An experienced Scouter has worked with ten, perhaps twenty groups of Scouts ought to be a Scouting expert.
A Scouting expert can spot difficulties and errors before they are made. Ask them how to build a fire or where to wear your veteran unit patch and they have an answer.
But there’s one skill that often surpasses all the others a Scouting expert possesses; knowing how to keep your mouth shut.
When your senior patrol leader comes up with a plan that didn’t work all that well in the past the Scouting expert immediately detects the impending problem and… keeps their mouth shut.
When a Scout is about t make the same mistake they’ve seen a hundred times the expert stands by and… keeps their mouth shut.
The expert needs to learn how not to be the expert all the time so Scouts and fellow leaders can become experts themselves. Trial and error, the scientific method, giving things a shot, having a go – these are all part of the joy of learning and growing up.
Too much expert advice hedges and constrains the experience of others sapping away the joy of discovery. The thrill of learning something for one’s self can be squelched by a know-it all.
I could say more, but should take my own advice.