[Ebolagirl]

Originally Posted by KenWittlief

one of the biggest secrets of engineering: YOU dont have to know everything

The Gracious part of GP is expecting that people will make mistakes from time to time, even professionals make mistakes. Thats when you need to be gracious and not get upset about it.

That is sooooo true. A lot of people tend to forget that (even though we work on robots) we are not robots. People make mistakes, it happens, deal with it. I think this scout's mistake pales in comparision to, say, the mistakes that led to the loss of the Mars Orbiter (due to engineers using different units). I think she can be forgiven.

Gracious Professionalism is an imperitive aspect of this competition. And the ability to maintain GP towards you teammates thoughout the stressful build season and during the chaos that is competition is a true talent. It seems like during these times GP is sometimes pushed aside in favor of less amiable ways of communicating.

While I do agree that people need to read the rules, and know them fairly well, it isn't necessary to be able to recite them word for word from heart. And Gracious Professionalism should not be sacrificied in order to "prove you are right". Don't let pride or ego diminish Gracious Professionalism.