Teams - A Leaf Out Of The Childrens Book
Recently, I had the fantastic opportunity to volunteer as a judge at the Berkshire regions First Lego League competition held at the National Instruments UK headquarters. The winners of which would progress through to the National Finals and then potentially the International Finals held in the US.
The First Lego League is, to my mind, a platform for young aspiring engineers to practice and develop the fundamental building blocks of what it means to be an engineer in today's ever changing climate. Prior to the competition, teams build a robot using the Lego Mindstorms with the aim of carrying out specific tasks as set out by First Lego League. As well as this, teams are encouraged to focus on a specific issue within a given context (for example, how to help animals) and come up with a novel solution.
During the actual competition, teams are assessed in 3 areas:
Robot Game: Teams build a robot using a LEGO® MINDSTORMS® kit that they program to autonomously complete a series of missions on a specialised field and to score as many points as possible.
Project: Through the project, teams learn more about the science and engineering behind the challenge theme. The teams identify a problem related to the theme, research the issues and propose a solution.
Core Values: While competing, the teams have to demonstrate core FLL values including Gracious Professionalism® and Coopertition®, encouraging high quality work, unqualified kindness and respect and learning.
(Excerpt taken from First Lego League IET About Page )
As part of the Core Values judges, I had the privileged opportunity to see and talk to some truly inspiring teams. Teams that, despite the chringiness of the word Coopertition®, really did represent cooperation in competition and whose attitude towards teamwork wouldn't have been out of place in any professional engineering company.
One of the most interesting observations a colleague and I had, was that there is genuine and authentic attitude younger students possess. After spending 15mins talking to some of these teams, it became increasingly clear that these teams represented the team working ideal; a supportive growth environment whereby each member is represented, and recognises the strengths and supports the weaknesses of their peers.
Coming away from a day of interaction with experiences like this was incredibly eye opening; many of the traits displayed by these kids are ones that professionals 20 years older and above aspire to, yet it seems as though it gets increasing difficult to achieve them. This begging the question, where does it change?
Maybe at some stage through the education system, a focus on the high attainment of grades washes over and puts off the development of team oriented skills sets and knowledge. Instead, perhaps it assumes university or the workplace will allow and drive this learning.
Or possibly it's even later than that, with the pressures of the work environment, intentional or not, there simply isn't enough value placed on the development of character oriented traits. This, rewarding short term balance sheet gains over long term holistic personal development.
It's an interesting question, and one I'm not completely sure how to answer. One thing I am sure of though, is that teams are very completed, multifaceted structures and it's completely facile to take professional working teams and boil them down; placing value only on the authenticity of the relationships within them. This isn't, however, to say that this holds no value within a team.
There hasn't been a single outreach experience that I haven't been just as inspired by the kids, as I was meant to have inspired them. There are always things that we can learn from other people, and it's important to remember that development isn't just a single trip, it's a habit.
