The first week of ICP is always the hardest. Maybe not in terms of pressure, but definitely in terms of frustration.
The reason why it is so frustrating is because you basically drown in data. You find yourself ploughing through endless piles of information in an attempt to make sense of it all, which can feel like trying to walk through mud. Heavy and cumbersome, but if you aren’t careful you can also fall flat on your face! It’s a necessary evil though; if you don’t get a good feel for the subject matter and the company, you can’t even begin to narrow down your problem statement or what it is you want to work towards.
So this first week we have been hunkered down in our study room, reading, debating, brainstorming and reading some more. Every once in a while we raise our periscope to try to come back to the bigger picture, see if we have some more of the missing pieces of the puzzle and slowly start to build a structure. At times you find yourself taking a left or a right turn, because of some new data you have read, but we have to force ourselves to keep our eye on the prize which is the end deliverable.
But on the other hand, it is comforting to be back in the ICP routine. 8 a.m. start, work on the ICP the whole day and then your evenings are free for your job search activities or your individual project. And best thing of all; we get to spend all of next week in Paris! It’s been a long time since I’ve been back there, so it will be nice to soak up some of the autumn atmosphere in Paris. Bring on the baguettes and onion soup!
Joan