Andela’s EPIC — More than just an adjective
Doing a quick search on Google for the definition of the word EPIC, we are presented with this adjectival definition.
Epic — Heroic or grand in scale or character and some synonyms associated with it include: Ambitious, Heroic, Grand, Very great, Huge, Monumental…
The synonyms all point to one thing, being extraordinary. So we would all like to be EPIC now, wouldn’t we? Now imagine a group of people who live by this mantra working together, now imagine how successful they would be — Welcome to Andela.
The core value of Andela is built around being EPIC and it’s a value every ‘Andelan’ must uphold, little wonder why the Company’s building is named EPIC Towers. Andela defines EPIC, while the word epic could translate to extraordinary, Andela puts an additional extra to it, Andela makes it extra-extraordinary. If you are ever in doubt, take a visit to their office spaces or interact with ‘Andelans’ whenever and wherever you find them, then you begin to appreciate how they imbibe and embody the mentality of being EPIC.
You might be wondering at this point why I have ‘EPIC’ in all caps, this is because EPIC is not just any word, it is an acronym that defines Andela’s essence and one they strongly uphold. I would go ahead to discuss what each letter in the acronym stands for.
E — EXCELLENCE
The quality of being outstanding or extremely good.
A value every Andelan or aspiring Andelan has to imbibe is that of excellence. It is believed that we might not be able to attain perfection, but continuously striving towards perfection would make us tend towards excellence. Andela believes that there is always the best version of an individual, and that version is who we ought to be always. Simply put, always be the 100% version of your self, put out 100%, 100% of the time. If I should make a slogan for this, it would be, ‘Be your best, bring your best or go home’.
P — PASSION
An intense desire or enthusiasm for something.
When the journey is smooth, there’s a bandwagon effect (no puns intended), but unfortunately, the reality of life doesn’t always guarantee a smooth ride, there are always bumps ahead, the journey through life is also filled with roadblocks at different stages. So how do we overcome burnout? How do we ensure that we never give up when we are faced with extremely difficult situations? — PASSION!!! Andela strongly believes in passion as a value to help us continuously better ourselves and seek excellence at all cost, despite what challenges or difficulties we face.
I — INTEGRITY
The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.
Andela believes that honesty is more than just the best policy. Situations may arise where you might need to compromise on integrity, but Andela believes in fully owning responsibility for your actions and inactions. Never blame your teammate(s) for your mistakes or let another individual take a fall for your actions or inactions. Don’t steal credits and always accrue proper credits to sources where you obtained whatever resource you got from.
C — COLLABORATION
The action of working with someone (or a group of people) to produce something (and achieve success).
No one is a one-man island and no-one is a know it all. In fact, Andela believes in teamwork and team bonding. This was evidently visible during the onsite meetings of the bootcamp, seeing how we were all divided into different groups to be led by a Learning Facilitator Assistant. Andela strongly believes in giving and incorporating feedback, because how else would one grow if one doesn’t learn from their mistakes? And how would one learn from their mistakes easily and quickly, if their experiences aren’t shared with other people? This is why Andela strongly upholds the value of collaboration.
The EPIC core values are values which every individual ought to imbibe irrespective of whether we are Andelans or aspiring Andelans.
