Cookie Cutter syndrome

[Ekmiranda]

I would like to start a conversation about the C.C.S. (COOKIE CUTTER SYNDROME.) I think that we all know what I am talking about.

 

And for some of us we have been in touch with a Pack or Troop that fits this description. Or maybe even this is your unit.

 

People on this site are talking about the drop out rate and the separation of BS and CS. I feel that this could have a major roll in the seperation of the two. Sometimes I feel that the C.C.S. if it has already been started is quite hard to break and if you have a unit that is running good it is even harder to avoid this black hole. The constant day in and day out of the same thing. How do you top the last Pack Night.

 

One day you are thinking to yourself that the unit is doing fine the next you are just coasting along saying that the unit is OK but why is the attendance starting to drop. The next thing is you are looking at blank faces at you Pack nights. Where has the spark gone, is it time for you to relinquish you position or does it mean that it is time for things to change.

 

I have faced these questions and other roadblocks on my journey in trying to build up the unit and moral. The challenges have stemmed from irate parents to self-centered leaders to parents that think that the scouting program is to teach their children how to get over on other kids at PWD and RGR. And another competitive function.

 

I am the CM and my wife is the CH. I will say that my pack is growing and is strong I have good leaders that are passionate about what they do. I will back them in almost anything they do and they with me and my wife as long as it is morally straight and agrees with BSA guide lines. It is a work in progress and a constant adventure.

 

Dont get me wrong I am not wining or complaining. I just want to see if any one else has had this issue.

[Eamonn]

Have to admit to not knowing what this Cookie Cutter Syndrome is?

For as long as I can remember, I have been me!

Like most people I have good days and some that are not so good.

Times when I'm like a bear (No not that type which I am anyway!!) with a sore tail? Times when the birds fill the trees and God is in his Heaven and nothing seems to go wrong.

I have my faults and good points.

Much of what I have just said can also be said of Scouting units.

I have often marveled at how much one member can change a unit.

One new Scout with a lot of pals can make or break a unit.

When things go well, he or she is inviting new members and the birds sing. Sadly if he or she decides to quit he or she can take a lot of pals along.

All Scout units have peaks and valleys. Some might be riding high for a long time, but no unit remains on the peak for ever.

Scouts age out, Leaders come and go, areas and communities change.

The best we can try for is to act as steward's of the units /Districts /Councils we serve.

We don't own the unit or the program. We are in fact just passing. The real test isn't really what we do today, next month or next year! But when we are gone, have we left the unit with what it needs for the future?

Strong units are always changing and reinventing themselves. New members; youth and adult are welcomed and made to feel useful.

It is at times hard for old codgers like me to take the time to listen to what they have to say and even harder to allow them to do things their way and not mine.

At times this might even mean stepping down and taking a back seat, removing a few of the hats that we wear.

I can't wait for the day when a young 25 year old takes over as Skipper and I'm demoted to playing with the fiberglass -If he or she will let me.

We live in a time of change, how we deal with it is up to each of us.

I don't have the answers to why membership is on the decline.

But I can't help thinking of the story that we used to use at the end of the old Cub Scout Leader Training's about the boy throwing starfish back in the sea. Someone told him he was wasting his time, he couldn't save all the starfish. He replied that he knew he couldn't save them all but he could save the one he had just returned to the sea.

I can do what I can for the youth in the Ship and I can serve the Ship and the community by doing everything I can to ensure it will be around long after I go where I go? (Maybe harp lessons are in order or maybe I should stock up on ice water?)

Ea

 

[Ekmiranda]

 

The Phrase cookie cutter is a very old one, It referances the fact that once something is done and it works, just keep on doing it that way and don't ever change it.

 

Mostly it is a common thing amoung people and companys that are not inventive and do not want to try something new.

 

EKM

[evmori]

I've always associated "cookie cutter" with two things being identical. There are 10 Troops within 5 miles of my house & none are identical. I think if the BSA had wanted "cookie cutter" units, there would be a lot more absolutes in the program.

 

Ed Mori

1 Peter 4:10

[Ekmiranda]

 

I am not saying that BSA is doing it or that all the Troops in the area are the same.

 

What I am saying is that it is an internal issue with indvidual Troops or Packs.

 

That the SM or the CM gets comfortable doing the same thing over and over again not BSA.

 

EKM

[Eamonn]

I do understand the term.

My problem was I just didn't get what you were trying to say!

"I would like to start a conversation about the C.C.S. (COOKIE CUTTER SYNDROME.) I think that we all know what I am talking about."

Yes we know what the term means but in what are you trying to get at?

"And for some of us we have been in touch with a Pack or Troop that fits this description. Or maybe even this is your unit. "

Still don't know what?

Ea.

[Ekmiranda]

 

I am just wanting to know if anyone has run across this and what are your feelings as to how this affects the drop out rate and the wanting to change units. as I stated in the my first post.

 

"Dont get me wrong I am not wining or complaining. I just want to see if any one else has had this issue."

 

And if you have what have you done or suggested to do

[Chippewa29]

Organizations that depend heavily on human resources (like Scouting) develop personalities and exhibit traits similar to humans themselves. Successful people are ones that are continuously trying to learn, grow, and improve themselves. Organizations that rely on the "we've always done it this way and we don't think we should change" are actually sliding backwards.

 

About 5-6 years ago, not too long after I had taken over as SM, I started to outline some changes I wanted to make to the troop committee. Their response was "this is the way we've done it for years...." At the time, my troop had about eight Scouts (up from a low of three a year or two earlier) and we had a bad reputation in our area. Fortunately, over time, they realized we needed to change and things have gotten better.

 

My troop is now at a point again where we need to make some changes to keep from slipping backwards. We are a much better troop now than we were before, but we still have a long way to go. Fortunately, this time around, I have a core group of leaders (not to mention some older Scouts) that understand we need to improve and are thinking of ways for us to change and become better. I think this will help us start moving forward again.