As I reflect on my journey so far as a student of innovation management and entrepreneurship at Kingston University, I now realize the importance of teamwork as a powerful strategy to resolve complex business situations.
Our very first team challenge was to “apply and develop creativity” specifically to show creative ways in which a paper clip can be used. This was strange, I thought to myself as my mind went blank thinking of the obvious “for organizing paper” but as we carried on brain storming i realized that actually there are several creative ways I had never thought about like cleaning finger nails, unlocking doors, used as hair clip, et cetera. Brain storming made it a lot more interesting more interactive and a lot easier for us to come up with a list of over 13 different uses of a paper clip.
On to our second challenge was the hackaton for surrey town council that is looking to work with partners to create an environment where residents, individuals and families are resilient and can support one another to be participants with in stronger communities.
This challenge was really confusing at first as very limited time was given to us to come up with a project and pitch to Surrey county council. Unsure as we seemed on first attempt but through further discussions everything became clearer and eventually we were able to understand it better leading us to developing a Problem statement
We quickly developed a problem statement that people are increasingly neglecting their health and wellbeing, exercising less, and not eating right. We as a team are concerned about their mental and physical health, this involves age groups above 20years at all times in all places.
To back up our problem statement, we further had a quick research and found out that 30% of the UK population are suffering from various mental illnesses, over 70% are obese and nearly 600,000 people are reported to be depressed and fight anxiety (statisca), these challenges could lead to stress, loneliness, depression, anxiety and cause both mental and physical health problems.
Our team further brainstormed on possible solutions to address the challenges. For a healthier surrey plans, to run free fitness and wellness classes/events in the local parks and council owned buildings as we plan to enlist the help of fitness instructors, wellness professionals and local counselors/local charitable organizations based in surrey to offer the wide range of services to tackle health issues. These events would be funded by local businesses in Surrey county presenting them with a platform to advertise their businesses in a way that benefits both them and the community. With the help from healthy food stalls we will be able to promote healthy living. Our project therefore sought to address the challenges of both mental and physical health with in Surrey County while promoting community togetherness and support.
We also Identified Key features of our project;
- Target group (20years and above) as this age group is more likely to face the above challenges as compared to below 20years that are still in school and may have mandatory physical activities
- Free space which is indoor and outdoor gym
- Availability of equipment and professional instructors, both male and female
Given the short time that we had to deliver on this challenge and thereafter pitch to surrey county council, it was only possible through the power of team work. I have therefore learned that two heads are better than one to be able to accomplish tasks that an individual alone would take forever to accomplish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-Hzzg1AtVs
