Kill Your Troop Advancement Plan

On joining a troop some scouts will wait for someone to come to them and ask to sign off their advancement achievements. Many will self start and approach someone to certify what they have completed.

I tend to wait until they come to me. It is harder for some than others and they will ultimately need an invitation but I try to instill the idea that advancement is their responsibility, not mine. All they will get form me is occasional cajoling, half-hearted encouragement. My contention is that if a system for advancement exists scouts will wait until they are prompted. If advancing depends on their own initiative they will motivate themselves. This approach is hard on parents. They get edgy if they think that their son is not advancing as quickly as his peers and blame the system or try and find some way to motivate their scout. What I tell them is that a scout driven to advance will always have to be driven, but a scout who motivates himself to advance cannot be stopped.

I have had many scouts advance to Eagle after a year or two of not doing much of anything towards advancement.

Somehow the discover that if they are ever going to move on it will depend solely on their initiative. Once they discover this they simply cannot be stopped.