Quote:
|
Originally Posted by KarenH
If we desire that an organization continue to be successful, we must work towards unity. Otherwise, that organization--whether FIRST, or an individual team--will be torn apart by the personal ambitions and general selfishness of its members.
|
It takes a huge amount of work to make FIRST the way it is today. There are many to contribute to this program who we will never even know the name of. I learned that lesson from Cal Games, it took an extraordinary amount of volunteer to pull it off, and it was just an one day event. Imagine how much work it takes to create 30+ regionals, a national headquarter, the championship event, and thousands of teams in various regions all over the country.
It's hard to imagine the reasons that would stop FIRST in its track, it could be a lawsuit that literally bankrupt the organization overnight, or some sort of cultural/economical change that makes it impossible to find funding at any level for a FIRST team/competition. But all that problems will be overcome because the leaders will still be there. Dean, Woodie, people like John Abele, folks on the executive board, folks like Dave... They are the reason FIRST is the way it is today.
If we have to consider the unimaginable, if we have to imagine a scenario where these folks are no longer there to make FIRST happen, I wonder if it will be possible to put together a FIRST similar to what we have. Will we be able to rally all the folks from all over the country to work together toward a single organization, or will the various regions develop their own organizations and go separate ways? I want to say it's possible for everyone to come together, but experience tells me how incredibly difficult it is to satisfy all the needs across a broad spectrum of people. It will have to start small again, in a region, and it won't spread to the rest of the country until it's proven again the new organization is going to be just as successful as FIRST is today, of not more. And I imagine there will be a lot of competition before that is achieved again.
Even though all these are very improbable, it's certainly very interesting to think about.