Movement or Organization

It is a movement, because it moves forward. As soon as it stops moving, it becomes an Organisation, and is no longer Scouting. -Baden Powell

There is sometimes troubled relationship between the creative, visionary force behind great ideas and the formal framework that facilitates their application. In Scouting we have the visionary force of the ideas that define Scouting and the policies that provide a framework for the vision. We often look on the policies as restrictions, as limitations and we have an inherent propensity to distrust them. But these policies are not limitations – they are definitions.

We cannot comprehend the vision of Scouting by knowing the policies; it is quite the other way around. We first have to catch the vision for the policies to make sense. All too often our training focuses on adherence to policy and misses the vast, inspiring vision that they frame. We need organization, we need definition, we need guidance – but we need the vision and inspiration of a movement to enliven them.