Mentors: What's something you wish you knew going in?

[PayneTrain]

Originally Posted by waialua359

Great advice on this thread about beind kid focused.

I'd also argue that the planning part is 99.99%!

Do things before deadlines are even talked about.

Plan for failures. When something doesnt go as planned, have alternative contingency plans in place.

To make it as simple as possible, I try to look at FRC as a program where teams can have tiers, and if you can't satisfy conditions for the lower tier, you can't advance to a higher tier. If you don't know how to plan, the technical experience of human resources does not matter. If you lack the concepts of project management and a competent and deep technical knowledge base, the shiny toys and workshops you have are useless.

Trying to figure out HOW to do things in FIRST is so difficult because while there are great resources out there from Hall of Fame teams that can direct you how to run a team, there is no resource out there that tells you how to run YOUR team. You can't be 1114. You can't be your local powerhouse. You can't be a carbon copy of your old team. Learn how to emulate, but never waste time trying to imitate. Forge your team's identity and culture and let it grow naturally in an environment you nurture.