Changing Troop Culture as a New Scouter

[MrGumby]

9 minutes ago, fred8033 said:

Argumentative.  Patrol includes the patrol leader.  The connection between SPL and non-PL patrol members is the PL.  The point of the original sentence was that the guidance for the patrol (including PL) is thru the SM and the SPL and that parents need to be careful trying to influence the patrol (both patrol leader and patrol member).

I just want to make it clear that I'm not looking to change patrol method or interfere in the details, just looking for ways to influence the broader mission of the troop without looking like the new guy who wants to come in and change everything. 

My thoughts are that I can continually be hyping more wilderness-type adventures, but I don't know if there's anything more direct that people have had success with, such as altogether hosting it myself. 

In my Troop when I was a Scout, we had at least one major trip or event each year that was chosen and arranged by my dad, who was SM.  Patrols would still handle meals and gear, but the itinerary was set for us.  I can imagine some strict Patrol Method adherents would not approve of this, but it got us out of our comfort zone and exposed us to things we otherwise would have missed, and thereby had a lesser overall experience for missing. 

 

Edited 5 hours ago by MrGumby

[fred8033]

39 minutes ago, MrGumby said:

In my Troop when I was a Scout, we had at least one major trip or event each year that was chosen and arranged by my dad, who was SM.  Patrols would still handle meals and gear, but the itinerary was set for us.  I can imagine some strict Patrol Method adherents would not approve of this, but it got us out of our comfort zone and exposed us to things we otherwise would have missed, and thereby had a lesser overall experience for missing. 

I'm 100% okay with this.  I'd celebrate getting the scouts outside their comfort zone and experiencing new things.

My earlier response should probably not have been written during a work mtg.  

[Tron]

I am sussing out that you're trying to figure out when to bring your knowledge to the table without burning a bridge. That's really tough to figure out; unfortunately we have a lot of bad leaders in scouting. I would recommend assessing the key 3 a bit, attend some leader meetings to see if they are just dictating or actually running the meetings properly. A key indicator to hold off and wait on making any recommendations is if the committee chair is not seeking input from all attendees at the committee meetings.