[MrJohnston]

I run a very large team (typically about 100 students)... A few insights:

* As soon as the focus becomes "winning," we become miserable. When this becomes our focus, every single decision becomes more intense. Large numbers of students and mentors become attached to their "best" idea and it becomes extremely difficult to compromise on designs - or even hear one another out. We focus on Gracious Professionalism and working together. When this is the focus, it is much easier for a person to let go of their own "brilliant" idea and settle for something s/he considers "second best" when others believe it to be the "best."

* Kids cannot hold all the decision-making power. Let's face it: They are students and simply do not have the engineering knowledge and skills as our professional mentors. Students must have the humility to really listen to those with knowledge.

* Mentors cannot hold all the power, either. This is a kids' game and the kids need to play.... to have them sit back and watch while the mentors do all the thinking, strategizing, building, etc. undermines the purpose of FIRST and takes nearly everything away from the kids' experience.

* There must be a balance of power between kids and mentors - and that balance changes annually. Some years, we are lucky enough to have a strong core of 4th year students who can take over much of the responsibility. Other years, we have a lot of younger, inexperienced students and the mentors must have a stronger hand in leadership. No matter what the balance in any given year, the kids must have room to take a strong level of responsibility and make mistakes. If mentors always bail them out, the kids won't learn. Winning must be secondary. At the same time, when the kids excel, they should be rewarded with a strong robot. Our team wants to go to St. Louis every year and make a strong showing. However, as mentors, we are only going to make sure that the kids are going to have a robot that has a strong competitive shot at making to the PNW championships. If we are going to actually make it that far - or having a good showing and make it further, it's up to the kids to make it happen - and up to the mentors to point the way.

* We have found that decisions cannot be a straight-up vote with all the members. Annually, the largest group of kdis we have are first-year FIRSTers - freshmen. To leave major robot decisions up to them would be akin to Boeing leaving design decisions for their newest airplane up to interns. It's not going to happen. However, with a large team it is imperative that we give every member a voice. We then have a much smaller student/mentor group driving the decision-making process. When their is not a clear general consensus, we have a very small group of experienced students making the final call. We also emphasize Gracious Professionalism in that process - we know that not everybody can possibly get their way, so we really emphasize how to handle things when a decision goes the "wrong" way.

* Running an FRC team - from the mentor side - is very difficult and very time-consuming (especially if we are going to push the kids to have a strong level of leadership). Literally, the more "power" you allow the kids to have, the more difficult it is to run the team. It's much easier to be a dictator.

* Changing adult leadership can be brutal for a team - especially if the "top dog" doesn't know much about the program and doesn't have strong support from more experienced mentors. Often, the top dog needs help, but does not realize it. I would suggest sitting down with the mentor and learning how s/he sees FIRST and how s/he would like to see the season unfold. Then, graciously and professionally, ask about differences that are important to you... Generally, there is somebody in FRC in your district or region who could be a resource for that person - either a district director or a team with more experienced mentors. For instance, our team often reaches out to other nearby teams when they have instability in their adult leadership or are simply a younger (rookie?) team, just to see if we can help them get through just this sort of situation.

* Whatever you do, remain Gracious and Professional - without being preachy! (Okay, I struggle with this part sometimes). Even if you completely disagree with where the lead mentor is taking the team, remember that s/he would not be doing it if s/he did not legitimately care and that s/he is putting in a huge amount of personal time - often at the expense of career and family.