Category Archives: Patrol Method

Train ‘em, Trust ‘em,….

Posted on by • Posted in blog, Character, comments, Journey to Excellence, Leadership, Methods, Patrol Method, planning, Scouting, teamwork • 1 Comment

I have said this so many times it is almost becoming cliche’.. but I’ll say it again…
TRAIN ‘EM, TRUST ‘EM, AND LET THEM LEAD!

Last night the SPL of our Troop held the Patrol Leaders Council meeting.  Because of a work conflict, I knew that I was not going to be able to be there, but two of the Assistant Scoutmasters of the Troop would be attending to maintain a safe environment and open up the meeting hall.
I called into the PLC for my two minutes of points that needed to be passed on from the committee and things that I thought needed to be attended to.  It was fun for the Scouts to be on a conference call with the Scoutmaster.  The SPL put his iPhone on speaker mode and placed it in the middle of the table.
I spoke my piece and asked if any one had questions.. then said good-bye.
Later that evening I got a call from… yeah.. you guessed it.. “Frustrated Dad”.  He wanted to know why I was not at the PLC meeting and who was running this show?  Well the answer to the second part was obviously easy.. The SPL is running the show.  As to why I was not there.. Work, sorry, moving on.
Once again I had to explain to him that I trust the SPL.  I know that he has been trained and mentored well and that we had talked before the meeting so he could bounce he agenda off me.  He will be shooting me an email sometime today also to recap the meeting.  Not that I asked.. he just does it.
When we train the Scouts, trust them to do the right thing, and let them do the leading.. they do pretty darn good.  The decisions that they are making, planning for, and executing are shaping them to be better leaders.  They are practicing communication skills, working with others, and yes learning from mistakes also.
The question was asked, “How can you teach them if you are not there?”  Well, I said, I am there.. I am there for them always.  I will be able to coach and teach the SPL when ever he needs it.  Again, going back to the prep work that the SPL did before the meeting.  That was a good time to coach, and I did. 
Remember that Baden-Powell told us never to do what a boy can do for himself… well that does not stop at setting up his tent and fluffing his pillow.. that is directed at the leadership of the Troop.  Never lead the Troop.. that is why they hold elections and serve.
I had to remind Mr. Frustrated that none of the adults in Boy Scouts have the word “LEADER” on their patch..  That stops at DEN LEADER…

Well, I am proud of our PLC, they held a meeting, that I am sure went well, they are leading the Troop, which I know is going well, and they are having fun.

Have a Great Scouting Day!

The Leading Question?

Posted on by • Posted in blog, Character, Ideals, Leadership, Methods, Patrol Method, Scouts, Skills, training • 1 Comment

The other night at our Troop meeting I was approached by a frustrated parent.  He asked why I continuously gives the boys the “run around”.  I asked him what he meant, even though I kind of knew where he was going.  He told me he has been sitting back watching over the last few weeks as Scouts come to me with questions.  He wanted to know why I never just answer the questions that the Scouts have.  I asked him to give me an example.  He stated that a young Scout came to me with a question about meals last week, he wanted to know how many they needed to plan for.  Apparently my answer to the Scout was, “Have you talked to your Patrol leader about meal planning for the next camp out?”  The frustrated Dad wanted to know why I didn’t just tell him that he needed to plan 4 meals.
He went on to ask why I didn’t answer another Scouts question when I was asked about an activity.  Again, he says “you pawned it off on the Patrol Leader”.
The straw that broke the camels back however came when a Scout came to you, he said, asking if I could show him how to tie a certain knot.  Frustrated Dad threw his arms up when again I called the Patrol leader over and asked him to show the young Scout how to tie the knot.
“What is it that you do?” he asked.  I teach leadership I replied.
“How is this teaching leadership?” he asked.  Well, its like this.  If I just answer the question, then why do we need Patrol leaders?  If we don’t have Patrol leaders, how does the Scout learn to lead?
When we are camping for example, there are countless opportunities to use leading questions to teach leadership, skills, and camp craft.  Questions that get the Scout to think and act. 
On our last camp out, the Senior Patrol Leader gave direction to the Patrol to camp in a certain area.  One Patrol chose to camp on the slope of the hill on little plateau’s created on a trail.  This was fine as it practiced good leave no trace, but I had a few questions for the Patrol leader regarding placement of a few tents.  I did not tell the PL to move the tents, but did take the opportunity to talk about terrain and ask him what he thinks might happen if it started raining.  We talked about it for a minute and he came up with a solution.  He was hell-bent on not moving the tents.. so they dragged some downed logs over and placed them in front of the tents across the trail creating a break or diverter should it start raining.  He did tell me that they had made sure that the doors of the tent were facing down hill and away from the possible flow of water.
It rained like cats and dogs on Friday night.. and sure enough, their plan of pulling logs over the trail worked, not a single wet sleeping bag. 
It is the leading question that teaches.  Allowing the Scout to think a problem through and not just giving the answer.  This empowering of the Scout to think and act is a valuable lesson to him.  Sending a Scout to his Patrol leader for answers is just as powerful.  It teaches that we have leaders that have purpose.  It makes the leader stronger, because at the point that another Scout comes to him with a question he must do something… lead.  He needs to have the skill sets and knowledge to answer the question, solve the problem or seek help.  These are great tools in teaching leadership.
So frustrated Dad, there is a method to our madness…
And what do I do?  I teach by example.

Have a Great Scouting Day!

Troop Information Board

Posted on by • Posted in blog, comments, Journey to Excellence, Oath and Law, Patrol Method, planning • 1 Comment

I am sure that most if not all of you have a nice information board that you use to attract prospective Scouts and their families.  You break it out on recruit nights and open houses, take along to community events, and generally show it off when ever the opportunities arise.
Well, tomorrow we have a crew from the Outdoor channel coming to hang out with our Troop for a week.  They will be taking some of our Scouts on a week long adventure.  This is a huge opportunity for our Troop, our Council, and the Boy Scouts of America to show Scouts and Scouting and tell our story!  We are honored to have been chosen.
But this also became a good time to update our information board.
So, after yard work and some tinkering with the hammock.. I updated (completely overhauled) our information board.
We keep ours up all the time in the Knights of Columbus meeting Hall.  This way our Charter Org. can see what we are up to and know that we are doing the right thing.
With the Troop of the Year trophy sitting prominently in the hall, as well as the Pack of the Year trophy, the Knights sponsored Cub Scout Pack won this year also, having Scouting out front is exactly where we want to be.
If you have an information board, what kind of stuff is on it?  Let us know, drop a comment in the comments section, an email, or feel free to leave a voice mail by calling 503-308-8297.

 

 

 

 

 

Have a Great Scouting Day!

JTE.. More

Posted on by • Posted in blog, Camping, camping. planning, High Adventure, Jamboree, Journey to Excellence, Leadership, Methods, Patrol Method, Summer Camp • 8 Comments

The balanced Score care approach is nothing new, it has been floating around organizations for some time now and provides a balanced view for organizational performance.  Who looks at this?  Well really you do.  As much as some would like t0 think that Councils and District level leadership are actively engaged in what goes on at the unit level (and I am talking Pro staff here, not volunteer) the fact of the matter is that where the rubber hits the road, the unit leadership are really the only leaders dedicated 100% to their units.  That is not to say that District, Council, and even National leadership could care less.  It is just that they have different fish to fry.  They are concerned at the “Big” organizational level in areas of membership, fundraising, and policy.  And that is fair.  Hey, I don’t want to think about that stuff, I want to go camping.  So the Journey to Excellence program is a tool that ensures our units are meeting the mark as we can measure our programs.  I think this is important to make sure that we all are delivering the promise of Scouting in a uniform manner.
Last month I attended the National meetings of the BSA in San Diego.  The Assistant Chief Scout Executive for Council Operations Gary Butler gave a great talk at the Scoutmaster dinner.  In his talk he gave the analogy of Starbucks coffee.  He said that when you order a coffee at Starbucks in Seattle it tastes like the same cup in New York City, or Atlanta, or Boston.. the message is that the coffee is the same where ever you go and that is part of business model of Starbucks.  The Promise of Scouting is just like that cup of coffee.  It needs to be the same consistent program, delivered in many ways, but the same program throughout the Boy Scouts of America.  We have great outline, but Scouters choose not to use it.  The Journey to Excellence program attempts to bring some of that back in line.
Now, I know that many of you, myself included, do not like to view the BSA as a business.  Certainly not at the unit level.  But just like every organization if certain measures are not in place, lets say for growth, for financial stability, for improvements in the program, the organization will fail.
Remember a couple posts ago, I shared that I knew a unit that was a Quality unit every year, but then it just folded?  It is because they did not have a plan to grow and stay fit.  They took it year to year and hoped that the Cub Scout pack would just continue to “Feed them”.  They did not have a stable financial plan, they did not have a plan to assist the youth leadership… and yet they were “always a quality unit”.
None of us want to see our units fail.  JTE is a week to week, month to month, year to year tool that sets on a Journey to Excellence.
OK.. 500 words in and not a word about camping.. so lets talk just a little about Short term and Long term camping as it applies to the JTE.
You all understand that Short term equates to weekend camp outs and long term camping refers to those week long (or longer) camping opportunities such as Summer camp, Jamboree’s, High Adventure base participation.  Now I think the BSA set the bar low on this one, and so many if not all of us will automatically qualify at the Gold level when it comes to short term camping.  Bronze = 4 camp outs throughout the year.  Yeah, that is not a typo.. I wrote 4.  Silver requires a unit to camp 8 times and to achieve the Gold standard you need to camp at least 10 times.  Like I said.. I think we all have this one in the bag.   And for the Gold level you get 200 points for just doing what we all do, and that’s camp.
Now I think it is interesting how the JTE handles long term camping.  You will qualify for the bronze level if your unit attends a long term camp.. lets call it summer camp.  You will achieve Silver level status if 60% of your Scouts attend Summer camp (or another long term opportunity).  And it only takes 70% of your unit attending camp to achieve Gold level status.  I recently had a small discussion on Camp staff with some Scouters that I consider “In the know”.  We debated on whether a Scout that serves on camp staff is counted in that percentage.  And the answer according the definitions of JTE is this; ” Boy Scouts attending any in council or out of council long term summer camp (of at least three days and nights), high adventure experience, jamboree, or serve on camp staff within the past year”.  The part that really weirds me out on this is the three days and nights.  But not to worry, most if not all summer camps run a week.  No problems there.
The bottom line is that camping is where Scouting happens.  It is where the Patrol method is executed, it is where teaching happens, it is where the boys can be boys and learn, practice, and teach skills.  Camping, I am sure you will agree is what most think about when we talk Scouting.
Next time we will dive into the Patrol Method.
Thanks for the emails, you can email me anytime.  Leave a comment and let me know what you think.
Have a Great Scouting Day!

Journey to Excellence Pt. 2

Posted on by • Posted in Advancement, blog, comments, Journey to Excellence, Leadership, Methods, Patrol Method, planning, Scouting, Webelos to Scout Transition • Leave a comment

Ok.. so the first post on JTE has been met with some resistance.  Let me just say this, then I will move on.
As a Scoutmaster or Committee Chair, you need to have a way to measure the success of your unit.  Going camping, having Scouts cross over, and holding a Court of Honor or two is not an accurate way of knowing that you are delivering the promise of Scouting to the youth of your Troop.  We all can stand back and say that we are doing a good job, but can’t we do better?  Sure.
I heard a comment about JTE as it applied to the old Quality Unit program in that they were always a Quality Unit, and now they may not be in the new system.  Well then, maybe your unit needs to work harder in the areas that you fall short.  Other comments reflect a need to pass it off to the youth leadership.  And while I agree that Scout units are to be Youth led, every unit should have a plan that is part youth driven and part adult driven.  The Troop committee must have a plan that supports the plan of the PLC.  Handing off the JTE program to the PLC will only get them so far down the road.  This is not setting them up for success.  The Journey to Excellence program is designed to bring out the best in the units leadership both adult and youth.
OK.. so having said that, lets dive into the program.
In this post I am going to discuss the first couple elements of the JTE program.  Advancement and Retention.
Advancement.
The objective is to increase the percentage of Boy Scouts earning rank advancements.  To earn the Bronze level you need to have 55% of your Scouts earn one rank or have a 2 percentage point increase.  I think this is important especially if you have older Scouts that are not going to advance in the year.  Lets say a Scout is Life, it is likely that he will not earn Eagle in that next year.  So having a percentage increase helps your score when you have younger Scouts earning Tenderfoot to First class in that first year.  This is attainable in every unit.  For the Silver level 60 % of your Scouts need to advance or 55% AND a 2 percentage point increase.  The Gold level requires that 65% of the Scouts advance AND a 2 percentage point increase is attained.  I find that these goals are within reason and with encouragement from the committee and Scoutmasters, every Scout, especially those younger Scouts can assist your unit in achieving this goal.
So what is the PLC’s role in this objective.  If the PLC encourages each Patrol to shoot for the Honor Patrol award, then Patrol members will advance.  The Troop guides play a major role in attaining this and working the younger Scouts on the trail to First class.  So its not just a number, it is a goal that assists your PLC and Troop Guides in properly functioning within the structure of their leadership roles.
Retention.
Simply put the objective here is to improve your retention rate.  So you have to retain and reregrister 76% of your Scouts or have a 2 percentage point increase from the previous year to earn the Bronze level.  80% for Silver and 85% for Gold.  I think this is a worthy goal.  My only heart burn with this goal is retention in general needs to be thoughtfully considered with each Scout.  Here is what I am saying.  I believe that every young man should be in Scouting.  I don’t however think that every young man fits in Scouting.  I have often said that I would rather have 10 Scouts that want to be there than 100 Scouts and no one really wants to be there.  Having a large troop that has a small percentage of active Scouts is just as good as having a small troop.  I like the idea that the Boy Scouts of America wants us to retain everyone, but at 85% retention that means we are really allowing for those that do not want to be there to find a fit elsewhere.  I like that.
So in my Troop I can lose 6 Scouts (not that I want to) and still have an 85% retention rate.  Last year we gained 9 and lost 6.  Our retention rate was still at 85%, but our net gain for the year was +4.  This would be a 40% gain for the year and qualify for the Gold in the JTE program for both retention and Building Boy Scouting.  Most of us would agree that these numbers are reasonable and easy to attain, as long as we are building a good program that the Scouts want to be a part of and establish good recruiting habits and relationships with Cub Scout packs.
Now, more than likely I lost many of you that are tired of the numbers.  Those of you that think that Scouting should not be about the numbers and that this is just an excercise in helping the DE’s look good.  I beg to differ though.  I think that periodic looks at the numbers keep your unit on track.  Further, I think it is important for the Scouts of your PLC to understand some of this.  It is a tool that they can use to assist in recruiting for the future of your troop.  Who better to recruit then the Scouts that enjoy the program?
This is just as much a function of the Patrol leaders council as the Troop committee’s.  They, working together will achieve success as a unit on a Journey to Excellence.
As much as the PLC of my Troop wants every year to be the Troop of the Year, the Journey to Excellence is a part of the program that gives them goals and tangible results.
I know that I am not going to convince some of you.. and you are probably the same Scouters that balk at anything that “National” forces on you.  Like methods and Aims.. you reluctantly went along with Quality Unit and this has no meaning to you either.  So be it…  I am sure you can run a great program without it also.  As for me.  I like the tools and I like to teach and mentor Scouts to do the hard things in life.  To set goals and plan to achieve them.  This is yet another opportunity to do that with our Patrols, our committees, and our Scoutmasters.
More later. 
Your comments are welcome.. send them to tbirdironchef@gmail.com or simply leave a comment here or at the SMMVoice mail 503-308-8297.
Have a Great Scouting Day!

Journey to Excellence. Part 1

Posted on by • Posted in blog, camping. planning, Journey to Excellence, Leadership, Methods, Patrol Method, planning • 3 Comments

Now before I even get started on this.. let me tell you that as much as I like patches.. this is NOT about a little patch.  This is about measuring success.  In the world that I live in, working for the Big Brown, I am totally in tuned to everything being measured.  I do believe in measuring, it gives us good solid data that we can learn from and grow.  When we measure things based on a standard, we can see where we are and where we need to go in order to be successful.
Here is the beauty.  In most cases in life, we get to decide what success looks like.  And so we get to determine what that measurement is.
ENTER JOURNEY TO EXCELLENCE.
Quality Unit was a program that, well kinda measured what a unit was doing.  I say kinda, because at the end of the day.. if you had a pulse, went on a few camp outs, recruited a Scout or two (read held a cross over ceremony) and got your charter turned in.. you were a quality unit.  I saw units in our district that got Quality unit and then did not recharter the following year.  HUH?  How is that possible.  Quality unit one year and dust the next.. errrr… something was wrong with this.
The Centennial Quality unit, was not much better.  The same old take on Quality unit, but cooler patches.
Now we are heading down the path to the Journey to Excellence.  This program is actually performance based and not just numbers.  Where the old programs of Quality Unit measured a process.. the Journey to excellence (JTE) measures the performance of a unit.  NOW STOP READING HERE if you are afraid of delivering a good Scouting program to your Scouts.
Over the next couple posts I am going to share and discuss the Journey to Excellence program as outlined and defined by the Boy Scouts of America.
There are three levels of levels of performance in the JTE.. Bronze, Silver, and of course Gold.  It is the unit that will decide at what level they have performed based on real numbers and expectations set out in their annual plan.
The JTE will ask of units to actually look at certain areas of their program and improve on them.  The beauty of the program is that measured success can be tracked all year long and point values are attached to the areas of concern.  It is a total score at the end of the year that will determine your success.. falling short in one area can easily be over come by larger success in others.  But the point is that rather than a simple sheet filled out at recharter, the JTE is a tool that a unit can use to measure and track success all year long.
There are 13 individual criteria that is measured in the JTE. For a Boy Scout Troop they are:  Advancement, Retention, Building Boy Scouting, Trained leadership, short term camping, Long term camping, Patrol method, Service projects, Webelos to Scout transition, Budget, Courts of Honor/ Parent meetings, Reregister on time, and a final annual assessment.
I will go into all of these in greater detail in the next few posts.
Here is the bottom line.  If you have no goals or a plan then you will not improve.  There is not a unit out there that is perfect in every way, and the JTE is a tool that will move you to greater success.  Building your Scouting program is important, not only for your unit, but for Scouting in general.
I like the new JTE program, and I hope I can share some information here to help you achieve that success your unit deserves.
Have a Great Scouting Day!

Somewhere between a Rock and Hard Place

Posted on by • Posted in Backpacking, blog, camp skills, Camping, Character, Climbing, High Adventure, Ideals, Just fun, Leadership, Patrol Method, Risk Management, Scoutmaster minute, Scouts, Skills, teamwork, training • Leave a comment

That’s where you will find adventure and success.  Life is hard enough for an 11 year old with out standing on the edge of a cliff.  But that is where the Scouts of Troop 664 find themselves every year when we climb at Smith Rock State Park in Central Oregon.
Here is what happens.  A young man gets ready, harness and helmet on.. he is looking for adventure and sees the older guys doing it.. it looks fun, but that is a long way down.  He’s been through the training, knows all the knots, the commands, and how he is going to lean out, get into a good “L” shape position, and start his decent.  He knows that he has all the skills necessary to go over the edge.  But then his brain asks him the question; “ARE YOU NUTS?” 
This is when it happens.. It?  What “it”?  This is where the Scout learns about himself and how far he is willing to go, but then when he reaches that point.. he takes just one one step.  He tests his courage, his inner strength, and his will to trust.
On this face of rock he will be tested by himself and come out victorious.  Every small step is huge victories.  The tears that run down a dirty cheek soon give way to smiles and high fives!  He has conquered a small part of his mind and now is more confident.  He walks just a bit taller on the way back to the truck even though he is tired and hungry.  He has an adventurous story to share.  Him and his patrol mates did something that their class mates won’t do.  Monday at school he will show pictures and tell of his great adventure.
So here is what I know for sure.  The old Scoutmaster handbooks talk about what makes a boy… Paraphrasing… He likes to be with his friends, he likes to feel important, he wants to share work and play hard, he wants to make decisions and but likes to know he is supported by his friends and adults.  He wants action and fun!  He wants to run, play, fight, and generally be on the move.  HE craves adventures and changes in his surroundings.  He wants to experience new things, feel the wind in his hair, the sun in his eyes, and is looking for that great escape for the everyday things in his life.  He wants to learn and see new things and have new experiences.  He looks up to somebody and has a vision of what he wants to be.
I paraphrased that from the 1965 Scoutmaster Handbook.  Everything applies today.  100%!  Get them outside and provide adventures that will test them, push them, make them think and grow and you will have done what the boy wants.  That is Scouting my friends.
This weekend my Troop spent 12 hours climbing, rappelling, and practicing rescue techniques at Smith Rock.  We camped on a ranch in Madras and had a ball.  I got to see a lot of growth this weekend.  And when the parents came to pick up the guys on Sunday, I wish you could have seen the young men, smiles from ear to ear anxious to tell the story to mom and dad.
The moral of the story… boys are boys.  From 1910 to 2011 the only thing that really has changed in their Scout uniform, what is inside is just as healthy and wanting as ever before.  Seek those adventures and somewhere between a rock and hard place they will  find themselves.
Have a Great Scouting Day!

Grandma always told me…

Posted on by • Posted in blog, Character, Citizenship, Ideals, Journey to Excellence, Leadership, Methods, Patrol Method, planning, Scout Law, Scouting • Leave a comment

“You are either part of the problem or part of the solution…”  a great approach to being a part of an organization.  You truly are either part of the problem or part of the solution.  When we teach our Scouts how to lead, being part of the solution is the driving force that they need to quickly embrace and practice.  Never is it ok for a leader to be a part of the problem.  We and the youth leaders of our units are problem solvers.. never problem makers.
I never allow a youth leader to make excuses.. there are none, ever.  We are accountable for our actions, decisions, and the outcomes of our leadership.  It’s never the committees fault, the districts fault, or the council’s fault.  We are unit leaders, us and the youth, and we run our units.  If something is broke, we fix it.
Last year during our recharter, a couple of our Scouts were inadvertently dropped in Scout Net.  Now I could have raised hell and blamed everyone and their brother.. but what good does it do?  Rather, we took our copy of the application down to the Scout office and got it fixed.  Real simple.  What shocked me though was when the gal at the Council service desk informed me that usually this issue is met with irate leaders that want satisfaction.  Satisfaction at what expense?  Tearing into someones hide?  Very Scout like don’t you think?  Lets assume that all of our units do a good job at record keeping.  Well then there is no issue, right.. we just take down our copy and done.
We are either part of the problem or part of the solution.  It is easy to point fingers and assume that things will be messed up.  Patrol leaders try this all the time.  They try to pass the buck or play the blame game.  This is always a great teaching opportunity. 
In my Troop we use the Happy Hand approach to rules. 
1.  Hold up your Thumb.. Everything is OK.. working together we will get through it.
2. Your Pointer Finger is not to be used to point at anyone.. remember there are 3 fingers pointing back.
3.  Your Middle finger is never to be used by itself.
4.  The Ring finger represents committment.  We are committed to each other all the time.
5.  The pinky finger is fragile…  A reminder to be safe.
Everything there keeps us in the problem solving game and not the blame game.  Teach the Scouts to solve problems and seek areas to improve.  Never allow finger pointing and backing out of events because they think it will not be worth their time.  So many times Scouts with great attitudes can swing a sub standard event.  I have seen it many times.
If they want to complain, they need to offer a solution.
NOW.. that goes for you adults to… How you act is how your Scouts will act.  You are either part of the problem or part of the solution.  PICK ONE.

Have a Great Scouting Day!

Getting what you want!

Posted on by • Posted in blog, Ideals, Leadership, Oath and Law, Patrol Method, Scout Law, Scouting, Skills, training, Values, Webelos to Scout Transition, Wood Badge • Tagged • Leave a comment

Values, Mission, Goals…. at the fore front of my mind right now as I assist a group of new Wood Badgers in the working of their tickets…
Tickets?  In Scouting, if you are not familiar with Wood Badge then this is a foreign concept.  Simply put.. it is working goals to fulfill your mission.
OK.. enough already, we just want to go camping and sell Popcorn!!!  What is it with this Values, Mission stuff?
Well, we are all heading somewhere, right?  We all have an idea of what we want our Scouting units to look like… right?  Well how do you get there?
Enough of the cryptic talk.. lets talk about your vision.
First.. what is it that you believe in?  What makes you tick?  Answer these two questions carefully.  A good personal assessment of your values is an important part in establishing your Vision en route to your mission.  You need to be honest and really know who you are before you can effect others.  So what is important to you?  Faith, Family, Values like those found in the Scout Oath and Law.
Figure this out and write it down.. not just words, but why its important to you?  Write it down.
Now that you have a better understanding of who you are and why its time to find out what you want.  What do you want out of life, your family, your work, Scouting, health, and hobbies?  In short, what do you want our of your life?  You may want to be financially independent, have a richer faith life, loose 10 lbs or become a teacher.  The sky is limit and you and you alone are the only one that can set the course to reach it.
So do you know what you want?  Write it down.  If you are like me, you will have a list of the things that you want.  Things that you want to change, do, get better at, and impact in your life.  Pick 1.. yep, just 1.  Write it down.
Now, lets go get it.  But first.. you need to throw away all obstacles, the first of which is your idea that you cant do it.  What ever you want.. you will have.. if you want it and are willing to work for it.  So write it down and lets go get it!
Make a list of 5 things that you MUST do to get what you wrote down.  Not 4, not 7.. 5 things that will lead you to your want.. Oh and by the way.. lets start calling “your want” “YOUR MISSION”.  Here is an example:
I want to develop a training program for Webelos Scout leaders and Troop Committee’s to increase crossover numbers in our District.  That is the mission.
So 5 things that I need to do to get what I want.
1.  Find out if there is a current plan in place and identify the short falls in the plan.
To do this I will talk with current District advancement chairman and Webelos to Scout transition volunteers to find plan or documentation.
I will do this in the next 30 days, this needs to be completed by June 20th.
2.  Knowing the short falls of the current plan (assuming there is one) I will rewrite the plan with the objective of increasing the crossover percentage by 30%.
To do this I will write a plan that will be distributed to all Packs and Troops in the District.  This plan will outline methods of contacting Packs and Troops within the District, obstacles to over come in the process, and ways to build relationships between units.
I will have the plan complete in the next 60 days.  This goal will be complete by July 20th.
3.  At the August Roundtable, I will present the plan at the Webelos Den Leader break out.  I will distribute copies of the plan at the time and field questions and concerns about the plan.
To ensure a good turn out at the break out I will make contact with Packs through the District emailing system.
This will be completed after the August Roundtable and the emails will go out in the Thundering News Flash in July.
4.  Make contact with Packs that have a low crossover rate and Troops that are not maintaining steady growth.
To complete this goal I will get last years data on troop new Scout registrations and Pack Cross overs.  I will call those units and set up a time to meet with unit leadership to offer assistance in increasing their crossover/ recruiting percentage. 
I will accomplish this by November 2011.
5.  Assess plan and make adjustments to the plan based on Troop and Pack receptive nature and amount of prospective Webelos Scouts that plan on crossing to a Troop.
To do this we will contact Webelos Dens and ask that they fill out Boy Scout applications at time of Troop Visits.  Once a Troop has been identified as the Troop that they are planning on going to, an application will be filled out and reported.
This will be completed by February 2012. 

This simple, measurable, specific outline of 5 goals to reach the mission of developing a training program for Webelos Scout leaders and Troop Committee’s to increase crossover numbers in our District can be accomplished if I work at it and not allow road blocks to stop my progress.  I must be willing to work it to the end.
This outline can be worked for anything in my life.  To lose weight, get healthy, find a deeper understanding of my faith, be a better husband and father, well.. anything.
This is what we Wood Badgers call a Ticket.
It is a great assessment tool and a way to ensure success in anything that you do.  Remember when you are setting your Goals to use the SMART tool.  Specific, measurable, Attainable, relevant, and Time based.  Use it and you will be and do whatever you want.
I promise.

Have a Great Scouting Day!

A game with a purpose

Posted on by • Posted in blog, Competition, Ideals, Just fun, Leadership, Methods, Patrol Method, Scouting, Skills, teamwork • Tagged • Leave a comment

You can not escape the Wood Badge experience without hearing “Game with a purpose” at least 100 times and the reason is that all of it is a Game with a purpose.  Scouting is a Game with a purpose and so when you do Scouting you should always play the game.
Young men learn better when they are engaged in play.  The develop teamwork, practice fairness, express a healthy competitive spirit, get physically fit, and above all have fun.
Every game we play in Scouting can be a learn adventure.  A simple game of Sharks and Minos can be a lesson in team work, fair play, and fitness.
Games that require skills and provide a mental challenge are great ways to build the team, test leadership, and communication.
In short, this game that we play has meaning, a purpose.  To support the Aims of Scouting.
Tonight our SPL and JASM had a great game for the troop during their interpatrol competition time.  Straw rockets.  A simple game that required the Patrol leaders to communicate, assign tasks, follow through with the project.  Each Patrol was given a brown paper bag and told to use the contents to move their rocket down a line that was suspended between two chairs.
In the bags were 2 straws, 2 balloons, some tape, and 2 paper clips.
The Patrols went at it.  They had 14 minutes to build their rockets and have them ready to launch.
The Patrols that worked together and stayed focused on the task did well, the patrols that made the choice to mess around did not.  One of the Patrols had a real cool looking rocket and it won.  They worked well together, assigned tasks and proved that working together they could accomplish anything.
The SPL conducted a short reflection of the activity before I did the Scoutmaster Minute on Team work.
I love it when we see the game being played and played well.
Play the game!

By the way, in the picture above are the three of the Scouts in the New Scout Patrol being guided by their SPL in the making of their rocket.

Have a Great Scouting Day!