The agile approach values iteration and learning over fixed outcomes and mental rigidity. Given the power of these ideas, what if we were to apply agile methodologies to our own lives? In this talk, content strategist and filmmaker David Dylan Thomas describes how he’s attempted to do just that and the impact it’s had on his life. He’ll also explore how technology has evolved to better leverage unpredictability and how that relates to agile being a better way to think about life and ourselves. As a content strategist for EPAM, David Dylan Thomas has developed strategies for major clients in entertainment, publishing, and retail. He is the founder of Content Camp, co-organizer of Barcamp Philly, head of Content Strategy Philly, and the creator, director, and co-producer of Developing Philly, a web series about the rise of the Philadelphia tech community. He has given lectures on such topics as the future of content in a post-ownership economy and the hidden power of online links. To find out more about Dave you can find him here: @movie_pundit

1. Agile Living
or How I Learned to Stop Worrying
and Never Be “Done”

2. David Dylan Thomas
Content Strategist,
EPAM

3. #AgileLiving
@movie_pundit

5. Nailed It!

6. What Is Agile?
Waterfall Agile

7. What Is Agile?
Waterfall
• Assumes the outcome
• Little check-in in between
• Final delivery is the only
delivery

8. What Is Agile?
Agile
• Assumes the goal
• Frequent check-ins
• Multiple deliveries before
final delivery

9. Why Is This Important?

10. “By putting the most serious
planning at the beginning, with
subsequent work derived from the
plan, the waterfall method
amounts to a pledge by all parties
not to learn anything while doing
the actual work.”
- Clay Shirky

12. Let’s back up for a sec…

13. This is a washing machine.

14. This is a washing machine.
Guess what it does?

15. This is Twitter.

16. This is Twitter.
Guess what it does?

17. Perpetual Beta

22. We are increasingly able to produce
tech that behaves like the natural
world

23. Neither is Wikipedia
The natural world is never finished
Neither is Twitter
Neither are you

24. “And it seems to me that that webby structure
actually is a more accurate reflection of the
shape of knowledge: it’s an endless series of
connected ideas and facts, limited by interest,
not an article that starts here and ends there. In
fact, I’d say that Shakespeare himself was a
web, and so am I, and so are you.”
- David Weinberger

25. This is why perpetual beta
doesn’t bother us
Because we’re used to seeing it in the
natural world

26. Nature releases early and often

27. Your life is not a to-do list

28. There is no point at which you will be
“done”

29. Your life is not waterfall Your life is agile

31. You Do Not Need to Master Anything

32. Agile Filmmaking

33. The perfect weight
The perfect job
The perfect mate

34. Great for narratives
Terrible for life

35. The phrase “Everything will be all right
if…” should inspire profound
skepticism.

36. Hedonic Adaptation

37. Lots of small wins > One big win
Agile gives you lots of small wins
(even when you lose)

38. Knowledge = Power
Failure = Knowledge
Failure = Power!!!

39. “Reward success, celebrate
failure, punish inaction.”
- Like, 50 people, apparently

40. Punishing failure is a guaranteed
way to create a bureaucracy

41. Not everything is meant to be agile

42. How do we actually apply this?

43. Step One: The Backlog

44. Step Two: The Dashboard

45. Step Three: The Sprint

46. Step Four: Stand-Ups

47. Decision Fatigue

48. What am I going to do today?

49. Step Five: Retrospective

50. Bonus Step: Tie to Your Inbox

51. My Dirty Car

52. A Healthier Attitude
“Failure is not an option!”
“We will try and we will learn.”

53. Questions?