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Its Me

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Posts posted by Its Me

  1.  

    I am a mixed bag.

     

    I am the consummate writer and logger. I will spit out three pages for a four day trip. All sorts of stories from funny to discussions had on the trail. My write-up has a bias though, in that some how no matter what happens their character was reinforced. For instance, it rained cows and horse and some tents had a little water, but it seemed to build character as the boys didn't complain - all that much.

     

    I know this robs some aspect of their own private memory so not everything goes into the write-up. However, at a Scoutmasters minute I will re-read or tell some stories that happened on the trip. The scouts eat it up. Those that didn't go wished they did cause it sure seems like we had a good time. Those that did go think wow we had more fun then I thought we did. Some how the pancake mix spilling on the ground is a lot funny on Tuesday night then it was on Sunday morning.

     

    Other bag

    Our SPL came to me and said I have a cell phone plan for summer camp.

    SM: Great let's hear it!

    SPL: No cell phones for anyone under 15.

    SM: hmmm? do you think that's fair?

    SPL: Yep! The young ones can't handle it.

    SM: what about Tommy, he is 15 and he textes 40 times an hour?

    SPL: The young ones cry?

    SM: You may want to reconsider that policy.

    ASM: um there is no service at camp.

    SM: :)

     

     

     

     

     

  2.  

    Moderation by nature is always seeking the comfortable middle. Too hot for some, too cool for others and never just right for all. I believe in the judgement of Fscouter, that he was correct in deleting the posts. No great body of work was deleted. Maybe some elegant wit, but profound enlightenment on the subject matter - Nah!

     

    Now lets get back to debating whether forest green epaulets are different enough from light green or whether Jesus used the seven habits of highly effective people. :)

     

     

     

     

  3.  

    Bob White, I know you see yourself as the chief apologist for all things scouting. Your main mantra on these forms is pretty much that the program is perfect and that it is just poorly implemented by ignorant leaders. That you will pick up on the term first class first year and say "there is no program", which being the literalist you are correct (I know those words are like nectar to your ears). But whether it is a emphasis or program is the subject of endless forum debate. Its defecto policy writen or not.

     

    The rest of your post is rant. We have had endless discussions about the the 300' seperation as posted by Kudo to indicate sign, treatment or whatever for firming up a patrol and giving it true independance.

     

    Now BW here is the issue. Does the annual calendar planning as presented in the program features conducive to the patrol method? I will suggest no. Becuase the feature is generally implying that the troop will have a single campout a month.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  4.  

    Putting the biblical discussion aside.

     

    Here is what I am saying.

     

     

    One I agree with those who have said that the structure of passing down decisions from SM to SPL to PL does not develop leadership skills but is rather management process.

     

    That EDGE is not a true academic description of leadership style but a dumbed down version the a hybrid and weak somewhere between participative and Lassie-fair.

     

    That the servant leadership style leads is not and can never be the one style fit all. That there is no real leading in the servant style only facility. That overemphasizing this style to youth leaders is a disservice.

     

    And finally that the instruction material used to teach scouts both the PL books and the training manual for the SM are woefully inadequate and in fact are better off just mentioning and setting aside. They are boring in their presentation, redundant to a lot of what is already in the scout book, and a really ineffective at teaching either leadership that we are striving for the top down management that we in fact employ.

     

     

     

     

  5.  

    Been to woodbadge, been to management school, been to Dale Carnegie, been in corporate America for 20 years.

     

    Yes BW I believe that servant leadership is situational ethics and will lead to poor group performance. That if we tell a young leader he must do what the group tells him to do we will have an under performing patrol. I also believe that participative leadership and servant leadership are as different as a bagel and a Beagle.

     

    I think that the reason servant leadership is pushed on the scouts is that then they are not leading but following and are thus not held responsible for their group's performance. Its comfy for the adults that the group won't hold their boy responsible for the patrol's under performance.

     

     

     

     

     

     

  6.  

    In general the PL's handbook is worthless as a leadership training manual and in particular EDGE training is useles. The concept of Explaining, Demonstrating Guiding and Enabling are all nebulous and almost incomprehensible in differences. Theses EDGE concepts are all participative.

     

    The three basic leadership styles are authoritative, Participative and delegate as determined by founding studies in the 1930. Ok now the list is longer with charismatic, servant, Bureaucratic.... and on and on.

     

    But the 122 page PL handbook doesn't even discuss leadership styles until page 99. How the heck are you going to get anything out of reading a book on leadership if you have to read through 100 pages of fluff first?

     

    Then they talk about running a meetings but never discuss Roberts Rules of order or any significant structure on how to propose a concept (motion) and vote on it.

     

     

    Servent Leadersip Critique Stolen from

    http://www.leadersdirect.com/critique.html

     You might object "Cannot a leader do both: set challenging new directions and be servant-like?" Consider carefully what it means to be a servant. A servant must be unquestioningly dedicated to serving his master's every whim. If his master wants to be a drug addict, it is the servant's duty to supply any drugs his master requests. A true servant should do precisely what his master requests regardless of whether it is good for his master. Is this a useful metaphor for a leader? Compare this model to that of a coach. A coach is like a sculptor. He has an image of what he wants to create and he will push, challenge and stretch any athlete he is coaching to shape him into the image he wants to see realized. If a leader must challenge the status quo to be a leader, it would not be inconsistent to imagine him challenging individuals also as any good coach would do. But can a servant challenge his master? A servant is essentially a slave and a slave who challenges his master is either a dead slave or a free man - hence no longer a slave. Basically, the point here is that the whole idea of leader-as-servant is conceptually bankrupt

  7. Even if I agree with the argument that the patrol method is whithering I feel helpless to change it under the current BSA model. Without a written program in place that better emphasizes the patrol method I couldn't convince parents that some concept from older scout programs and presented by some guy on the Internet is the way to go.

     

    A few months ago we discussed how the NSP, crossover in March, summer camp, and the First class first year program all tie into weakening the patrol method. Weather you believe this or not is in material. This I have made up my mind on.

     

    I now would like to consider that the structure of the annual calendar planning meeting as another patrol method killer. Our toop had a great year based on a strong and well organized calendar but it was a troop thing. How can a patrol leader set-up a patrol hike or other if all his weekly meeting times and monthly campouts are already planned? The scout's time allotment for scouting activities is some what fixed. There is no room for additional campouts.

     

    Maybe in the calendar there should be a provision for a float campout. Patrols must plan and differentiate their campouts from one another. The campouts must be seperated by Date or miles.

     

    I mean the 300' rule held up as some standard barer of a patrol system seems weak when the "troop" planned the event, they all drove together and will assemble together at 9:00 AM for opening ceremonies.

     

    The standard time for patrols to meet is what 20-25 minutes? And its nestled in with a larger troop pragram that night.

     

     

     

     

    (This message has been edited by Its Me)

  8.  

     

    When I initially wrote my ticket(s), my Troop guide strongly recommended that I gear it to district pop corn sales, helping plan district training and district campouts. The woodbadge senior patrol leader then came by and said no-no-no. His ticket needs to be written in regards to his current position. I was a Bear den leader. So my ticket was rewritten more as a Pack camping and training coordinator. My ticket was aimed at my unit not district. So your ticket items matter.

     

    Also I think woodbadgers get caught up in the like minded adults of other woodbagers. Running a well developed training module for adults is easier than running a unit program for youth leaders. The woodbadgers can hang out with other adult woodbadgers and life is good.

     

    I recommend woodbadger for anyone who has thought, "gee maybe I should take woodbadge". It won't ruin and already committed youth leader.

     

     

     

     

     

     

  9.  

    This is a junk thread created by a poser. There in no value in this. There is no scout. There is no scout with a delima.

     

    We have a place for these types on non-value added threads its called the Issues Forum where angels on the head of pin are discussed daily. Move this junk there!

     

     

  10.  

    Companies with long legacies that failed:

    - Pan-am

    - American Motors

    - Woolworth's

    - Author Anderson

    - Sears

    - And yes Enron

     

    In all cases poor management over a period of time whittled away at the company's ability to adjust and react to the circumstances at hand.

    Many people and not just one contributed to these failures. One man was seldom able to turn around a failing company even with board approval.

     

    You do not even have board approval. Stop trying. Bad troops fail and new ones begin. Take photos and move on. Too much time will be spent trying to fight the resistance to change. Invest your time and your son's time more wisely than trying to fix a badly broken troop.

     

     

     

     

     

  11.  

    That report and justification is just bogus. The bullet velocity of 300 feet per second is the max not the minimum. At the church where my sons play once a month they chronograph the gun to make sure all guns fire below the limit. At the fields I have played a religion does not begin to describe how they enforce the full face mask rule.

     

    Welts and bruises are part of the game. But do it once and if it bothers you don't do it again. I organized a company paint ball event and half the participants were women. They were told these fear mongering stories by other before they went about the horrors of paint ball. I will suggest that the author of the above exaggerated piece has never played and has only learned paint ball from fear mongering others. The author should have used her pen name, Sissy.

     

    Incidentally the women that went had a great time. They asked when I would organize another.

     

     

     

     

  12.  

    Its a troop meeting and it's in one big hall. Some parents (moms mostly) hang around and wait out the meeting.

     

    Attempts to shoe away the moms have failed. The troop is new having formed only in October of last year so we don't have much of a cultural institution to draw upon. If we had a culture of adults staying away it would work. But we don't so then we need to use words like new policy and enforcement. I believe I do need to have a parents meeting to discuss this matter.

     

    It was the mother of the SPL yelling at him to speak up. I cringed and finally told her to go somewhere else. Later on in the evening she was clean-up from a pioneering project we did. I grabbed her by the hand and pulled her away.

     

    These are well meaning moms but they can't back off. Their little project child could go a stray and fail at something (oh the horror).

     

     

  13.  

    I have had one mom insult a scout and basically say he was good for nothing. Completely missing my suggestion to (after 3 hours) have another scout replace her son at the cash box during a rummage sale. I had another mom yell from the back of the room for her boy and my SPL to speak up, not once but twice. She would have done it a third time unless I had told her I had it covered. And now I got a mom emailing on her own suggestions for a troop motto.

     

    I don't want to lecture these women but they seem to be missing my more subtle approach.

     

     

     

     

  14.  

    I called our council guy and followed what he said.

     

    He said Google the closet Farm supply store. They will carry 2"-3" diameter x 6.5' long, treated pine fence posts. Use these as your poles. I paid less than $2.50/ea and bought 20 pieces. You will need 1,200' of 1/4" Manila rope. Just buy the whole big box at the hardware store for $60.00. For wiping the ends I got fancy and went and got actual waxed wiping line from a boat supply store. It was a modest improvement over hemp twin sold at the craft store.

     

    Measure out 30' and 20' and 15' and paint the ends different colors.

     

    If you are the MB counsler you will need to provide / make available materials to build a scale model of a monkey bridge or tower.

     

     

     

  15. From OGE link on BOR

     

    The board of review is how the troop committee (or the Eagle Scout board of review) tracks the progress of a Scout to determine his understanding of the ideals of Scouting and how he applies them in daily life in the troop. If the board of review is for rank advancement, the board will satisfy itself that the Scout has done what he was supposed to do for that rank and will review with the Scout the requirements for the next rank.

     

    The board of review is also a way of reviewing the troop's progress. This review is not and should not be an examination or retest of skills learned. Rather, it is an attempt to determine the Scout's attitude and his acceptance of Scouting's ideals, both in the troop and outside of it. The board should get a sense of the importance that the Scout attributes to Scouting in his home life, at school, and in the troop. It also shows how the Scout perceives the troop and its adult leaders.

     

    This in a Nut Shell is the embodiment of a BOR. So the BOR is to measure how well the scout applies his scout teachings to his daily life. First, the measuring stick is fuzzy because the BOR can't retest off the documented material from which the boy was actually taught. Instead the BOR must feel the edges. Internet questions are posed as the practical approach. Download some or make up questions. Just don't ask one from the scout handbook.

     

    As I accept this practice of psychological evaluation of the scout's character warts and all, there is still another gap here. If the BOR is also measuring the Troop's Health, where is the feed back to Scoutmasters? There is no form, policy or structure to go back and inform the scoutmaster where the candidate and in essence the program needs improvement.

     

    IMHO, the BOR has been crippled by decades of good intentions, and policy tweaking.

     

     

  16.  

    I would venture to guess that the list below is used more times than not during a BOR for First Class. Does this accurately align with the eight methods we are using? I say they anonymously written questions are a at best a mediocre scale to measure unit's or a scout's achievements.

     

     

     

     

    On average, how many Troop meetings do you attend each month?

    What part of Troop meetings are most rewarding to you?

    What is the Scout Slogan? What does it mean for a 1st Class Scout?

    Tell us about your last campout with the Troop. Where did you go?

    How did you help with meal preparation?

    Did you have a good time? (If "No", why not?)

    If you were in charge of planning and preparing a dinner for your next campout, what would you select?

    As a 1st Class Scout, what do you think the Star, Life, and Eagle Scouts will expect from you on an outing?

    Does your family do any camping?

    What have you learned in Scouts, that you have been able to share with your family to improve their camping experiences?

    Why do you think that swimming is emphasized in Scouting?

    Why is it important for you to know how to transport a person who has a broken leg?

    Why is it important for you to be able to recognize local plant life?

    What did you learn about using a compass while completing the orienteering requirement?

    What does it mean to say, "A Scout is Courteous"?

    Why are merit badges a part of Scouting?

    How frequently do you attend religious services?

    Does your whole family attend?

    What is your most favorite part of Scouting? Least favorite?

    How does a Scout fulfill his "Duty to Country"?

    How do you define "Scout Spirit"?

    What is the Order of the Arrow?

    What is the primary function of OA?

    Who was Lord Baden-Powell?

    When do you think you might be ready for Star Scout?

  17.  

     

    I am not sure of the purpose of a board of review. These people are typically moms of boys in the troop with little knowledge of scouting or at least the practice of scouting. So what are they to ask? Life questions or scouting details?

     

    I am sick of those cheat sheet. The same dumb questions over and over. When was Baden Powel born? How many years has scouting existed? Where in the world will either of those questions lead to a dialog where the BOR can examine and reflect upon the scouts' character, citizenship or Physical fitness let alone personal growth, leadership and the rest of the great eight?

     

    I am not sure about anything the BOR does any more. "Scout have you been working on your building your character? Yes Ma'am I have been character exercising three times a day every day." Pass!"

     

    What is a BOR just a pretend tribal ceremony?

     

     

    Note to readers:

    This is Rant thread as expressed in the Title. :)

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  18.  

    When I worked at a chemical plant the supervisory staff was taught Incident Command. I was told it was patterned of the a fire department's response to a situation. I am sure all our haz-mat team responders and EMT can chime in with more information. But here is my take from the 8 hour course I took ten years ago.

     

    When an incident occurs there is little in the way of experienced help on hand but as the situation grows more experienced help is added. So at the onset someone assume the role of incident commander and takes charge of scene. He appoints people to victim care, crowd control, logistic (sheet, gurney..) and professional help direction (flagging down the ambulance). The incident Commander attempts to distance himself from an actual task, i.e. he does not aid the victim. The incident commander's sole purpose is to control the scene.

     

    I would speculate that too many were attempting to aide the victim and no one took charge of the scene.

     

    I really liked that training and wish scouts taught that as an independent module. You can see signs of this in various First Aide instruction courses but the full blown incident commander training is not taught.

     

     

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