Month: September 2017
Anti-Fragile and Scouting (Part 1)
As I have mentioned before, I have been reading the works of Nassim Taleb, beginning
with his book Anti-Fragile, part of the Incerto series.
Since I plan on writing a series of commentaries on this author’s work, let me begin by giving a quick version of his biography.
Taleb is a polyglot (i.e., French, Arabic, English, etc.) and graduate of Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. He was born and raised in a small francophone village in Lebanon to a well-connected Greek Orthodox family. Through most of his later childhood, he was surrounded by the Lebanese Civil War. After coming to America he has been a floor trader in the commodities exchange and worked on derivatives trading. He eventually received his doctorate and served as a distinguished professor at NYU’s School of Engineering and Dean’s Professor at University Massachusetts at Amhearst.
He is deep. He is thorough. He is just damn funny.
Unit listings updated
I have been working to make sure the unit listings on this site are up to date.
Each unit chair should assign someone to provide me udpated information or contact me directly to confirm the accuracy of the information posted.
Many Cub Packs and Venturing Crews do not have websites. This is very damaging to your ability to look credible and inviting. Please seriously investigate having a website hosted on a service like WordPress (which I use for this website), a FaceBook page with multiple administratiors, or using a built-in web service for advancement like TroopWebHost.
The Cub Packs are listed here.
Perception and Adaptation
In some of my reading on other subjects, I ran across some scientific research from the mid-1800’s that I think is fascinating in its potential application to scouting. I am going to go down some complicated paths in this series of articles, so allow me to set the context first.
The View from the Eagle Board
For those of you who have sat on an Eagle Board of Review more than once, you likely can confirm that the following scenario is common.
A 17-year old in full dress scout uniform walks in the door. He is often clean shaven (although beards are increasingly common). He walks erect even if slightly nervous about what he is walking into. He firmly shakes hands with each member of the Board of Review. He answers questions about his Eagle project in great detail. He has pride in his accomplishments. He looks the part of an Eagle Scout already.
As he sits through the Board, the Board members ask the Eagle candidate to reflect on his beginnings in scouting and his growth. The candidate describes his first campout in the rain. He reflects on his anguish and discomfort. He laughs about how those deprivations are nothing compared to the later discomforts of camping in the snow of winter amidst the howling winds. He reflects on what he learned about overcoming obstacles, adapting, and accepting his circumstances.
He has learned that slight discomforts at home are nothing compared to facing the elements and the discomforts Mother Nature offers.
In my role as District Commissioner, the BSA charges me with the primary mission of encouraging Best Practices in our units. In other words, I am responsible for being able to explain to leaders why BSA policies are in the best interest of the unit, its leaders, and its scouts. That does not mean that I agree with each and every policy, but it does mean that I should be able to articulate the rationale in the light most favorable to the BSA’s intent.
For example, I should be able to articulate why units that camp the most are the more successful; why units that allow the boys to experiment with the patrol method with guidance and boundaries from the scoutmaster corps are more successful than units where adult leaders run the program; or why units with Senior Patrol Leaders who work the Patrol Leader Council are more successful than units where Senior Patrol Leaders acts as the patrol-leader-of-all. Read the rest of this entry »
Hurricane Maria: An update on BSA members in Puerto Rico. Ways you can help.
Bryan on Scouting has just posted this article on how to help after Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
To my view, the most important part of this article is that the councils and units affected have been slow to report their needs. This creates a risk of their needs being forgotten or overlooked by the rest of the BSA.
This slow response to state needs makes a lot of sense. First, the BSA is built on a diffused organizational system. National Council needs information from local councils. Local councils need information from districts. Districts need information from units. Units need information from unit leaders. Unit leaders are busy caring for their families, work or businesses, and places of worship.
Now the information trickle is beginning. The BSA has created several central clearinghouses of information. Units can make direct appeals for help. The BSA has created a central fundraising website. Now we know where to look for what is needed.
So the next question seems to be, “What can our unit do?”
What you can do is still limited by BSA regulations. Let’s take a quick look so that these are all fresh in mind.
Internet Rechartering Emails
District Executive Con Sullivan has emailed me that all units should have received their emails inviting their unit chair, unit leader, and Chartered Org Rep to the rechartering system. If the unit chair has informed Con about who will be the rechartering specialist, that person received an email, too.
Officially, the internet recharter system goes live on October 1, 2017.
Right now, the unit chair should be reviewing his internal records to have a clean list of scouts and scouters in his unit. This will be a very useful tool when the system goes live. The scouters on that list should have their YPT expiring after March 1, 2018, otherwise the recharter system will prevent the entire unit from rechartering. No open YPT issues are allowed by National Council this year. YPT must be finalized before the roster can be finalized.
The introductory email includes your access code and recharter turn-in date and time.
Remember no login names or passwords from last year work. You must log in as a first time user again.
I recommend setting a password that is NOT personal to you. That way if you have to share it with other leaders, it creates no problems.
Watch Rechartering Updates 2017 for updates as they are available.
Contact your unit commissioner with any questions.
Fall Camporee Updates
From Camporee Chair Mark Pishon:
Dear Camporee Stakeholders:
I’m very excited to announce the Purdue Motorsports Engineering Program will be joining us at the Subaru facility with their Grand-Prix Go-Karts.
We are only 12 days out so please get registered. The information and all the updates are attached.
YIS,
Mark Pishon
Fall Camporee Chair
Cell 317.374.2262
Willie Award Judging Criteria Fall Camporee 2017.pdf
Secrets to Eva’s Success and Lessons for Scouting
“The secret of Eva Moskowitz’s Success Academy” in the New York Post tells the story of a charter school system in New York. It tells how the school has inner city kids performing well on standardized tests and grades.
Success Academy breeds success: Its inner-city students outperformed every other school district in the state in the 2017 exams. And one big secret to that success has been the application of the kinds of tactics and strategies that helped bring the city back from the brink more than once — this time, applied to education.
Both “broken windows” policing and Success Academy schooling target minor infractions that create a culture of chaos.
Writing about dealing with disruptive students in 2006-07, Success Academy’s first year, Moskowitz notes that when teachers are unable to stop even one student’s incessant misbehavior, it “can have a domino effect . . . and soon the teacher is playing whack-a-mole rather than teaching.”
That meant imposing “cultural expectations” on the classroom, which soon developed into a barometer Moskowitz calls “culture data.” Standardized test scores can only tell you so much so quickly. But monitoring “latenesses, absences, uniform infractions, missing homework, incomplete reading logs, and whether our teachers were calling parents about these problems” can serve as a “canary in a coal mine.”
It also manifested in instruction styles that required the kids to pay attention in class — such as randomly calling on students to respond to other students’ answers during a lesson — rather than just hoping they absorbed the information and then testing them to find out.
Consistent standards are also key. Unlike union-dominated schools, Moskowitz’s charters could fire bad teachers and administrators, ensuring those standards are applied evenly.
* * *
She explains: “Excellence is the accumulation of hundreds of minute decisions; it is execution at the most granular level. Once you accept the idea that you should give in to things that make no sense because other people do those things and you want to appear reasonable, you are on a path towards mediocrity.”
In scouting, we are not trying to be data hounds or playing BigBrother to make sure all is well with our scouts. But even laying aside the data, there are insights we can learn from this story.
If a scout regularly misses campouts, what does that tell us about the scout’s experience in scouting? What is that scout’s absence on his fellow scouts? Is it reasonable for a scout to miss a campout because he doesn’t “find it interesting”? If a parent accepts this complaint from the scout, what should the Cubmaster or Scoutmaster do in response?
John Cleese on Stupidity
John Cleese is one of the best observers and commentators on the human condition. He is deep and funny simultaneously. I disagree with his world view and some of his conclusions that arise from his observations. Nevertheless his observations are keen.
In this short clip, he focuses on people who don’t know that they are stupid. Very funny insights.
But let’s take that a bit deeper than just a look at stupidity. At the 0:25 mark, he quotes a professor, “In order to know how good you are at something, requires exactly the same skills as it takes to be good at thing in the first place.” Is this a true statement? In part, yes; in part, no. Let’s start from his premise that a “stupid person” doesn’t know he is stupid.
When my son was in preschool, we were sitting at the dining room table one night. I commented about an event of the day, “That is so stupid.” My son piped in, “Daddy said the S-word.” My wife and I stared at each other trying to recall if I had said the four letter word or not. My wife quickly recovered and asked, “What word was that?” My son look horrified at the prospect of repeating the forbidden word. After some coaxing and reassurance that he would not get in trouble, he proclaimed the S-word as “stupid.” He explained that at preschool two of the boys called everyone “stupid” so often, the teacher had told the kids to repeat “Don’t say ‘stupid’!” every time they heard the forbidden word.
So borrowing this preschool lesson, let’s change Cleese’s very funny use of the S-word to something more prosasic. Using more diplomatic language, we can translate that to “an inexperienced and uninformed person.” What does the translation do to our understanding of the professor’s point, “In order to know how good you are at something, requires exactly the same skills as it takes to be good at thing in the first place.”
Announcement from Patrick Sterrett
A message from Patrick to the Executive Board of Crossroads of America Council to the Executive Board this morning:
Executive Board-
Ed Bonach has asked me to communicate the following to you.
This past Tuesday morning, our Chief Scout Executive Mike Surbaugh asked me to join his team as the Assistant Chief Scout Executive- Operations. I have great admiration for Mike, respect his managerial courage and look forward to learning from him. I accepted and begin Nov 16.
Lori and I have enjoyed CAC and Indiana. Quite frankly, this position (or the Chief’s job of course :)) was the only role that could draw us from CAC.
I met with our staff leadership team on Wednesday morning. I communicated this change to the entire staff this morning. They are a great team!
We had an Executive Committee meeting call this morning. We are blessed with a terrific Executive Committee and Board.
Ed will immediately begin the Scout Executive selection process and will discuss this in more depth at the Wednesday Board meeting. He/she will be on board in early January. The new [Scout Executive] will be lucky to serve with you.
Our council is strong. We are in great fiscal position. Membership is growing. The staff is energized and outstanding. We have tremendous volunteer depth and quality. We are blessed with top notch facilities. This change at the top will be a speed bump not a roadblock because of you and your passion for our mission.
I appreciate you and thank you for your un-wavering support of me and the Scouting movement. Scouting is strong and will grow again across the Nation just as it is doing here in central Indiana.
An email will be sent to all BSA employees and National/Regional volunteers later this afternoon.
Patrick
Patrick W. Sterrett | Scout Executive / CEO
BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA
Crossroads of America Council
This is a huge gain for the National Council and an equal loss for the Crossroads of America Council. Patrick has been instrumental in providing a strong vision moving forward and recruiting personnel capable of carrying out that vision.
He will be missed.
Rechartering Outline Updated
District Commissioner has revised the Rechartering Update page on this website in anticipation of the new Rechartering season.
Dates, times, and locations of rechartering turn-ins have been posted. Please make sure that your unit’s chair and/or the rechartering champion have placed these dates on their calendars. If they cannot make it, they may ask another person to attend in their place.
Please be advised no turn-ins at the Council Registrar window will be accepted. Those will be put in the inter-office mail and sent to the District Executive. This delays processing of your Application to Recharter.
Please be advised that scouters without a current YPT expiration will prevent your Application for Recharter from printing your finalized roster. This is new for October 2017. Work on YPT now so that you can complete recharter turn in on time.
CAC North Star Unofficial Website 
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