Scouting Fundamentals

Scouting discipline is constructive… … because it builds character through applying the Scout oath and law. When we think of discipline we often think of systems of rules and punishments. These things are more familiar to our Scouts than open-ended situation where they follow principles. Asking them to judge themselves rather than issuing judgments may be something new. They will catch the spirit of this, but it takes a little time, and a consistent message....

Why is Scouting designed around youth leadership? Most Scouters think a youth led troop is the brass ring of Scouting. What exactly do we mean when we talk about youth leadership? There’s much confusion and misunderstanding of this than nearly any other aspect of Scouting. Our perspective is often narrowly focused on things that aren’t all that important. If you’ve been following this series you won’t be surprised when I say engaging youth in leadership is a very simple, direct and uncomplicated thing to describe, and it’s actually very simple to do....

How does Scout advancement achieve the main aim of Scouting? Todays talk about advancement continues our foundations series. I’ve written extensively in detail about many aspects of Scout advancement, but this is different. In this podcast I ask how Scout advancement fits into the overall game of Scouting. You’ll hear me read from Baden-Powell’s Aids to Scoutmastership – If once we make Scouting into a formal scheme of serious instruction in efficiency, we miss the whole point and value of Scout training, and we trench on the work of the schools without the trained experts for carrying it out....

What’s the difference between Patrol system and Patrol method? I have never found any actual difference between those terms in Scouting literature, but I will share acouple of thoughts to differentiate between patrol system and patrol method in a way you may find helpful. Over the next three podcasts we’ll continue our foundations series by examining three main things about Scouting: Patrol System, Advancement, and Youth leadership. Scouters spend the most time working with these three key pieces of the game....

Some aspects of the Scouting game look like flaws… … but they are features we must not alter. Games restrict or constrain play through rules, the laws of physics, or human limitations and Scouting is no exception. We Scouters often expend lot of effort trying to fix things that don’t need to be fixed, or smooth over things that are intentionally challenging. When you get to know the game, the dynamics, and understand the field of play things become clearer and you become a better coach....

Thinking of Scouts as players … … fills out the analogy of Scouting as a game. Players volunteer to participate in the game. The most important volunteers in Scouting have more power and influence than the highest official. Without their participation, Scouting would come to a complete halt. They bring endless energy, resources, and real transformational power to their role. They are the only volunteers we simply cannot afford to lose....

Thinking of Scouters as coaches … … can help us understand our role in the game. These are just analogies – we aren’t actually coaches, and Scouting isn’t actually a game. Analogies are not exact copies, they only resemble what they represent. What a Scouter does may be similar to coaching, but Scouters hold an unique role in a young person’s life. We are part parent, part coach, part counsellor, part mentor, and part friend....

We’ve heard this before, right? Baden-Powell employed the “Scouting is a game” analogy long before anyone else, and it is the best analogy I’ve found for explaining the wonderfully complex, intriguing, idea that is Scouting. We have to be careful because analogies break down at some point. While Scouting is a game in many ways, it’s actually something far more than that. In this podcast I’ll kick off a series of foundational talks about Scouting....

Expertise and experience are overrated Scouts need Scouters with energy and vision more than Scouters with expertise and experience. Scouts don’t care what you know, they respond to who you are. In this podcast I answer three email questions. The first (begins at [1:05]) comes from a new Scouter contemplating becoming a Scoutmaster, but is concerned they are inexperienced. I was a very inexperienced Scoutmaster, so I know you can do this....

Scouting needs gardeners more than managers or officers. Scouting isn’t the science of management or military discipline, it’s much more like a garden. Gardeners prepare the ground, plant the seed, keep the weeds away, make sure there is plenty of water and sunshine and step back. Scouting is just like that. We know our Scouts need the same things but not necessarily in equal measure. They will grow at different rates; they will flower at different times and thrive in different conditions....

No 11-year-old boy joins Scouting to get his character developed… … and few boys join to attend troop meetings, wear the Scout uniform, or sit before boards of review. Instead, they sign up for fun and adventure. Last month Walter Underwood joined me on podcast 313 to review the first volume of the Troop Leader Guidebook. We got back together with author Mark Ray to review the much anticipated second volume of the Troop Leader Guidebook (due to be in Scout Shops by the end of June)....

What is the ninth method of Scouting? Author Mark Ray begins the second volume of the Troop Leader Guidebook with these words; Back when you first attended Scout leader training, you learned that Boy Scouting has eight methods: adult association, advancement, ideals, leadership development, outdoors, patrol method, personal growth, and uniform. Now that you’re a seasoned leader, however, you realize that there’s a ninth, unstated method: time. Sort of ties everything together doesn’t it?...

I am not thinking about the nature of Scouting activities… When Scouting is happening, when it’s really popping and sizzling along, Scouts are doing things that few, if any of their peers are doing. I am not thinking about the nature of their activities, that’s something we’ve discussed many times before, what I am thinking about is the amount of trust and autonomy they have in carrying out those activities. That’s something few, of any of their peers get to experience....

Wait just a darn minute, one aim one method, I thought there were more? Well, yes, we commonly hear about multiple aims and methods employed in Scouting, but I think you can reduce them to one each. Understand I am not suggesting we change things, but just presenting a (hopefully) better way of understanding our role as Scouters. Listen to this podcast and tell me what you think. This is the last “live” podcast for 2015....

Peace Scouting is nothing new, and it’s very simple… In this podcast I’ll share some thoughts about peace Scouting as described in an address Baden-Powell made to what would later become the World Organization of the Scouting movement in Paris in 1922. Your opportunity as a Scouter is a profound one. Take a moment today and think about that. We join hands with millions of fellow Scouters around the world working for love in the place of fear; and we all still have plenty of work to do....

If you are wondering what to do next, the answer is always “do what Scouts do”. Can it be that simple? Actually, yes! It’s just that simple! When Scouts do things Scouts do they develop character as an after-effect. Don’t get sidetracked by anything else or you may miss powerful experiential opportunities. If we get ourselves caught in the thicket of policies, procedures, and logistics it’s likely we are coming at the whole thing from the wrong direction, all of these things make sense when we do what Scouts do....

Imagine, for a moment, there is nothing called “Scouting”, no program, no troops, no councils, no districts, no uniforms, no badges. Someone comes up with an idea for helping young people develop character by getting outdoors and going camping. They share this idea with young people who get pretty excited about it. They get their buddies together, and decide they really like the whole idea, and organize a camping trip....

*During his lifetime Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the worldwide Scouting movement, wrote many books and articles directed to Scouters.*Each Sunday I’ll publish a selection from his writings in the hope that you’ll draw inspiration and understanding from his timeless ideas. Instruction in scoutcraft should be given as far as possible through practices, games, and competitions. Games should be organized mainly as team matches, where the patrol forms the team, and every boy is playing, none merely looking on....

Although the founder of Scouting Baden-Powell and the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu lived centuries apart on opposite sides of the world, each describe the same three distinct leadership styles. More often than not we’ll find some aspects all three styles in the same person. I know I have used all three styles at one time or another myself. Leadership is the keynote to success– but leadership is difficult to define, and leaders are difficult to find....

Podcast Episode (00:22:51): Listen on Apple Podcasts Is Scouting a system of measurement? Scouting is more, much, much, more, than a system of measurement, yet it has lots of “yardsticks”. Baden-Powell wrote “Scouting is a game. But sometimes I wonder whether, with all our pamphlets, rules, conferences, and training classes we may not appear to be making of it too serious a game. ” How way we use the yardsticks of the Scouting program is all important to reaching our aims, but measurements and metrics are not our focus....