to hackathon and beyond

23. April 2020 Blog

The #CAREhacktCORONA weekend hackathon culminated in an optimistic and energetic close, the initiative itself is still very much in progress.

Problem solver teams with support from their coaches have finalized practical, real-life social impact solutions. Jury members are now busy evaluating these solutions in time for this weekend’s award ceremony.

Looking back over the last weekend gives good reason to view the future positively. This positivity is corroborated by observations on how all participants compassionately and collaboratively engaged with one another throughout the event.

The hackathon showed that …..

  • people intrinsically want to make a positive impact
  • like minded people with courage, can make change happen
  • an environment for open collaboration can be nurtured and developed
  • a productive and creative environment can be rapidly created
  • transparency of information increases trust and enables adaptation
  • enabling people to give their best generates ownership
  • a meaningful purpose provides orientation and creates momentum
  • great solutions emerge faster when organizational impediments are removed
  • people can collaborate effectively from the first moment they meet
  • despite physical distance, truly tangible social proximity can be realized
  • coaching and mentoring styles better address complex situations
  • energy for achieving an engaging purpose can increase as work progresses
  • focus and goal orientation can be increased when time is limited
  • self-organization increases autonomy, and the resulting sense of achievement

Put simply, …..

when #people with a common, meaningful #purpose come together, combined with a #passion for helping others, then #positive change will happen

My takeaway for beyond the hackathon: reflecting on the event reminds of an immense amount of good. We will need to create this type of environment again and again in the future post Corona era. Each time learning from our previous experience and adapting our approach with each new challenge.

The “Why?” has become very clear to us all over the course of the last months. My own personal focus right now brings my attention back to my own zone of influence, and as I write this I am asking myself the question “How can I take a more effective part in shaping the positive environment I want us all to live in?”.

photo by @visuals on unsplash.com