Attack or Opportunity

As a director of a Scout Camp I was familiar with inspections. Our kitchen is inspected by the Health Department, our pool is inspected by the local municipality, our camp is inspected by a national inspection team from the BSA and our own internal health and safety committee, our staff conducts daily inspections of campsites.

Inspections are necessarily invasive: someone enters another’s domain to comment and critique on how well standards are being maintained and suggest or require improvements.

Considering such inspections an attack makes them unpleasant.

Seeing them as collaboration makes them an opportunity. It is useful to have a fresh set of eyes look over your operation and help you make it better, safer and easier.

Critiques build excellence. When people inside or outside of scouting question our motives,goals and practices we should listen. If we react defensively instead of listening the critique becomes an attack and the critic becomes an enemy instead of an ally and we loose the opportunity to collaborate.

Critique can be unsetting. The findings may be useful or they may be baseless, but we should listen rather than react.