Fortnite is teaching your Kids Agility

This week, Dan Neumann is joined by his AgileThought Colleague, Quincy Jordan!

In their conversation today, Dan and Quincy are diving into the world of online videogames — specifically Fortnite; the popular battle royale, sandbox game — and drawing comparisons between it and agility.

Having watched his son play Fortnite over the summer, Quincy saw how he remotely communicated with his friends online to come together as a team, seek out an objective, collaborate, and go after that goal. In this episode, Quincy not only highlights many of the similarities between online gaming and having an agile mindset, but he also shares some of what we (and our kids) can learn from playing these sorts of games and further improve our agility.

Key Takeaways

The overlap between an agile mindset and Fortnite/other online games:

In the game, you play in teams and the players coordinate and collaborate remotely through headsets

In both agile teams and Fortnite, you need to come together as a team, seek out an objective, collaborate, and go after that goal

In the game, you gather raw materials and architect right on the spot to create structures such as barriers or ramps (similar to the agile concept of solving problems with the resources you have at your disposal)

They do team working agreements (i.e. before they start, they set out their goals and agree on what they’re trying to achieve)

When their objective is at risk of reaching its goal (similar to a sprint goal), they reevaluate quickly, make adjustments, stay adaptable, and continue without losing sight of the goal

What Fortnite/other online games can teach us about having an agile mindset:

The team collaboration in Fortnite emphasizes teamwork and shows how having ‘hero complex’ does not get you to your goal (you have to work together, one person cannot do everything)

In Fortnite, your character can lose energy and need time to recuperate. In this scenario, a teammate will ask another for help to spot them as they recover, which is very similar to how high-performing agile teams should behave (i.e. being transparent with one another if you need help)

There’s a collective recognition that you win and lose as a team

The teams in Fortnite are self-organized and not afraid to take risks and fail fast — this is key to growth

They always stay focused on the overall objective, which is a crucial mindset piece for agile teams to have

Mentioned in this Episode:

Fortnite

Halo

Discord

The Decision: Overcoming Today’s BS for Tomorrow’s Success, by Kevin Hart

Quincy Jordan’s Book Pick:

Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs, by John Doerr

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