An Attitude of Counterculture

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So, I've been writing a blog for a short time now, and this is my latest piece. If you guys have anything I could add to this, please comment below.



This is an lesson from my lecture series for FIRST teams that I’ve been writing.

Over the last two days, I read a book called Do Hard Things. Its tagline is “A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations”. Something that hit me hard was a passage in the book.

“Proverbs 1:32 is even clearer: ‘The complacency of fools eventually destroys them.’
Over time, refusing to reach higher, try harder, and risk more robs us.”

Whether or not you’re religious, this point isn’t something to joke about. Many FIRST teams, many outreach efforts, & many movements have been forgotten and eventually blown away like chaff in the wind because people stayed in an attitude of complacency.

There are two things I believe that really allow us to transcend the status quo for teenagers in our generation, and allow us to be a part of a stronger FIRST.

1) Do what’s hard for you. Pretty much straightforward. We need to get to a point in our lives in where we step outside our previous comfort zones, and endeavor to do greater things than others have ever thought or attempted to do.

Notice the language I used; endeavor & attempt. There is a chance in which you may not attain exactly what you wanted. But in order to learn, we need something to learn from; our mistakes. I’ve known people that have completely abandoned reasonable ideas because they didn’t want to leave their comfort zone of their current abilities.

I was recently in a advisory meeting with a FIRST team, and a suggestion was made by a sub-team captain to make the effort of creating an second robot in order to practice after Ship Day. The captain of the team flat out said that they weren’t going to do it; almost a full six months in advance of the 2012 season. The reason? The costs to create the second robot & their dismal expectations on their performance in terms of time management. 6 months in advance. Truly sad. Because they will miss an opportunity to grow.

This also brings up another point. You may be doing excellent in terms of a standard of mediocrity perpetuated. Basically, only having to do little in skill and potential in order to stand out and gain attention. Then, people in this situation tend to become complacent in “excellence”, and it becomes a problem. This quote says it all: “It is not enough to impress a society with remarkably low expectations; it’s not enough to be a standout in a sea of mediocrity.” Example: outreach. You may have a specific set of outreach that your team does in one year. This one set of outreach has brought recognition, Chairman’s Awards, sponsors, and other things. But, it’s been the same thing for the past 3 years. No expansion, no effort.

In essence, the team has blocked its true potential, the real impact they could have on a community, because of complacency. It happened to my former team where we became complacent in our efforts across the board. We as an outreach organization, a competition team alliance, and as leaders did not grow. I realized it when one of the judges at this last year’s Peachtree Regional said, “Oh, that again. So, you guys have nothing new to show us?” Make the effort to do new things that STRETCH you.

When you stretch upwards, you’re growing. Figuratively, and literally.

2) Don’t forget the purpose. I’ve met many, many people that have basically lost sight of what FIRST really is supposed to be. I know of teams that their only purpose for outreach is to win the Chairman’s Award or the Inspire Award. I know teams who have told me, “We will win at ALL costs.” Guys, when we start thinking like that, we become like the sport franchises that we see on the TV. FIRST isn’t just a competition. IT’S A COUNTERCULTURE. It’s a revolution in itself, against the low expectations of our educational systems, against the misconceptions in our generation. We have to take the eyes off of ourselves, and put them on others; towards the overall vision.

Outreach is for recognition. Not for ourselves, but for the entire FIRST counterculture. So many teams have lost sight of that, to the point that it makes me think how the people on these teams will turn out in the real-world. Whether we will see their names in Time for being one of 100 of the most influential, or we’ll see them in the New York Times for outrageous scandal. When it comes down to it, it’s between becoming a better person without any hardware in the hands, and a winner with a hollow heart and a substance-void victory.

The winners of the Chairman’s Award, the Inspire Award, the Woodie Flowers Award, and the Dean’s List award (finalists & winners); they don’t win because of the amount of outreach they’ve done, or the amount of years they’ve been in the organization. They win because they’ve reached the point where they are constantly stepping out of comfort zones to bring new definitions of what FIRST truly is to others. They are the unconventionals, the servant leaders, the mavericks of the FIRST counterculture.

Definition: a person pursuing rebellious, even potentially disruptive, policies or ideas.

Now, the question is: how will you approach your FIRST experience? Be an uncomfortable rebel, or a complacent citizen?

All I know is that my demeanor when it comes to working with FIRST will be this: “That was nothing. Watch this.” Challenge yourself and your team to call the normal things normal, and save the word excellence for the things that truly make it to that pinnacle.

Hoping you guys got something out of this.

-Kyle J.