What makes Andela tick?
Photo credit: https://andela.com/about-us/careers/
What makes Andela tick? Once this question had been the topic of discussion for a group of young people in Calabar trying to build a strong tech community. I was one of them, and the only conclusion we came to, was that Andela has a culture that creates an environment for continuous growth.
Any person or organisation without values is like a ship without a rudder. No matter how many resources and lofty the set goals, such a person or institution is bound to break at some point. Strong and meaningful values are what create the environment for success.
The ability to subordinate an impulse to a value is the essence of the proactive person. Reactive people are driven by feelings, by circumstances, by conditions, by their environment. Proactive people are driven by values — carefully thought about, selected and internalized values. - Steven Covey (Seven habits of highly effective people)
Andela has four EPIC values. The word EPIC is an acronym for Excellence, Passion, Integrity and Collaboration.
Excellence “What is what doing is what doing well”. My secondary school principal would always say this words to us every day on the assembly ground. This he did as a way of instilling excellence. I have learnt at Andela, excellence means giving your best to every single thing you do no matter how small it is.
It is Excellence that will make you standout. Excellence will give the solutions you provide to problems long lasting value.
Passion Passion here refers to the drive and fire in one’s heart for always learning and growing. In Andela, one must have the growth mindset to be able to make a headway. Learning is a compulsory continuous process, and I have come to learn that in Bootcamp.
Passion forces you to push yourself to always achieve at a maximum level no matter what it takes irrespective of the challenges that you face. It is passion that will keep you going hours after you are tired, or when it seems as if there is no progress.
Integrity A man once asked me a question: “If the public David and the private David meet, will they recognize each other?” It means that you mean what you say and say what you mean. It means that you are not deceitful and that you are trustworthy.
When working with a team, integrity will make all the difference. Members of your team will need to know that they can rely on you. It means that your work reflects who you really are. It means that the products or solutions that you deliver to the public are truly what you say they are. It can make all the difference when it comes to people trusting you.
Collaboration Together Everybody Achieves More (TEAM): there is nothing I know that describes the true meaning and power of collaboration like this acronym. Collaboration is simply people putting resources together to achieve a common goal.
My experience in Bootcamp has given me a true experience of the power of collaboration. Working together creates room for everyone to make-up for their “not-so-strong” areas. It makes the achievement of goals possible and fast.
Finally
I don’t believe I have done this EPIC values the justice they deserve. However, I have learnt a lot about creating a team that functions by understanding the Andela Epic values.
Andela stands out from other organisations. Andela is EPIC because of her values.