Excellence is Contagious -- But how did you start the ball rolling?

[AllenGregoryIV]

Two books I think pertain to this discussion

Tribal Leadership: This was recommend by someone else on these forms and it's fantastic. You can see the different stages of organizations inside different FIRST teams. Every elite team I know of is at least at level 4, some hit 5 very regularly. The audio book is free from Zappos.com. Here's the link. Might be a good listen while teams are traveling to away regionals.

Linchpin: This one is more directed at the individual but I find it's style very effective. Read/Listen to Tribal Leadership first but I like a lot of the ideas in this book.

[Carolyn_Grace]

Originally Posted by AllenGregoryIV

Two books I think pertain to this discussion

Tribal Leadership: This was recommend by someone else on these forms and it's fantastic. You can see the different stages of organizations inside different FIRST teams. Every elite team I know of is at least at level 4, some hit 5 very regularly. The audio book is free from Zappos.com. Here's the link. Might be a good listen while teams are traveling to away regionals.

Linchpin: This one is more directed at the individual but I find it's style very effective. Read/Listen to Tribal Leadership first but I like a lot of the ideas in this book.

Thank you for reminding me about Tribal Leadership. A few of us on 33 read that a couple years ago, because it was passed on to Ike. We in turn passed it on to others. It is one of the first books I read that helped develop my leadership and mentoring abilities. I feel the need for a refresher, and I think I'll reread it over the remainder of Comp Season.

[saikiranra]

Until the beginning of last season, we were a "decent" team that consistently made it into quarter-finals and went to Nationals once.

A couple of months before the 2012 season began, our long time mentor left us and we "acquired " a new mentor. This new mentor was a graduate from our high school who was on the team 11 years ago. After high school, he went to college becoming a mentor for another team who "practiced" excellence. He got inspired by the standard of their robots and their frequent trips to Nationals.

Our current mentor became a teacher at our high school, teaching a technology literacy class in 2011. After our old mentor moved, our new one took the reigns of our "decent" program and steered us to a different path. He showed us excellence and made us strive for it by passing his fervor to us students.

Since then, our program has taken off. Although the ball just started rolling last season, our team has dramatically changed. Instead of just dreaming, we actually create, break, change, and "perfect" our ideas before committing them to our robot. We now take the time to powder coat and anodize the robot, practice clean wiring, and choose parts that not only work, but add a level of beauty.

This change of path did not only affect our robot; the whole community seemed to notice. Since then, we have gotten more sponsors, more opportunities to go to events with well known people, and more satisfaction every time we see the surprise in people's eyes or a laugh from a kid who catches a ball thrown from our robot.

I used to be one of those kids who said "Pfttt... Those guys did not build their robot. Those kids just stood around while their money and their mentors did all the real work. Those kids just had extra time and practice to drive with their superior 'bought' drive system." Now I realize that those teams were superior not because of their "mentor built" robots or their money: They all had a fire in their belly that did not allow them to settle with "decent." Their money and mentors followed their success, due to the kids and their mentor who brought the message of excellence.

Although we, as a team, are not yet to the level of teams such as 1114, 254, 1717, or 330, I hope to be there when we "achieve" that excellence.

[Jim Wilks]

Originally Posted by saikiranra

Until the beginning of last season, we were a "decent" team that consistently made it into quarter-finals and went to Nationals once.

A couple of months before the 2012 season began, our long time mentor left us and we "acquired " a new mentor. This new mentor was a graduate from our high school who was on the team 11 years ago. After high school, he went to college becoming a mentor for another team who "practiced" excellence. He got inspired by the standard of their robots and their frequent trips to Nationals.

This reflects what was said earlier by Kim. A visionary leader makes so much of the excellence begin.

[philso]

As a mentor, I suspect that I am not alone when I say that I would rather work with teams who

Originally Posted by Ian Curtis

get up early, eat your Wheaties, work really hard, and go to bed late

rather than teams who make excuses like

Originally Posted by Ian Curtis

"Well those teams are just good because Acme Corp sends a crack team of genius engineers and managers and a robot bag filled with money to help them out every year"

so it probably becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy.

After speaking with a lot of teams, especially the top teams, I have noticed that the first group all have the passion that Kim spoke of. I suspect that passion would lead them to do well whether or not they had help from "a crack team of genius engineers and managers and a robot bag filled with money to help them out every year". It just might take them a bit longer.

[brrian27]

Up until last year, Rebond Rumble, our team was just not a contender. We ranked in the 30s or higher almost every year and had yet to reach elimination rounds. I'm not really sure what changed, but suddenly we found success with #10 and #11 rankings last year in our regionals, and so far a #7 (top 8 ) finish at Orlando this year.

Be certain, we are not heavily sponsored. Our school has really ramped up the engineering program and facility we use, but in terms of mentors and outside help, we don't really have a lot of that.

I think two things changed us. Simplicity and a good core group of students.

First simplicity. I feel like our whole robot in 2010 was riddled with motor driven acme-screws and slow, complex parts. Keep it simple! In 2011 we used a simple wheeled basketball shooter and sliding arms for the bridge. Nothing too complex, but still a good design challenge. This year, we've gone with the over-used two-wheeled frisbee shooter, and also a simple chain/sprocket 30-point climb. All of this works! No crazy contraptions or time-consuming apparatuses. We may not be getting a design award, but we're getting the job done and it's working.

Also, we've had a good core group of students who work hard. It hasn't always been a lot of kids, but when you have a handful that works hard and has dedication, things will work out.

I think any team can get into the top tier of FIRST. It may take a few seasons, but slowly any team can improve and start winning regionals and awards, etc.

Oh, and mecanum wheels are nice.

[brrian27]

And our main mentor is awesome.

[coalhot]

Excellence (if you can call it that for me) stems from...in my case...a lot of hard work.

Example: in 2009, I was one of the three students who built our robot in three days. We planned on taking a little more time than that, but between the snowpocalypse in Philly, and some other team politics (which I hated), it was T-3 days to ship day, and just a driving base with an intake. Our lead mentor had just joined the team three weeks ago, and being an EE, he wasn't too familiar with the mech aspects of the robot. Thanks to the senior class of 2008 for teaching us the ropes, and some hard work we had a robot that was fully functional the morning before ship day. It happens to be the only 304 robot with a picture on CD Pic

This was one of the most exhilarating and teaching experiences I've had, as a student and possibly as a mentor. To, in three days, take a drivetrain and make what some considered was the second best defensive robot at Philly that year. It all happened with a lot of hard work.

That's excellence for me. My rookie season (2008) was a learning experience. My next year was when it really got slammed into gear. A lot of hard work and dedication. I hope it's something that's rubbed off on the team I'm mentoring right now, they are an awesome group of kids.

[AllenGregoryIV]

First off, Kim's post should be required reading. All of those observations are consistent with every team I have known that "gets it".

The team I coach now wasn't the same team it's rookie year, we have the same number, but that's about it. They were the "Roaring Crusaders" their first year and they got the Rookie Inspiration Award and Rookie Highest Seed Awards but they still had a lot to learn. When I joined the team the fall before their sophomore season, I was told that they only met during build season and for <15 hours a week. I was also told by a teacher that none of the students would want to meet more than that. We moved to a space where we could meet year round and at all hours (just across the parking lot at the other school). We started meeting in the off season and more than anything I started getting them excited about FRC. We would watch old matches and brainstorm ideas for old games. We would hold different training workshops each week to improve all of their technical skills. I also wanted to get them to see more robotics events so I brought a lot of them with me to volunteer at VEX, BEST, FLL, and even an FRC event before our competitions that year. We also volunteered at the Food Bank and other actives that helped our community while also building up our team. We made coming to the team a daily event, so much so that many of the members complain about the one day off we have the Wednesday after build season (We have met everyday since Jan 2nd, other than that day).

My goal was to see how quickly a team could get to be at that high level of competitiveness and luckily I have absolutely amazing students who have pushed just as hard as I have to get there. Spectrum has only really been in existence for about a year and half and we already have a Regional Chairman's Award and a trip to St. Louis under our belts. We're nowhere near where we want to be yet but I doubt any of the elite teams are satisfied with their current position or they would get knocked off the top pretty quickly by someone who wasn't.

I think the biggest thing is you have to someone show you that's not just okay to put a crazy amount of time into something but that's it's the only way you get better at anything. FRC is an extremely open community pretty much anything you want to know you can find but you have be willing to put in the time. Not every elite team meets for a crazy number of hours but someone(s) on the team is spending a lot of time working, thinking, building, and managing the project and they love doing it.

[Michael Corsetto]

Originally Posted by AllenGregoryIV

... and they love doing it.

Great post Allen, and this really brings it home. Thanks for sharing your team's story and your role in it. That PM you sent me a few months ago has been huge for me through this season.

I love doing FIRST!

-Mike

[AllenGregoryIV]

Originally Posted by Michael Corsetto

Great post Allen, and this really brings it home. Thanks for sharing your team's story and your role in it. That PM you sent me a few months ago has been huge for me through this season.

I love doing FIRST!

-Mike

Thank you, this just made my night. Good luck this season.

[Akash Rastogi]

"You cannot give Reputation to the same post twice."

Kim nailed it on the head perfectly for what I wanted to say. Can't pos rep it more than once. I think I'll add a personal experience later on in the season.

[PayneTrain]

Ideally there is something remotely profound in the essay below, but don't get your hopes up. Look at the post time (EST)...

I feel like personally this is going to be a very strange but special season for me, as an annoying pimply teenager who 4 years ago couldn't care much about FIRST, I went on to lead my team into a whole new chapter, and last week I sat on the other side of a Dean's List submission for a kid who might have the same addiction I suffer from . I hope I'll have a more inspiring story to share later, one that involves putting a student on my shoulders and running up and down Broad Street in Richmond, VA, screaming a lot and scaring passersby.

I think Kim was one of the first people to ever recognize one of my posts where I just let out a burst of energy about FIRST and how much it means to me. I have a lot of difficulty connecting with people in most of my life, I don't like to talk to people, and I'm not usually a burst of emotion... but one day it clicked, and now I will talk to people for 4 or 5 hours at a time about robotics and I will email back and forth people who have no idea what I am like outside of FIRST. I've kept board members for foundations of Fortune 500 companies well past the meeting time because what I perceive as ramblings of a FIRST lunatic obviously captivates them in some way (or they feel bad for me.. either way, I love sponsors!)

I stood up in front of 422 a few kickoffs ago and asked all 30 people in attendance when the team was going to start pushing themselves. I guess something has worked, because the team has doubled its revenue, its FLL support, its membership count, its mentor count, and its commitment all in the span of one year. We aren't lighting up the global community with blue banners (yet), but mentors, alumni, parents, and students are blowing up my inbox with suggestions, ideas, full-on business plans for the team and potential team services, scouting plans, design propositions and even opinions graphics and spirit.

4 years ago our spirit was some silly hats and some foam signs, our scouting was me, a sophomore, and two seniors saying "hey, look at that robot!", our business plan was to hope our single major sponsor would re-up again, and our designs consisted of aluminum angle, the kitbot frame, and some strings that could be pulled every once and a while (a few years) in a machine shop. Now I can see it. I can feel it. Heck, I'm 6 hours away and I can smell it.

I've had the pleasure of doing a lot of watching of 2614 while providing some wordsmith ability and video knowledge to their Chairman's team and cutting into some minor observations in design and other parts of the team (the blessing and curse of having done everything on a team means I never found anything I'm great at except writing and marketing). Watching Dr. Scime (2012 WFA winner... get to learnin' if you don't know who he is) guide all 30-odd mentors and 30-odd students into further improving what is already a strong(ly underrated) FIRST team inspires me, and knowing how much he believes in the program he is willing to sacrifice time where normal people sleep (his personal and professional life should create 18-hour days anyway).

I learned so much in the few hours a week I could put aside homework with 2614, and I really don't know how to tell them how much I appreciate it. I can tell how they started and kept the ball rolling-- it's him. Whether it is a student or mentor, a team needs a captain... a go-to guy. I was mediocre at best. I hope the underclassman in Richmond does as well as he should next year. People like Earl are my idols--they grabbed FIRST life by the horns and figured out how to tame the beast and let it empower those around them. I'm not speaking for them in any way, I'm just commenting on what I've noticed and what I can bring back to VirginiaFIRST and my team this summer.

Great teams are ships on the high seas. Powered by the gale force winds of great leaders, driven by a core group of mentors and students, and aided by dozens of people who are on deck to help keep the boat afloat, they move. FIRST is their compass, and it always points towards their goals. Through the sun and the storms the course will deviate and correct itself, so before you know it, you arrive at your destination.

Or at least that's how I like to imagine it at 3am and wide-awake, with visions of robots in my head.