If we have an opportunity to meet, it does not take very long before you know that I love fitness and I am obsessed with CrossFit. It was actually during an excruciating workout that I realized how it can relate to development. Even through Anaerobic exercise I can’t stop thinking about the Bank and development.
1) Specializing is great. A holistic strategy brings success.
CrossFit aims at increasing overall fitness. Sure it’s fun to lift hundreds of pounds, be a bodyweight ninja or the best runner but if you don’t possess a high level of skills in all areas you cannot progress in your overall fitness.
Development works the same way. We create projects that cater to specific sectors but we always have a holistic strategy that fits the country’s development needs and goals while being highly skilled in other sectors.
2) Expect the unexpected.
Working in the field of international development, one skill you acquire/strengthen quickly is how to handle new challenges. In the two plus years I have been at the IDB, not one day has mirrored the next. Development fosters growth as you quickly learn there is no room for complacency.
CrossFit is all about expecting the unexpected. I’ve participated in competitions where you don’t know what you are about to do until you arrive that day. You must always be on your ‘A game’.
3) The process is not easy but the end result will be gratifying.
Have you ever looked back at something you’ve achieved in life and thought, I don’t know how I pulled through that? Look at a hero CrossFit workout and you’ll try to decipher how can you put your body through that. There will always be growing pains but when the clock strikes 0, you feel a sense of pride in finishing.
In our projects we set targets but to reach them can sometimes be a formidable task. The process of grinding out issues and reaching a solution is a relief first and rewarding second.
4) It takes a team
At the IDB we work in a lot of cross-functional teams inclusive of our counterparts. Though there may be different ambitions/goals, the end goal of promoting development in the country is the motivating & binding factor. Notwithstanding, through hard work, team work and determination, success is achieved.
One of CrossFit’s selling points is that you are joining a community of like-minded individuals. The end goal is always to be more fit and that is what drives the team/community to success.
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