Politics in Robotics, Need Help

[DonRotolo]

One thing that might help is to find out what problem this group is trying to solve.

Just like in building a robot, you must first identify the problem. Once that's done, there can be several ways to solve the problem, some clearly better than others.

If the solution will cause new problems, perhaps a different solution can be crafted to avoid both the old and new problems.

(Approach it like an engineering challenge and keep emotion out of it, because an emotional argument cannot be won.)

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by DonRotolo

One thing that might help is to find out what problem this group is trying to solve.

Just like in building a robot, you must first identify the problem. Once that's done, there can be several ways to solve the problem, some clearly better than others.

If the solution will cause new problems, perhaps a different solution can be crafted to avoid both the old and new problems.

(Approach it like an engineering challenge and keep emotion out of it, because an emotional argument cannot be won.)

I agree with this 100%

We had a small team like this on 11 as well, the Student Core Engineering Team. It is like a senior design team. There is no reason to be against it if it is run properly.

[PayneTrain]

The captains on our team are nominated by the team, including input from adults, then voted on by the members. Under the revised bylaws, it is under the understanding that the captains will make certain, department-specific decisions for the team (i.e. we aren't going to have a general team meeting on what to do at the team meetings; that is silly) and will, in collaboration with the build mentors and appointed students, will make a core design team. The designs for the robot will be finalized like officers. Designs are presented at meetings for feedback, then nominated to the core designers group, then voted on by the group for the team to implement. This avoids wishy-washy decision making that has plagued us in the past.

Do you have a set of by-laws they are supposed to follow? What kinds of decisions are they making?