The Test of the Patrol Method
An old experienced Scoutmaster said once: “The test of the Patrol Method is in the easy chair!”
His audience looked nonplussed, so he elaborated his statement: “Get an easy chair and place it in a corner of the Troop meeting room. If you can sink into it just after the opening ceremony and just sit throughout the meeting, without a worry for its success, without lifting a finger or moving a foot until time comes for the closing-well, then your Troop is run on the Patrol Method-your boy leaders are actually leading.”
… unless a Troop makes use of the Patrol Method it cannot be considered a Scout Troop, since “the Patrol Method is not ONE method in which Scouting can be carried on. It is the ONLY method.”
– Handbook for Scoutmasters, Volume One. 1936, Compiled by Bill Hillcourt.