Scoutmaster Podcast 364

And now it's the old Scoutmaster. So a boy scout, a girl scout, a rabbi, a priest and a politician walk into the bar and the bartender looks at them and says, hey, is this some kind of joke? Oh, that's the best I can do today.

Hey, this is podcast number 364.. Welcome back to the Scoutmaster podcast. This is Clarke Green And we're still talking fundamentals, foundations, the basics, And I've been asking for you to get in touch with me and let me know what you think. And this past week I heard from Tom Finnan, who is the Scoutmaster with Troop 500 in St Louis, And Tom said these are great podcasts Overall. I could not agree with you more on them as first principles sorts of ideas. I appreciate the metaphoric language on things.

That's the only way I can wrap my head around some of this stuff. Being somewhat new to Scoutmaster ship, I have a couple of things to mention based on scouts in our troop and students that I work with as a college professor. One, kids really don't know how to play without organization imposed on them. Two, sports aren't what they used to be. Three, kids are stuck on screens more than their parents appreciate.

I have a number of experiences when we go camping, where I have opted to allow the scouts just to simply play around inventing a game of some strange sort, simply because they never get that opportunity otherwise. One of the great things we can do for scouts is to introduce them to playing Well. Thanks, Tom, I'm glad you're enjoying these podcasts.

So I agree and disagree with you at the same time. Anytime in human history we could sit down as the older generation and look at the newer generation and make some judgments about the way that they are, that we find difficult or unacceptable or sad or deficient in some way in comparison with ourselves.

I'm not saying those observations in general or the particular observations that you make are invalid or unimportant, but just that we should put them in context, because you know, part of the founding of the scouting movement was dealing with the perceived difficulties and problems and deficiencies in the youth of that time period, which always gives me a chuckle, right? Because?

Because there's another way of looking at the world that says, well, that was the good old days. The context that I want to lend to that is: yeah, I understand what you're saying and it's not invalid, but we also have to understand that our perspective is going to warp the way that those things look to us.

Do young people today not know how to play without organization and post on them? Well, I don't know, Maybe they have more of a propensity for organized play, Maybe there's more adult involvement in their lives.

So their lives are different from ours. Yeah, is that a bad thing? I'm not sure.

Are sports any different than they used to be? Well, I coached wrestling for a number of years- and I know you know there was- that was 25 years ago- and there were always those teams and coaches in that philosophy of winning at all costs, focusing only on this, And this had to be your whole life.

So I don't know if that's significantly changed. Screen time and the way that young people relate to technology and the Internet is a big concern. Television was a big concern when I was growing up. Radio was a big concern when my father was growing up. Comic books were a big concern when my older brother was growing up, You know.

So I'm just a little reticent to claim these things as a great deal of motivation in the way that I work scouting. Not that they're untrue, not that they're invalid, not that we shouldn't be concerned, but we've always been concerned. And the right answer.

You know, the antidote to the excesses and vicissitudes of young people has always pretty much been the same, you know, and that's caring about them, being compassionate and loving, mentoring them, coaching them, working with them and scouts working with them in any way possible. That just seems to be the way to work right. I do appreciate your comments and thank you for getting in touch.

So, without much further ado, I think we should move on to the fourth in our foundation series. So let's get started. Shall we Jump up and scream and shout it out: Lookin' good in my uniform. Because, baby, I was born to be a scout, Because, baby, I was born to be a. Here comes the Scoutmaster. Drive a jungle scout, roll me a little faster, Stick on the gas.

Are we there? Yet I wanna build a bridge for my eagle.

Today we're in our fourth of the foundational series, the Fundamental Series, And in the first one in podcast- I think it was 361, we talked about scouting as a game And in a small digression, let's remind ourselves that analogies take something that we know to explain something that we don't know. So when we say scouting is a game, we're not literally saying that scouting is a game. We're saying it's like a game. You need to remember that analogies will break at a certain point because scouting is its own thing. It's not actually a game, but it's very much like one.

What scouting holds in common with games? It has a set of rules that define the game. Some of these rules are found in the policies and procedures of a scouting organization, but most, the most important ones, are just the fundamental, foundational things. That is the subject of our discussion over these past podcasts. One significant thing about scouting that is different from most games is that it's not a competition other than the individual challenge involved. Scouting has strategies and methods.

It has a field of play and that's going camping. It has a set of specific skills that, while practical in the outside world, are mostly practical within the construct of the game.

It has a goal, which is the development of character in scouts by applying the patrol method, And we need to remember that it is an imperfectible game. It has, theoretically you could have perfect scouting and it's always something to aim at without being frustrated by the fact, while it is theoretically a perfectible game, like all games, it is practically imperfectible.

So we are not perturbed, put off, angered, set off by the imperfections that we will see as the game progresses. In the podcast after that we talked about our role in scouting, the scouter's role in scouting as being like the coaches of a game, And we talked about the importance of perspective. We talked about the importance of observation, of dialogue and two main types of dialogue.

The most under valued and, to my mind, most important is inquiry, asking questions, And then there's also the directive kind of thing that coaches do. That kind of dialogue And dialogue means it's more than you talking right. There has to be something receptive on the other end if you're going to have dialogue. We talked about coaches facilitating discovery- not leading everything, but facilitating the discovery of things- And we also talked about responsive leadership, responsive mentorship, responsive coaching that assesses the skills and development of our players or scouts and responds appropriately.

And then in the last podcast we talked about the players, We talked about our relationship to them, And in this podcast we're going to talk about playing the game. So one of the kind of guiding concepts here is that this game of scouting has a field of play.

If you were to visit a basketball court or a soccer field, you would see markings that define the field of play And in scouting we don't have markings on the ground, We don't have chalk lines on the field, We don't have tape marks on the basketball court, But we have a definite field of play. Learning where the lines are is one of the great things about being a scouter. It's going to take some time. You're going to experiment, You're going to work on things and you will learn what I'm talking about. You'll learn where the lines are on the field because players play the game, Coaches don't play the game, Parents don't play the game. In most organized games, if the coach goes on the field, things go bad.

The ref stopped the game, They warn the coach And if the coach repeats that behavior gets thrown out of the game. So learning where the lines are and your role, your perspective, is important And sticking with the game's analogy here, some things about scouting we look at as flaws are actually features of the game. There are things that can't be fixed or altered and they shouldn't be fixed or altered And if you don't see that, you'll spend a whole lot of energy trying to fix things that are actually features of the game.

So understanding scouting in this context means that efficiency and practicality and logic is sometimes not the answer, Because, putting aside anything you might know about basketball, for instance- and it was your job to make that the most efficient exercise ever- you would look at it and see a number of flaws

In the way that the game is played. The goal of the game of basketball is passing the ball through the hoop more times than the opposing team.

So you wouldn't want a hoop that's 10 feet off the ground. You wouldn't want it that small. You wouldn't want a ball that big. You would change those aspects of the game to make it easier to get the ball through the hoop as many times as possible, If that's the goal of the game. But the challenge is created by putting the hoop 10 feet off the ground, making sure the rim is 18 inches in diameter, making sure that you're using a regulation basketball, because those aspects of the game create the challenge that is necessary for the game to exist.

So working with in scouting, keep those things in mind, because things like working with scouts under their own leadership in patrols is not very efficient. Now there's a part of our practical, logical minds that looks at that situation and it depends on where you come from, If you know business, if you know education.

If you know the military, you look at the idea that you have, oh, let's say, 40 some scouts in a troop and they're all divided up in patrols. And the reason that you haven't divided in patrols is management Taking the big group, dividing it into smaller groups, making it more manageable.

Well, that is not the point, is it? The point is, within the patrol, within that small group concept, our scouts are able to go through a number of experiences that create the opportunity for them to grow in character by applying the ideals of the scout, oath and law.

Another important way to look at playing the game is the idea that our goal the development of character in the individual scout- let's call that a figurative goal, Okay, because we tend to like things to be practical, logical and literal- And the development of character in an individual scout is rather impractical, sometimes illogical and it's very subjective. So our goal is kind of figurative. Our scouts view their time in scouting and the things that they want to do very literally. They want to go camping with their pals, They want to learn certain skills, They want to have certain experiences.

Those are very literal goals for them And we want them to accomplish those goals. At the same time, we want to keep in mind our figurative goal.

And if you do this while you're playing the game, it's going to take a lot of the pressure off, Because the point is not the development of skill. Skill is an indicator.

The point is not racking up nights of camping. Nights of camping are an indicator.

The point is not advancement and advancing in rank and getting a lot of merit badges. Those are indicators. They're important indicators, but they only indicate that we are advancing towards the ultimate goal of the game, which is the development of character in the individual scout. Because one way of looking at it is all of the things in scouting, all of the camping and the skills and the advancement, the uniforms, all of the trappings right, All of the window dressing, as I am fond of saying, is a massive head fake. If you're not familiar with a head fake, think about basketball for a moment. You're in control of the ball, You want to move it down the court, You look one way, you move your head one way while you move your body the other way, tricking the defensive player into moving in the direction.

You move your head while you move your body in the other way, And that's kind of what's happening in scouting. Young people are attracted to the ideas of going camping, of learning skills, of these achievements and things, but we know that they are only a means to an end. They are not an end in themselves. Step back for a moment and look at the whole scene with me.

Where do we apply our energy? Where do we apply our time?

Where do we develop our expertise? Do we develop it in the things that are the indicators of the game, Or do we develop it in the direction of the ultimate goal?

Interesting thought, isn't it? If we are focused on the things that only indicate that we're getting towards the goal, and not the goal itself, we're going to grow frustrated.

So if you are frustrated with scouts, if you're frustrated with the members of your pack, your den, your troop, your patrol, your crew, that is an indication that maybe you have got your focus, your perspective, in the wrong place. Now, should a scouter ever be frustrated?

Well, of course you should be, because it's frustrating work and just the nature of the game and all these things that we keep in mind and you have to balance. It's frustrating.

And then we're working with young people in different stages of development, with different sets of skills who happen to have parents, and we're not working in a vacuum, because we have a broader culture and we have all the other things that are in young people's lives to consider. But when you focus on the ultimate goal- the development of character in an individual scout- all of the window dressing and all of the other concerns begin to fade in the background and you have a clarity of mission, You have a way to play this game and you will do a lot of good. And again we kind of return to the idea of your perspective and how important that is, because there is something about scouting that you ought to understand: It always works, It never fails, It always, always works. The difficulty is we don't often appreciate how it works. When you're actually doing scouting, you are doing good. When you're trying to develop skills or check off requirements or impose regimentation on a group of young people, you're not really doing scouting.

When you're trying to develop the character of an individual scout, it always works and you're doing good. Now I'm not saying that these other things are totally unimportant.

All I'm saying is is that to get the right perspective to make this rewarding and fun for you as a scouter, as well as benefit the young people that you're serving. You have to understand that scouting always works. You are always moving the ball forward. You are always adding something to a young person's life.

Now there's this whole culture, this whole philosophy around games that winning is the only thing that you can do. You have to win, You have to score more points. There's this idea that if everybody gets a ribbon, nobody wins. Just forget about all that. It's a bankrupt philosophy. It's a zero-sum way of looking at the world and you can't bring that into scouting and be successful.

What you have to look for is progress. It may be very small and it may be very hard to find, but it is there because scouting always works. This has been a lot of philosophical kind of big picture talk. Let's get down to brass tacks. Let me give you some practical advice. Some step one, two and three advice.

Here it is: Go camping. Scouting is camping. Scouting is in the outdoors. It's setting up tents. It's building fires. It's cooking outdoors.

It's learning the skills needed to be comfortable to deal with the situations around you. It's playing games. In the outdoors It is. It's laying in a sunny field for an hour in the afternoon. It's running around in the woods with your pals. It's putting a backpack on your back and walking 10 miles in a weekend.

It's getting into a canoe for a week and heading out into the wilderness. It's challenging yourself mentally, physically and spiritually to undertake these things in an environment that's unfamiliar, under your own leadership, making it happen.

So step one, two and three is going camping. This isn't about nostalgia or back to basics or yearning for simplicity. This is the field of play.

This is where we do the game, And there are all kinds of other distractions that have been brought into scouting over the years that are likely very beneficial to young people, you know. But the big thing is getting out and going camping and doing it with your patrol. Working with younger children in Cubs is going camping, not as much as older children do, but what you're aiming at is building the dynamic of the small group, of building social skills and interpersonal skills, of learning through doing games and things and learning through skills that are ultimately leading to getting in the out of doors and going camping. You might say that this is a very limited view, that I'm being overly simplistic.

You might say that I am eliminating a lot of opportunities and things like that, but we have a field of play, and that field of play is camping, And the reason that it is is because when you go camping, it requires you to rebuild civilization from the ground up. Your small group is given a little plot of land to build on to guard yourself from the elements, to make sure that you're fed, to make sure that you're safe and comfortable, to make sure that you're warm, And all of the thousands of little things that happen in accomplishing that is what builds character in Scouts, And it's not like being freezing, cold and wet.

It's not suffering alone that builds character, Although you know, this is going to be challenging for a lot of young people. And that's good. That challenge is great because you push yourself a little bit. But, like I said, it's all of those thousands and thousands of little tiny things that happen. The interactions between Scouts, the development of skills, the trying to figure things out and rebuild the world is what's important. The fringe benefit is that we're outdoors in the natural world and all the wonderful things that means.

But the point, the big goal, getting the ball through the hoop, is the development of character, And that's where it happens in Scouting. Now you're going to tell me that not all young people want to go camping. That's fine. Not all young people are Scouts, And I am. I'm fine with that. You're going to tell me that all young people today don't want to go camping, that they're just a bunch of couch potatoes who like to play their video games and things.

Well, I'm sorry, but that's a very bankrupt way of looking at the world. Over 100 years ago, Baden Powell had this germ of an idea that has developed and grown And it still works the same way that it did 100 years ago, Not out of nostalgia, not out of blind tradition and the yearning to go back to the good old days, but because it simply works.

Now, most of the Scouts that I've worked with over the past 30 years are not big on camping as adults, And that's fine. A lot of them are. But my point was not to try and make them campers. My point was not to try and make them skilled in woodcraft. My point was not to make them experts in first aid. My point was not to make them Eagle Scouts.

My point is to make them grow in character by inculcating the ideals of the Scout oath and law. So my practical advice to you: if you want to play the game. You've got to go camping.

It's pretty simple, isn't it? Because everything else flows out of that. All of the other things that we do- patrol meetings and troop meetings and instructional sessions and merit badges, and all of that other stuff- is all aimed at getting outdoors into a tent and going camping.

How about that? I'll tell you what I really think next time.

No, I mean, I don't want to be preachy, I don't want to be overly simplistic And I'm not trying to make anybody feel bad, But you know, this is the point of the whole exercise. This is our field of play, This is playing the game.

So let's see if we can wrap the past four podcasts into one thought. Okay, Scouting is a game that's played in the outdoors. Scouts are like coaches. Scouts are like players. The coaches goal is the development of character in the individual scout. The scout's goal is to go camping with their friends and to discover their capabilities and strengths, to discover new skills and interesting things and to have fun experiences.

And all of this happens when we focus on our field of play, that is, getting out and going camping. So, as I've said before, I'm very interested to hear from you. I'd love to hear your thoughts on all of this, And it's easy to get in touch with me, And I'm going to tell you how to do that in just a moment.