I recently had the opportunity to meet with an official from the National Office's "Innovation Council." Rani Monson, Innovation Director at the National Office, was on a country-wide tour and wanted to hear what we thought about Scouting: how it needs to change and how it needs to stay the same.
It was a frank back and forth with Ms. Monson, our Scout Exec, Al Lambert, and three other district serving execs like me. She was at least as critical as we were of the Boy Scouts: we're not dynamic enough, not cool enough, not nimble enough, not inclusive enough.
It is her council that has put together an "innovation engine" for the BSA: http://ideas.scouting.org/
Ms. Monson was totally new to Scouting when she took her current job with the BSA, which has its advantages and disadvantages, as you might imagine. The major advantage is that she is a thoughtful advocate of our program, but also knows what an outsider might perceive about the BSA. And there are a lot of terrible perceptions of our movement.
Her ideas for our movement were complex, but from what I could tell, here are some results that she'd like to see:
- The uniform abolished, or a different uniform produced by the fashionable athleticwear maker UnderArmor.
- Better sharing of best practices among councils
- More digital resources and a more dynamic Cub Scout program
It was a disheartening meeting for me. Here was an outsider, put in an important position in the national office, giving credence to the worst stereotypes about our movement. On the other hand, she can't ignore the perceptions. If she did it would be business as usual in the National BSA and business as usual isn't working, if you read our 30-year membership numbers.
What did I take from it? As our Scout Exec said, we've been having the same discussion for 30 years--since he was a district exec in the south side of Chicago--and it has always been a question of how we maintain our identity and preserve the things that work, while making the BSA a movement that appeals to new populations. That's less of an answer than a question, I think.
A friend of mine who went to Philmont training with me approached the BSA's National High Adventure Director and said brazenly: "I want your job. What do I need to do?"
The guy smiled wryly said, "You have to have a hard head and thick skin." Surprising to us both. As we continue in this profession it rings more true than ever. I know that boys love to play in the woods, shoot weapons, play with fires. I know they like to swim and sail in lakes and go horseback riding.
No matter what anyone says about this movement, we're the best organization to give boys these opportunities.
