At the moment, I'm in the middle of the Woodbadge course in Vermont, started last weekend. So I'm a bit biased, maybe.
Two years ago the Course Director talked up WB way too much and recruited me heavily, to the point where I was turned off and said "not yet." Experienced adults my troop who'd taken in Council agreed that I should wait until I was ready (because I'd get more from it, not because of that Director). Once I knew who the Director was this time, I signed up.
I don't know about how they do the program where you are, but I would rate the content and delivery of this course very highly.
That's even though I was a Scout for 10 years, did Junior Leader Training (Council version of NYLT in my day) and have been an ASM for 5 years. I've also had plenty of professional training, including project management, team-building, negotiations, an MBA from a major university. Yes, I've learned some of the concepts before, but learning with this group, in the Scouting context, then applying it both during the training weekend and the "break month" is really bringing the concepts home for me. My patrol is mixed but we're all learning from each other.
As to the Woodbadger who said "My ticket was stuff I was going to do anyhow....", who wrote those tickets? When a friend in my course said he was encouraged to take that easy way out, my stomach churned, because he's got much more potential. If you don't do anything different than what you would have anyway, how can ANYONE benefit? How could you be so lazy and then blame the course? The failure is your own, no one else's. I'm normally pretty lazy, but I know I'll only get out of it what I put in. If I don't stretch myself then the boys in my troop won't benefit either, which is why I went.
Life is what you make it. Given solid course material and good trainers (our are excellent), WB is what you make it.
