Quote:
Originally Posted by Wayne C.
I think the FIRST community at large expects way too much from the NH office- and vice versa.
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Echoing Blake.....definitely on point.
Just to clarify a couple of things. FIRST is a
non-profit corporation. And corporation is a legal instantiation of a non-person entity birthed by 'articles of incorporation' much the same way a person is made legal by a birth certificate, but I digress.
Most people, students, teachers, corporate mentors and the people that work at FIRST tend to gravitate to the hierarchial institutional model of how things work and how things get done.
That is a big mistake. In reality the FIRST community is more like an evangelical church. The folks at HQ guide, direct, cajole, and keep the flame but the heavy lifting is done at the regional and local level. The growth of the program is done by the technological evangelists more than by any decision made at HQ. The 1st role of the folks at FIRST is to exert leadership by reminding everyone of the goals and mission of FIRST. Their 2nd role is to coordinate and communicate.
Root Cause - Chief Delphi is full of threads of conflicts related to the misunderstanding of how FIRST really works - falsely assuming that FIRST is a traditional linear monolithic thing, it is not.
Moving to solutions - Everyone at all levels needs to understand how the FIRST community really works.
There is periodic discussion and thrashing in every organization including FIRST on the topic of creating a set of 'best practices'. Ideally there should be a set of best practices for everyone that works in the FIRST community.
Think about it. If you were Dean Kamen, or Woodie Flowers, or Bill Miller, or Paul Gudonis there really should be a book on your shelf that has your job's 'best practices'. Ditto for volunteer coordinators, mentors, students, etc, etc.
that my 2 cents at Blake's PPS.