Critical steps you should take to succeed at any competition -By national finalists of L'Oréal Sustainability Challenge 2020 from ISB

The L'Oréal Sustainability Challenge 2020 was the fourth edition of the sustainability initiative, which witnessed the participation of more than 4000 teams across the country. The challenge is open to B-School and engineering students and encourages the participants to commit to addressing not only our direct environmental impact but those of our consumers and stakeholders as well. 

Recently on 9th September, the top ten national finalists of the L'Oréal Sustainability Challenge 2020 got together for the Grand Finale. Our team, Team Rise, from the Indian School of Business (ISB), was one of the lucky few who were selected. As the top ten national finalists at L'Oréal Sustainability Challenge 2020, we have learnt a lot of lessons, which can hopefully help others who have a passion for such B-School competitions. 

The game plan

The core of our strategy at the L'Oréal Sustainability Challenge 2020 was to understand the problem statement and its impact. We had six days to come up with a solution, wherein we spent about four days on identifying the problem and understanding the expected solution. We believe having an outlined strategy like this is crucial for any competition in order to focus on ideation and brainstorming, without going haywire. 

If we ever found ourselves stuck in a conflict, we would reach out to our alumni at ISB, who helped us strategise and focus on the meat of the problem. Other than this, we would also shortlist our ideas in order to solve the problem statement at the L'Oréal Sustainability Challenge 2020. We would analyse the impact of every shortlisted idea in relation to the problem statement in order to clear out issues and come up with solutions. 

A diverse team

What really helped us as a team at the L'Oréal Sustainability Challenge 2020 was the fact that every member had their own specialty and skills of expertise. We all came from different backgrounds, which brought new solutions to the table every time a problem would occur. 

Sharanya is into operations, ideation, and analysis, which really helped us with the ideas and quantifying them. Navya is the tech-savvy one amongst the three of us, and is into product management. Our sustainability expert Dheeraj helped us out with the industry-specific knowledge, facts & figures. Different skill sets of all team members is a key success factor for us. 

The three of us shared similar approaches to solving a problem, which helped us come up with instant solutions for the L'Oréal Sustainability Challenge 2020. With our passion for the cause of sustainability, the three of us found the problem statement quite interesting. Driven by the competition, we would often work for more than twelve hours at a stretch without even realising it!

A smooth and memorable experience 

Our experience at the L'Oréal Sustainability Challenge 2020 was a jam-packed rollercoaster ride for us. The learnings it provided us with will be cherished by us for a long time. We learnt key skills like time management, communication, focused brainstorming, and data analysis. Moreover, the mentorship program at the competition really helped us focus on the problem, and hone our skills. 

What was remarkable about the L'Oréal Sustainability Challenge 2020 was how they were able to pull off the entire competition smoothly over a virtual setting. Every round was organised properly, making the entire experience memorable. Throughout the journey, we as a team have also had moments which we will never forget. For instance, the day before the competition, one of our team members fell asleep over Zoom while crunching numbers till four in the morning. Least to say that member became a meme amongst us!

The L'Oréal Sustainability Challenge 2020 was an amazing journey. The problems we solved, the bonds we made, the lessons we learnt are all memories to be cherished by us for a long time. All those sleepless nights and countless discussions definitely paid off in helping us secure a position in the top ten national finalists of the esteemed competition.