A Step Forward
Lessons on Adaptability and Resilience: A review of the foundation level of the McKinsey’s Forward program
A Bit of Introduction
I’m Jekayin-Oluwa Olabemiwo. I’m a software engineer and technical writer. I work with a Fintech team at Venture Garden Group. I’ve wanted to do a professional development program to gain solid skills that would help me become better in my day-to-day activities at work. Fortunately, a friend sent me an announcement about the McKinsey Forward program a couple of months back. Without wasting time, I applied and sent the announcement to my other friends so they could apply too. I believed that McKinsey was a global firm with access to experienced talent development professionals and it’d be instrumental in achieving my professional development goal for 2021/2022. Not too long after applying, I received a mail that I’d been accepted into the Foundation Level of the Forward program for the African region. The cohort-based program started shortly after.
One Key Learning
One learning from the Foundation Level that has had so much impact on me lately is about setting clear learning intentions. The lesson encourages focusing on the learning process rather than the specific goal. This has helped me have a rethink my long-term goals in my job and career altogether. Do I just want to become a Senior engineer earning high and famous? A reconsideration of it all answers negatively. No, I want to be a Senior Engineer or founder who’s deeply rooted in computer science and mathematics concepts but one that also values community and people. I want to leave a lasting impression on everyone that comes my way in this career to always give their best and be helpful to people. And, I want to propagate these values to various other places that I might not have stepped in.
Spurred to Action
So, I’ve slowed down in the pursuit of mastery. Now, I only want a clear visible mark of small change daily. Now, I want to show up every day and do a good job. I want to do my very best days and not bother about tomorrow or the future. I’m taking it one day at a time now, making the best of each day that comes. It has improved my sleeping pattern in the past few days. Even my disposition to issues and general mindset about work and people. Interesting yeah? Such is the effect of meditating on one of the learnings of the Forward Foundation Level program. Now, imagine the cumulative output all the learnings will produce in me in the next few months.
In retrospect, I’ve learned a lot in the modules on adaptability and resilience, different approaches to defining and solving problems, design thinking, and making data-driven decisions in the workplace and relationships. I want to practice the concepts as the situation demands. That implies going back to my notes often to recollect the explanations and approaches. Thankfully, I do that already.
In Conclusion
In essence, I’ve learned a whole lot that’d be helpful in my career. Therefore, spending time to learn in the Foundation Level of the Forward program was worth it, no doubt. Hopefully, in a post sometime, I’ll go into details on more learnings I picked from the program.
Thanks for reading up to this point!
