It is a problem when about 50% of people doing something (as of the time of this post) see a problem of some kind with this:
http://www.btsquarepeg.com/about/productivity-triangle/
We can see from this post:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...6&postcount=24
Quality is directly impacted by the extra time and experience that students right now have to get over the course of 2 expensive competitions. Those competitions are driving participation cost.
We know that we are not completely out of bounds because FIRST does get enough return in the end to have a spectacle that attracts sponsors and spectators. However we also know that there's an additional hidden cost in the practice bots so many think need to exist for a variety of reasons:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...hreadid=139391
So what we may have here is a triangle where the cost is definitely impacted by the shortening of time and the quality is impacted by the shortening of time and it is definitely a linked system.
So the thing is: outside of FIRST I've worked 1,000 hours of time over 8 hours in about the last 10 months at my job. As a people leader (it's part of my job role) I have noted points of dissatisfaction about this work from about 50% of my direct reports. That drives the risk they will be less dedicated, act against policy or outright leave. These people I am working with are on top of their fields. They make medical doctor kind of money and the demand for their skills is very high. So as a people leader it's not wise to ignore such a large concern as it does not drive value to my organization. It's not wise to loose dedicated and extremely talented people from your team to your competitor.
Unless those numbers change a lot via participation in the poll maybe it's time FIRST study this more. Personally I feel there's a glass ceiling at work here. You can see success but you are blocked from it because of factors you don't consider and are not better controlling. A vast majority of teams are building the same robot or something similar for more than 6 weeks so that's not a real deadline at all. That is driving up the cost to everyone. Even then the first 2 competitions for a team teach them a lot and they demonstrate it in their delivery quality. We can say we want to maintain the status quo, but we can't be honest saying it because we don't have a 6 week build season with so many practice bots.
PS: A goat for a family in need costs like $120.
http://www.heifer.org/gift-catalog/a...FdgYgQodLo4KOA
That $1,000 control system is 5 goats and some smaller critters.
I hate to
Steve Jobs this: but you could save entire villages with that sort of money.
I am intentionally ignoring it's a terrible idea to send animals to a place that won't support them in favor of the idea these people will be smart enough to send them to places where the animals make a positive difference.