How are we doing? Are we hitting Scouting Aims?
Scouting has many measures for success; finances, membership, activity, advancement, training, miles hiked, feet climbed, distances paddled, roads biked, all serve to give us different perspectives but only partially and imperfectly answer the question.
We may strive to distinguish our efforts by producing impeccably uniformed Scouts who can tie every knot in the book, whip up impeccable dutch oven feasts, and win contests. We may have troop trailer with the slickest paint job, or consider trailers effete and insist that ‘backpacking only’ is the one true way.
We may have the coolest website, the most impressive roster of trained adults, flags full of ribbons, a tricked-out bus, a real powerhouse of a troop spewing out Eagles left and right, or a quiet, mildly ambitious bunch of Scouts.
All these are only indicators, not answers, they aren’t proof. Being registered, clocking time, hiking miles, and earning awards may indicate you’ve succeeded but standing in a garage may indicate that you are a car.
In the end our success has a single measure; did Scouting positively impact he life of the Scout? There’s really only one way to get the answer and that’s to ask the man that was once a Scout.
He may remember the indicators but he’s more likely to talk about the people, the value of knowing them and working together. He may not be able to tie any of the knots he once knew or remember how far he hiked, he may not even be able to articulate what Scouting did for him because it’s become so integral to his personality. But he’ll know.
That’s our aim – everything else is window dressing.