MY REFLECTIONS ON ANDELA’S EPIC VALUES

The first time I came across the word EPIC on Andela’s website, I simply thought that it meant Andelans liked to do things big. This concept would make sense except it doesn’t explain how they aim to achieve this. After reading further, I discovered that my understanding was only just the tip of the iceberg.

In Andela, EPIC is an acronym which represents:
E — Excellence
P — Passion
I — Integrity
C — Collaboration

This concept of EPIC is the driving force that enables Andelans to become their best possible self while delivering maximal products and services to clients.

EXCELLENCE

We are life long learners who strive for mastery of our craft

Andelans believe that whatever is worth doing is worth doing well. Having this concept in mind has helped me to understand that my work is a representation of myself. This has taught me to always put a lot of taught into whatever I do so that I can produce an excellent result.

Excellence is not easy to achieve. It requires that you have a growth mindset. I wrote about this in my last post How I Demonstrated Growth Mindset Recently. It also requires that you are open to Feedback.

Feedback is information about reactions to a product. This is one major concept that helps in achieving excellence, this is why in Andela, everyone is receptive to feedback. I have come to learn that implementing feedback leads you one step closer to achieving perfection.

PASSION

We believe that we are going to change the world and act accordingly

In order to achieve Excellence, it is essential to have a passion for what you are doing. As software developers, it is inevitable to encounter bugs. Some of these bugs could take as little as minutes to solve, while some can take weeks or even months to fix. This can become really frustrating if you don’t have a strong drive that reminds you of why you are developing that particular program.

At Andela, I have come to realize that the passion that drives them is the need to positively change the world. Fortunately for me, I am driven by this same passion, that is why I applied to become a fellow. With this mindset, I am able to more conveniently overcome obstacles that have come my way.

INTEGRITY

We choose extraordinary people and trust them to do the right thing

Integrity is one of the most important attributes that can define a person. Initially, due to the application process into the fellowship programme, I thought that Andela was a bit flexible with this principle. I thought people could simple copy codes off the internet and pose them as their own. Since the interview process, I came to realize that Andela takes this principle very seriously.

In the Andela Bootcamp, one of the things that are looked out for is the originality of your code. This means that they try to determine if the code was originally written by you. This process reassured my belief that Andela really chooses people with integrity. People that won’t compromise beliefs and submit plagiarized results.

COLLABORATION

We know our sum is greater than our part

On the first day, I entered into the EPIC Tower, this was one of the things that caught my attention. Andela is a community of people who aim at helping each other. They work in a synergized manner believing that the result from working together is always better than working alone.

In Andela, everyone is united with a common goal which achieves excellence and growth. They are also welcoming and friendly people that can be easily approached in case you are having one issue or the other.

In Conclusion, implementing this EPIC principle in your daily lives will surely lead you to become a better person.