THEORY U APPLIED TO INNOVATION IN THE FEDERAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

The current economic scenario has presented increasingly demanding markets and a fiercer commercial rivalry. In such reality, the use of management tools and techniques capable of assisting in the decision-making process is mandatory. Strategic Planning, which has become the focus of the central administration of companies, aims at developing positive actions that can be taken by a certain institution in order to address its threats and to take a better advantage of the opportunities found in its environment. This process requires the commitment from the management team and the involvement of the employees in order to establish of a vision of the company in relation to the future position it aims at. In Brazil, although Strategic Planning is widely used by the private sector, there are still many doubts about what this tool really is and how it should be used by the Public Administration. The Federal Institute of the state of Acre (IFAC) is being implemented and experiences a significant expansion due to the increase of its budget, of the places offered and of the number of campuses. Consequently, the institution sees an increase in the number of students and a higher demand in its internal management processes. The Theory U consists of the capability for taking actions based on a broader consciousness and on new paradigms, more effective in the facing of the current dynamic scenario. It is a method for the management of changes aimed at the leadership through a process of innovation of the social knowledge, which has been developed around the world. The Theory U can therefore be understood as a new way of promoting organizational change, being a tool to transform reality, businesses, governments and the civil society. Another important aspect related to the Theory U is the promotion of a deep opening of the heart and of the mind in order to create a future marked by the actions of the present, instead of adopting the patterns of the past. In this way, the future is accessible in the present and built from the present. In this sense, the approach of the Theory U goes beyond the traditional analytical thinking and scientific models of problem solving from the past, registers, simulations, diagnostics, brainstorming and from the future scenarios in the way we currently know. The theory involves the creation of the new from the emerging future, which is present in the context in which the activities are developed. Many organizations have struggled to achieve the changes they aim at, because of the complexity of the situations or because of the different people involved and of the lack of solutions used in the past that can be reproduced in the present. In this context, Theory U is a set of tools and practices that can help leaders address current problems, not only intellectually, but also through actions that manage the innovation. When it is open to the members of the academic community who have participated in the planning and in the implementation process of an institution, it is a unique opportunity to get to know such places. This knowledge enables the professionals to establish perspectives for the institutions, envisioning them in a future desired by the internal and external communities. The U theory can therefore help the organization improve its ability to understand and assist others, as well as generating skills to deal with the different challenges.