Re-power Your Future Through the Eyes of Zbyněk Bezchleba

It's around 8:00 AM on the 26th of November. As I drive to Jihlava, I find myself wondering. After all these years in the field, I'm still considering what and how to share with a team of high school students who are about to face a challenge.

Our day at the VŠPJ in Jihlava begins at 9:00 AM. This is the first time I'm seeing my team and the topic that awaits us.

We are tasked with designing an innovative project to aid the development of the Vysočina Region. The brief is quite broad, offering numerous approaches. We have about four hours for a Lean Canvas session and to prepare our presentation.

The team comprises students from seven different secondary schools, ranging from grammar schools to vocational institutions. We must quickly move from being strangers to becoming colleagues, learning about each other's strengths and motivations.

At ICE, we understand that a friendly, cooperative group is far more effective than a collection of soloists, and that's exactly how I'm trying to motivate the team.

After a brainstorming session, it’s 10:30 AM, and the pace picks up! 

It's time to choose our topic. The team decided to address the issue of the region's low attractiveness to tourists and residents alike—choosing the theme "System of Thematic Eco-Parks." In this system, there should be space for intergenerational gatherings, children's activities, and opportunities to learn about ecology and local features surrounding the eco-park installation.

So it should be a place people want to see, visit and enjoy—for both the space and the company. It's 11:30 AM and we have the first version of the canvas. This is where the team learns that a general description is useless, that ideas also have a cost, and that you need to find someone to sell the idea to. But this is a typical part of project work at ICE, so there was plenty of inspiration to be found.

We have a short lunch and go back to work. Roles have become clearer, and I'm happy that the team has one goal, that no one is sidelined and that everyone is pulling together. We want to win, but we'll see.

We are preparing the presentation and the speakers are starting to fine-tune their speeches.

At 2:00 PM, we present our proposal to the jury. The tension we feel is similar to what we experience in ICE while waiting for a decision on our offer. Yet, the team is united and fully committed. Great!

Here we go!

The presentation is underway - and I am proud of what the team has prepared and how they have presented it. I didn't quite believe it this morning, but it's true. Now we just have to see what the jury says. 

Soon after, the jury's decision is announced. We didn't win the prize...

Actually, that's not true—we did win!

We succeeded in collaborating, inspiring one another, and proving that anything is possible with professional commitment and team participation. And I definitely won, too. My prize is the invaluable experience and confirmation that ICE's values of professionalism, flexibility, teamwork, integrity and fun, which we applied as a team, truly lead to success.

Now, driving from Jihlava to Žďár around 6:00 PM, I feel gratified. Meeting inspiring new people warmed my heart and filled me with joy and energy. Did the team enjoy it as much as I did? That's a question for its members.

Thanks to the entire team—Johana, Lucie, Lukáš, Marek, Sofiane, Tomáš, and Vojta. You were fantastic, and I wish you all the best in your studies and personal lives. The ICE T-shirts suit you well! This team has reaffirmed my belief in the value of ICE's support for education.

So, in addition to workshops for primary and secondary schools, as well as teaching at universities, I’m adding this event to my calendar (provided the organisers from JA Czech are interested).

Zbyněk Bezchleba, Senior Software Developer and mentor of this team