HOW IT ALL BEGAN
For justice to be done to this reflection, my experiences during the interview stages of this golden opportunity to undergo the Innovation Readiness Training must be documented. I can not lay claims to how I got my hands on the application details. What I do remember is that it was a period where I had a thirst for knowledge in character and career. The partnerships with graduates from Ivy league institutions like Harvard Business School and Massachusetts Information of Technology on the innovative intrigued me and the rigorous but clear requirements became a worthy challenge for me in my quest for the appropriate change in mindset. One of the interview stages required interviewees to be grouped and come up with a stand on MAX.NG case study. I was pleasantly surprised at the conduct of all interviewees in my group. Some pre-resumption materials whimsically identified my business chemistry as PI. Pioneer- Integrator before the main day.
A PEEP THROUGH THE PROGRAM
On the dot of 11.00am WAT on the 4th of January, 2021, the selected fellows resumed to what will be the most transformational and demanding session for mere four weeks in years. The training took a turn of synchronous and asynchronous sessions across four training modules named : Design Thinking which exposed us to idea thinking techniques with a Stanford.d design thinking process utilizing Empathy, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Testing. The second module is Personal Branding which centred on professionalism and showcase of works and noteworthy achievements. The third is Strategic Analysis which exposed us to the knowledge of various frameworks of projects and organizations. The fourth being Hard Skills Lab which aggressively availed us materials, projects with clients and hackathon groups with specialization in Data Analysis, Digital Marketing and Product Management. These hard skills are fundamentals to land any project. However, I must recognize the effect of the fun/socializing part that amazingly takes the pressure off all fellows through Trivia fun games
UNLEARNING, LEARNING AND RE-LEARNING
The training certainly has been of tremendous impact and preparatory for high performance as an employee in a firm or a founder of an innovative idea from the skill up on resumes and interactive portfolios to business model and the golden rule “Fall in love with the problem, not the solution”. I am a better communicator because of the interview practice sessions, classes on pitch presentation and the selection of the most appropriate framework for a particular product type. I learnt not to discard any idea at the onset and not too rigid with ideas as well as iterative measures may suggest. Terminologies like MVP [Minimum Viable Product], Product roadmap, User persona and PMR [Primary Market Research] to list a few in the operation of a Product Manager. Nearly every day, was it required to turn in a task in a timely fashion. These new skill sets I found challenging most times in completing. I habitually spent extra hours to complete my tasks and sought help from facilitators and fellows. However, a growth mind set, grit in the face of difficulty and the power of collaboration stamped me as the premium values to proffer solution going forward.
TEAM WORK, SMART WORK
Let me brief you about my most amazing achievements. We were all grouped into different Hackathon Groups, teams saddled to come up with solutions to problems. Trailblazers named Blessing Arop, Daniel Olagunju, Ibukun Ijiyera and myself, Obafemi Adeniran agreed that the environmental degradation caused by bad waste management practices and low recycling processes is a massive problem to the our economic and environmental sustainability of our community. We resolved to find a solution through empathetic user survey in our primary market research, brainstorming sessions to compile a long list of ideas, convergence of ideas through viability, feasibility and effectiveness metrics. Consequently, the solutions fell under three main categories namely: Government & Policy, Digital Application and Awareness & Consultation. We were passionate and most confident in the use of the mobile app, which we created a Prototype for and presented on our Pitch day to Industry Veterans, Successful educators, Entrepreneurs, IFA partners and facilitators to vet and guide with feedbacks. The team had a beautiful presentation of a mobile system of recycling firms all in app coined G4 CYCLERS , with the flexibility to choose and schedule pickups of waste products for customers. Also, we incorporated a virtual reward system and proximity among others as incentives to encourage recycling efforts.
SO MANY PROBLEMS TO SOLVE
In the same fashion, I had the privilege to utilize the Hard Skill Lab, Product Management Channel to team up with another intelligent group to research for a Client, Afya Pamoja that is at the design thinking stage of providing government and health stakeholders with the support and understanding to deliver best medical services through actionable demands of the citizens through Digital Health Feedback Systems. We employed similar techniques as with the Recycling solution. To have the Start up’s Product Manager was motivational in Simon Debere while the team comprised of Adah Ochanya, Idara Uwatt, Moby Mogbitse and my humble self. I was asked to focus on drivers of adoption of the health feedback system. We had a brilliant presentation to our client and facilitators about our research concerning our product options [SMS, USSD and IVR], user persona, objective key results [OKR’s] and validation data to list a few. Then, there was the gift of Mentorship; I remember having a reschedule of my mentor as I had no idea of any of the professionals available beforehand. Hooman Tehrani is a first class theoretical and practical product manager. He defied the mentorship walls with constant feedbacks, online and offline availability and humble interaction all that has ever since boosted my confidence as a Product Manager.
GRATITUDE IS THE ANTIDOTE TO FAILURE
Moreover, we were opportuned to have different note jotting and expository sessions with various novel guest speakers including but not limited to Michael Olorunninwo, Efosa Ojomo, Faith Adesomowo, Chibuzo Opara and Vivian Nwakah. I realized that success had similarities in their stories as most of these diverse innovators emphasized some similar thoughts in different scopes. I have to single out Faith Adesomowo and Michael Olorunninwo with take away quotes thus: “ The reasonable man adapts himself to the world , the unreasonable man persists to adapt the world to himself ”, “ The progress of the world rests upon the unreasonable man” and “ You don’t generate demand , you solve a problem”. Notable lessons include Destination is not the same as Journey, Remuneration, Character and Passion are important in considering team/staff members and to keep the team motivated . My profound gratitude to all IFA team members: Quadri Oguntade, Mary Nagel , Margaret Wang, Cynthia Obiora, Viviana Rivera, Megan Christensen, Sima Haddadin, Maria Jaramillo and Omozusi Guobadia for showcasing and teaching all values of IFA daily especially Being Innovative and Inclusivity & Diversity by being impartial and creating a level playing ground for all fellows to thrive. My new reality is “ There is no Limit to what I can achieve". It is expedient to re-address my Talkshow Initiative with these tested techniques to scale up, seek to be a part of a start-up, form a team with some fellows and/or other innovative minds out there to identify and define as many problems as we are passionate about. I am not ruling out the chance to utilize my development so far to advance a firm that finds the demonstration of my skill set appropriate to her vision. I will be back to throw light on my progress in 6 months or a year. Stay tuned and wish me well.