[JaneYoung]

I'd like to thank everyone who posted in this thread. Your perspectives have added insight and food for thought.

One area that I've been mulling over is the lack of check points along the way. There are check points for the build and there are plenty of discussions about teams falling behind schedule, waiting on parts, or procrastinating. I haven't really read many discussions in CD about check points for morale. If a team feels defeated or confused before the build starts or during the build, the team won't move into the competition season with much of a boost. There can be various reasons for feelings of defeat, even before the season starts. Maybe a team isn't going to the Championship Event and decides that it is pointless to give 150% each and every day. Maybe a team doesn't understand the process of designing the robot to be able to adjust to the continual development of game play. Maybe the team doesn't have a system in place to address the constant day-to-day frustrations and road blocks, helping it to overcome and problem-solve through those frustrations. Maybe a team's mentors try to take on too much and don't delegate properly. Maybe a team's student leads try to take on too much and don't delegate properly. I can see all sorts of reasons for feeling defeated and confused before, during, and after build.

In the teams that consistently achieve success in whatever form that takes, there is a recognition and implementation of strong leadership. In my opinion, that doesn't mean a strong leader who does everything and controls everything. It means a strong leadership within the team using tools such as wisdom, experience, flexibility, and foresight to help bolster self-confidence and ease the sense of failure and/or desire to give up. Teenagers remind me of vessels that love to be filled. One way or the other, they will be filled and it is up to the mentors to help them gain a sense of responsibility, accountability, and ownership regarding the team and the team's goals. That fills the vessels plenty. At the same time, the mentors are also vessels and we, too, must take that responsibility. Making this a consistent part of the team philosophy and approach to competing will give the team an edge in the shop and on the field. The trick is in making it consistent.

That's where I am in my thinking right now. I can't wait to see where my thinking is next year. It changes, develops, and grows every season.

Again, thank you to everyone who contributed to this thread.
Jane