a campaign.

It could be ...

life.

Dozens and hundreds of projects,

and how much do we use
these techniques and concepts

that aren't even always boring.

We have suspicion of business concepts

because of their past
professional connotations.

Today, businesses are becoming
increasingly more colorful, more fun.

We use techniques and concepts
that help us bring people closer

and find how best to do things
in a collaborative way.

Using these things, businesses
have become more flexible and more fun,

while, at home, we aren't using them.

How much do we use design thinking,

an empathetic and collaborative approach?

How many agile methods for planning
and for execution do we use?

I'll cite some everyday, prosaic examples.

Lean startup:

How many emerging companies

use these techniques
to find the best solutions,

and how can we take these
into our daily routine?

And, finally, team building games.

How many games?

I'm a scout.

A lot of games are used by scouts

to pass on values, beliefs, lessons,

and knowledge in a bigger way -

to bring together children
of seven, eight, nine, ten years,

children, wolf scouts, scouts,
senior scouts, and pioneer scouts.

Many games are used in the background

for learning and informal education -

sharing with children,
young people, and adults

to help them find
their mission and goal.

I, as a father, teacher, and scout leader

tend to mix these two universes.

Yesterday in the classroom using games,

a teacher walked by, returned,
and looked at the room.

We've already made an appointment to talk

about how to take advantage
of this in other contexts.

How can we be only one?

How can we move closer to each other?

And I'm not talking of just one person

in terms of learning

in the organizational environment,
universities, technology parks,

and in his or her personal,
community, and collective life.

I'm talking about different people
with different kinds of knowledge.

How often we isolate ourselves on islands.

Design thinking:

Design thinking emerged in Silicon Valley

through a series
of techniques and concepts

that offer us closeness
and a multidisciplinary approach.

So let's suppose we work as a volunteer

in a certain community.

Why do we, sometimes, put together
an entire plan of action

without involving the people
who will be affected?

How often do we think we know
what's better for others,

just as many parents know
what's best for their children?

How much can we make use

of techniques that businesses
develop and offer for us

to use in our personal life?

Bill Burnett:

One of the best known courses at Stanford

is "Designing Your Life,"

how you can use

this arsenal of disruptive practices

together with children,

together with your parents,

and together with your career,

to plan your career
using design thinking techniques.

Where I teach project management,

my first three classes are called
"Eu S.A." - Me Incorporated.

Students discuss their aims,
their "ikigai" - their reason to be.

Why are we here in the world?

How will you contribute?

What will your footprints be?

What legacy will you leave?

And it's very impressive
because, many times,

some of them realize

that they've been
procrastinating for years,

that they have to take a stand.

Future workshops:

Speaking of volunteering,

there's a technique
called future workshops,

where you meet entire communities
to have discussions.

Wall of lamentations:

What's going wrong,
and what needs to be improved?

Tree of dreams:

How can we plan

to solve the most important issues?

I'm talking about communication.

I'm talking about synergy, about empathy.

Inside of design thinking,
we have a technique, for example,

that encourages creativity.

Creativity that, many times,
we as teachers

worry about instigating in our students,

but that every child has.

When a child enters the system,
he or she's being shaped,

told how how he or she must think,
and if he or she can question things.

This is changing, but how much further
down the road do we still have to go?

Dynamics:

I, as a scout leader -

Children of seven, eight, nine, ten years,

sometimes, are much
better prepared than adults

to discuss and arrive
at a consensus of what they want.

We must have less prejudice

and use more collaboration and cooperation

between different age groups.

We think that children

sometimes won't participate
in the way that we'd like,

but this doesn't mean
that a result isn't generated.

Agile methods:

They were initiated in the '80s and '90s

and offer us different approaches

for making more effective
short-term plans.

So in place of an intricate plan,

we think of the first steps.

Let's learn with this.

If necessary, let's make mistakes,
learn, and improve.

How?

By having conversations -

without someone deciding,

without someone monitoring.

Agile methods offer us
much less bureaucracy,

more synergy between people,
and much more speed -

speed in action and results.

Jeff Sutherland is the creator of Scrum,

the world's most well-known
method for agile methodologies.

He has a TED talk, well worth watching,

in which he talks about his trajectory.

He learned and cites
examples from the army.

How much the army restricts,

how much we follow orders,

how much we have to go beyond,

how much we need to get closer
and think of solutions,

and how much, even in the army,
this is possible.

Children, young people, and adults

maintaining frequent communication.

So, in the family, not only children,

but many parents, too, feel penalized

because they're distant
and don't have time,

but with the little time that you do have,

how much communication do you establish,

and how many plans do you generate?

What is the real opinion,

what is the level of satisfaction
or dissatisfaction,

and how should we go from here?

How do we work together to build?

Bringing Agile to life
can be transforming.

It was created in organizations,
just like design thinking,

but how much this -

It generates results and value

because it only proposes
to bring people closer,

not doing something unilaterally,

but bringing people together
to debate and find solutions.

Bruce Feiler is a collaborator
of the New York Times,

and he has a TED talk

in which he talks about daily meetings
he has with his children.

Every morning,

the father, the mother, and the children
say how they expect their day to be.

The kids talk about what will happen
and will be covered at school.

The father, in the same way,
says what he expects at work.

The mother too.

Another day, they will begin by discussing
how things went the day before.

"Jorge, this sounds like a box,
rigid and restrictive."

No, we have to do this.

All these techniques
that innovation offers us

need to be done in a carefree way,

in a fun way,

but how can this make things better?

He cites weekly meetings
telling about the week.

"Ah, I only have
a half hour with my child."

There's so much we can accomplish

by passing on concepts
that will be important for our child

and for their professional,
social, and community lives.

It's important they know you care,
you pay attention,

and you really worry about what happened

in the last day.

Council Rock:

In scouting, every three months,

all the wolf scouts,
children from 7 to 10 years old,

meet to evaluate the last three months
and plan the next three.

They tell what they liked and didn't like,

what they want and don't want,

and how they would have more fun.

Don't forget that they have fun

while playing games that pass on values,
principles, and knowledge.

They all have this autonomy:

wolf scouts, children from 7 to 10,
scouts, 11 to 14,

senior and pioneer scouts,
up to 20 years old.

And finally, we have lean startup,

also coming to our lives
from organizations.

To develop rapidly,
think in a disruptive way.

How many techniques, how many games

do they offer us
that encourage creativity,

disruption,

innovation, and entrepreneurship?

When we talk about this,

it's not only about launching
products and services,

but also improvements -

less hierarchical
and more collaborative plans

to work on this together

in family and social environments,

collectively.

The career:

How much value do we add

by contributing with others,
our travel partners,

and not individually?

More than planning.

Travel partners.

Who are our travel partners?

How much are we different?

We're one in the differences
and not only among equals.

What's the difference that you add?

It's easy for us to have an opinion
and a convergence among equals.

It's how much you listen
to people who are different than you,

and how much you debate with an open mind.

And, finally, team building games.

When we use games in work, in groups,

encourage group effort,
responsibility, and freedom,

inside or outside of work,

we're working in a more
playful and fun way.

This is valuable for life,
for our daily routine, and for our family.

Group games:

For as long as I can remember,

I've applied games, for example,
for the children of the family.

I apply games and keep score.

The most difficult thing is for parents.

Parents have difficulty
seeing their child not win.

They come talk with me, saying,

"No, but you have to give
a credit to my child."

No, they are competing.

They can lose, they can win,
they have to learn, and life is like this.

Life will teach them in a stronger way.

Let's learn under our roof.

There are many things happening
in the innovation environment

that we can take advantage of.

I hope to have encouraged
this curiosity in many of you.

Thank you.

(Applause)