After months of intensive training, I recently completed the Almere-Amsterdam Triathlon: a 3.8 swim in open water, followed by 180 km on the bike and a marathon. Looking back on the whole experience, I realized that preparing for a triathlon actually is a lot like running a project at iCapps. Here’s why.
Drive & Enthusiasm
A good result comes with unfailing dedication and wild enthusiasm. We all know there’s no such thing as a free lunch.
Whether you want to reach an ambitious athletic goal in your spare time or you aim to build top-notch products at work, it takes a great big effort if you want to do it right. There’s no secret in keeping up the hard work, there’s only passion. If you are passionate about whatever it is you do, you forget about all hard labor. That’s what I see every day at iCapps, driven and enthusiastic people working hard to put that smile on our customers’ face.
Hard Work Combined with an Agile Mindset
The internet is overloaded with schedules telling you how to prepare for a triathlon. They all have one thing in common: a lot (really a lot) of training hours.
If you want to follow those schedules strictly you can forget about having a social life or other hobbies.
In the first weeks of my preparation I actually got stressed when I wasn’t able to stick to the plan. Of course stress is never a good thing in the long run. So I consulted with my coach and we adapted the workout schedules to fit into my agenda, instead of the other way around.
At iCapps we think ahead and create a realistic project plan in order to achieve the best possible results.
Nevertheless, in this world of rapid change, the context is constantly changing. This means our customers are under pressure too - constantly adapting to never-ending change. The business requirements we receive are volatile or even unknown at the start.
The agile mindset at iCapps makes it possible to successfully deal with change and unexpected events during the project execution.
Teamwork
You might think that preparing for and completing a triathlon must be a lonely business. And you’re right, as far as the workouts go. Nevertheless, the impact of the people around you is invaluable. Without the support of my girlfriend, family, friends and colleagues, I would never have been able to successfully complete this challenge. They all helped and motivated me to achieve the best possible result, all the way up until the final steps across the finish line.
I would say that at iCapps the team is even more important. Because everything we create is the result of teamwork. Like Aristotle said: The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Eyes on the Prize
There’s no room for nonsense in a triathlon schedule. By cutting a workout session short, for example, you’re only fooling yourself. It’s all about reaching the best result within the given constraints. Setting clear goals and doing whatever is needed to reach those targets.
iCapps has the same culture. It’s not about counting down to Friday evenings. It’s about chasing challenging goals.
