[Lil' Lavery]

"Gracious Professionalism" is an ambiguous term, with no set rubric for what defines "GP" behavior and what doesn't. I can only assume this is purposeful, as it should be. It's not black and white, and is often difficult to apply to many situations. It's an ephemeral guideline to what the culture of FIRST, and hopefully the rest of society, should be.

Barry Bonzack posted the definition of "grace" once in a thread at another time the FRC community was facing adversity.

mercy; clemency; pardon: He was saved by an act of grace from the governor. Synonyms: lenity, leniency, reprieve. Antonyms: harshness.

Likewise, "professional" can be defined as follows.

a person who is expert at his or her work: You can tell by her comments that this editor is a real professional.

Neither term directly correspond to one another, and just the definitions of the two words do not encompass all of what Gracious Professionalism is. But you can begin to glean the intent, and more insight can be gained by listening to Woodie Flowers speak about it. Woodie and FIRST often use terms like "kindness," "respect," "creativity," "integrity," "sensitivity," "mutual gain," "standing on the shoulders of giants," and "high quality" when describing GP. In particular, Woodie's sentiments about avoiding humiliation of others echo particularly strong with me this year.

It may be cliche, but adversity is a test of character. While it's far from the first time in FRC history, this year has had plenty of adversity. And like the times in the past, some have handled the adversity better than others. Many have shown that Gracious Professionalism is indeed ingrained into their character. Others have handled it with less grace and less professionalism, and their actions have not contributed to our mutual gain. I do not blame them, this has been a very stressful year and a lot of people have seen their hopes derailed by events fully outside of their control. It can be difficult to manage.

Yet, I do find it hard to reconcile how some of these attitudes are in line with our mutual gain, mutual respect, or avoiding humiliation of others. Throwing temper tantrums or publicly degrading individuals, whether they be volunteers or professionals, does nothing to help the community. The spite and vitriol exhibited by not only the scorned parties, but others in the community, does not seem healthy to me. Just as I do not blame these individuals for their negative attitudes, they should not lay the blame on others. Often, the same emotionally-charged, high-stress environments that led to their emotional states were often involved in the decisions that they disagree with. None of these decisions were made with malice in mind, and nobody is happy about these scenarios. Empathy is tremendously important here.

Originally Posted by Dave McLaughlin

Then why does FIRST host competitions every year that establish winners?

Is it that inconceivable that the competition is only a portion of what FIRST is about, and a means to the end of the ultimate goal of changing culture? It's an easily understood and exciting event that draws attention and gets participants and observers excited. It's using the sports model to create attention and excitement for STEM programs. It's not the core emphasis of FIRST.