Gracious Professionalism

[Andy Baker]

Originally Posted by EStokely

We talk about a match a few years ago when our robot collided hard with our opponent and a rope came lose from our machine to entangle the other machine. We both pulled and tugged until we finally fell over while the other machine broke free. We knew we were in the wrong, that rope wasn't attached correctly and it was our fault. The refs deliberated for what seemed to be a long time when the head ref finally come over and told us we had been disqualified because of entanglement problem. While this was occuring the pit crew from my team was making sure we hadn't damaged the other teams machine. We use this story to help the newbies try to understand GP.

Aha... I remember that. I was the head ref who made the DQ call. I recall talking to the drive team of 360. They were not happy with the outcome of the match, but they took the decision in stride. I think that this DQ knocked them from the #1 seed, if I remember correctly.

GP... it's tough to describe, but I see it every day. Today, I got an email from a customer: "where is our shipment?" Right before I dig into this shipment, I see another note from this customer: "oh, we got it... someone else signed for it". It was a simple note. She didn't have to send it. But, it saved me the work in finding her shipment info. I appreciated that.

GP really comes out at the competitions. It is seen there. However, it is learned during the build season. Veteran students and mentors are obligated to pass along what they have witnessed in previous years. It's our job to teach.

Andy B.