There's something profoundly humbling about standing in a room full of several hundered or several thousand teenagers that are all smarter than you are. It's amplified when they're WAY smarter than you, as is my situation when I find myself at FIRST Robotics events (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). The accompanying picture is of the 2007 Chairman's Award Winners, pictured with - among others - FIRST Creator Dean Kamen, Chairman John Abele, and a politician that should feel very humbled indeed.
What's the relevance to this blog? Well, clearly we have teams of kids working together, but it's bigger than that. There are no limits to what I could learn from these kids about science, technology, math, etc, etc, etc. But it's the superior approach to collaboration that the game's rules and kids' nature that astonishes me the most. The most successful teams don't only build robots that would put Number 5 to shame, but they also are the most effective collaborators. And not in the typical, overhyped and overdefined corporate way of effective teamwork, or strategic alliance with complimentors. The successful FIRST teams have come to realize that collaborating with competitors is equally as important.
As with the marketplace, and the world, FIRST is not a zero-sum game. Scoring and rules as with ubiquitous incentives in many aspects of life favour "coopetition" over competition. The greatest honour in FIRST, the Chairman's Award, is not given to the winner of the competition necessarily either. Rather, the grand prize is reserved for the team that has displayed the FIRST values most thoroughly and effectively. The core value has got to be "Gracious Professionalism", which has a few interpretations. The best description I've heard of Gracious Professionalism is:
"Behave like your grandmother is always watching you, and you are competing with her other grandchildren."
I'll be judging at the largest regional FIRST competition in the world at The Hershey Center in Mississauga from March 27-29. If you can make it, do make it, and prepare to be inspired.
What's the relevance to this blog? Well, clearly we have teams of kids working together, but it's bigger than that. There are no limits to what I could learn from these kids about science, technology, math, etc, etc, etc. But it's the superior approach to collaboration that the game's rules and kids' nature that astonishes me the most. The most successful teams don't only build robots that would put Number 5 to shame, but they also are the most effective collaborators. And not in the typical, overhyped and overdefined corporate way of effective teamwork, or strategic alliance with complimentors. The successful FIRST teams have come to realize that collaborating with competitors is equally as important.
As with the marketplace, and the world, FIRST is not a zero-sum game. Scoring and rules as with ubiquitous incentives in many aspects of life favour "coopetition" over competition. The greatest honour in FIRST, the Chairman's Award, is not given to the winner of the competition necessarily either. Rather, the grand prize is reserved for the team that has displayed the FIRST values most thoroughly and effectively. The core value has got to be "Gracious Professionalism", which has a few interpretations. The best description I've heard of Gracious Professionalism is:
"Behave like your grandmother is always watching you, and you are competing with her other grandchildren."
I'll be judging at the largest regional FIRST competition in the world at The Hershey Center in Mississauga from March 27-29. If you can make it, do make it, and prepare to be inspired.
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