Dealing with robotics regrets

[Kevin Leonard]

Literally every team has regrets- its not just you.

I was discussing regrets with some people on 5254 a few weeks ago and they were ranting about all the different ways we COULD have won the Finger Lakes Regional (5254, 340, and 174 lost to 4039, 3015, and 378 in finals by 3 points).

And I just laughed, because it was going to be the first of many experiences like that for them.
I could complain about WPI 2013, Archimedes 2014, and three different IRI's all day and how if things had only gone slightly differently, each of those events could have gone better.
At some point you have to just learn from your mistakes and move on.

I'm sure 1114, 148, 254, 973, 2826, 2056, etc. all have regrets about their championship performances this year- they're trying to win a world championship, and "if only we placed a stack here instead" or "if only we placed X more totes" are complaints for both teams at the top and teams at the bottom.

Everyone has regrets in robotics- it's how you learn from them that makes all the difference.

[Jon Stratis]

I never have regrets about our robot or on field performance. Simply put, for me it really isn't about the competition, it's about the kids. And that's where, if anywhere, I may experience regret occasionally - when you have trouble reaching a kid, or walk away with the impression that you had a negative impact on them it hurts, and is something that you tend to dwell on for a while until you can make it right. It's one of the reasons I became an LRI - telling a group of kids that their beautiful design is illegal is probably one of the worst experiences they can have at a competition. I hate doing it. But I know that I can approach it in a way to both soften the blow and help set them on a path towards success. And for me, seeing that illegal robot get fixed and then be successful is one of the most rewarding parts of an entire competition.

When it comes to my team, a lot of it has to do with setting expectations and managing the entire process. We have a process in place that lets us analyze the season to pull out both the good and the bad, work towards improvement for next year, and leave everyone excited at the end of the season, regardless of how the season went. I know that students walked away just as excited for next year, even though our on field performance this year was horrible, as they did in 2011 when we had an amazing run to win North Star and go to champs for the first time in team history. And really, that's what it's all about.