Some weeks ago, Flip solutions went on a learning journey. The learning journey is a course that’s designed to help the teampreneurs learn about executing a project that takes the team forward towards its vision. The objective is to start from making a plan that specifies the goals of the trip, to operating efficiently and successfully on the trip and then take the learned knowledge into action. In the end, I was personally not able to attend the trip but through taking some part in planning and being there for the in-depth post-motorola I’ve got a pretty good overview of how everything went. Sometimes it can be helpful for someone who was not directly involved, to give their perspective on a project and that is what I want to do through this short essay.

What went well?

If there was one thing that the whole team agreed on, it was that the trip was a great team-building experience. As we all know teamwork comes with its emotional ups and downs and taking a few days off from the normal routine and spending them together in a new environment can do wonders. Again, I was not personally on this trip but just judging from the pictures they definitely had fun. Flip visited Tiimiakatemia in Jyväskylä and even the quick visit seemed to be really inspiring, there have been multiple instances since that I’ve heard something along the lines of “They did X in this way in Jyväskylä, maybe we could consider something similar”. For example, the motivation to make changes in the coffee culture at Proakatemia got a true boost from there. At Ecovillage the team got to partake in some real manual labor. This was a real step out of comfort zone for many, but everyone was still able to keep a positive attitude and get things done, which is an important learning for any entrepreneur. Ecovillage is also a place where people have a very different view on life than most business-minded people do, which everyone agreed was a humbling experience and something to learn from. After all, if we want to run successful businesses, learning about people different from yourself and their wants and needs is always beneficial.

When it comes to the planning and execution of the trip, most of the team agreed that even with some struggles on the way the trip was a success in the end. Many plans had to change along the way, but the planning team got special thanks for making some tough and quick decisions. An important part that everyone enjoyed was the shared sauna and avanto (ice swimming) night on their last night there. As funny as it seems to talk about the importance of having some beers and going to sauna together in a Motorola, as one of the unlucky ones who were not there I can assure that the positive effect of a chill night like that one the team was clear.

What could be improved?

Something that I feel is important to note is that this was the first learning journey ever done in Proakatemia, since it’s something that is only included in ENTRE’s study plan. Because of this our team felt a bit lost in the beginning as to what the trip was supposed to be about and perhaps our first mistake was to not thoroughly enough discuss with the whole team what we wanted out of the course. Instead, we chose a small team that then took responsibility of planning everything. Since clear goals were not set for the trip, there was some frustration in the team when the plan was ready and many felt it was not what they would have wanted. We stayed on this topic for quite a while and discussed about whose fault or responsibility this really was. The teams for not voicing concerns early enough or the planning groups for not coming to the team when there were problems. Many felt that the planning team should have communicated to the team earlier that they were having troubles. On the other hand, we also acknowledged that since the planning team was given all the responsibility with little set goals from the team, they could have not known that that was necessary.

One thing that was causing problems throughout the trip was the environment. As I mentioned before, Ecovillage as a place was truly out of the comfort zone of many individuals in the team. Unfortunately, this was apparently seen clearly in some people’s attitudes from time to time and afterwards everyone agreed that this was unprofessional. As entrepreneurs, it’s always important that we show respect to customers, especially since now we were visiting their space.

What did we learn?

The single biggest learning for Flip seemed to be how much attitude really matters. We talked about Jyväskylä teampreneurs and how positive they seemed to be for example about their upcoming move, a topic that has had a lot of resistance in Proakatemia. The same goes for working at Ekovillage. A negative attitude rubs off on others easily and even just one person complaining can ruin a whole groups motivation to work. When everyone does their best to stay positive even in challenging situations any work feels a lot easier. Sometimes the biggest lessons come from failures and that is what this trip showed too. The work was certainly not what most of the team wanted to be doing, but in the end they were able to have fun and turn the experience into a positive one as a whole. I’ll end on the last thing I wrote on my Motorola notes too: “an open mind is our best tool!”

Saana Keränen