Journey to Excellence??????? Why bother

[BrentAllen]

Basement,

If you thought I was taking shots at you about income, then I apologize. That was not my intent. My intent was to point out that the JTE was designed to help units build a stronger program, and that the budget was not just a recording of financial numbers. The budget can be used to build a stronger program by pointing out to parents that the Scouts would like to do some things that they can't afford, and that you needed additional fundraisers to accomplish them.

 

In my mind, the Scouts come up with a wish list and then submit it to the Pack or Troop committee, which is supposed to provide the resources or tell them no, we can't do that. The budget, in this case, can be used as a planning tool and a motivator to get people involved in raising the resources.

 

From your comments, it appeared to me that you had looked over the forms, decided you had done it all, and that was it. I see JTE as much deeper than that. It is helping me with our Troop because we haven't had a formal budget, and we don't have a big bank account. Our Treasurer is now working on putting together a formal budget, as a result of JTE. We are also talking about conducting some additional fundraisers to build up a little bit of a balance.

 

It has also helped with training. Our ASMs are all fully trained, but most of the committee was not. We started talking about this in January, and now the entire committee is fully trained - all because I presented this as "The boys are going to do their part to earn Gold - they need your help on some of the items to reach their goal." Out Troop should make Gold fairly easy since we are a young growing, active Troop. I could have just written the rest off and been done with it, but I used it to make some real improvements in our program.

 

I plead guilty to being from an upper-income area. We have several dads who are CFOs for major companies, CPAs, owners of professional service firms, etc. Many stay-at-home moms. We have resources most Troops don't have. But we also have boys from single parents, boys from struggling homes, etc. We also have to deal with the fact that most of our boys are over-scheduled and have very high expectations placed upon them. I feel having boys from both ends of the financial spectrum is a real blessing, as it is kind of the ideal that B-P originally had - to see if boys from different backgrounds could come together and get along while camping, meeting, working together, etc.

 

You have to remember that National is trying to come up with a program that fits Packs and Troops from areas as different as yours and mine, and for units in size from 5 Scouts to 100. Units that started last week to units that have been around for nearly 100 years. I believe I heard that the average Troop size in the USA is 14 Scouts. If that is true, then there are a lot of pretty small Troops that need JTE as a guide to building a stronger program.

[hicountry]

We have wondered why bother at Centennial unit award or quality unit award or all it's variations for years now. The title Journey to excellence is a complete turn off. When I took over our unit 5 years ago we did the paperwork for Quality unit or whatever it was called that year and we earned Bronze. After that we went through the motions and easily made gold or silver for a couple years. We finally thought about the question we were asking ourselves....why are we playing this game ? We skipped it the 4th year. Year 5 our UC who is a really nice guy went to the units one by one in a very nice way to try to get participation up, many units, like ours quit doing this as they saw no value. Yes getting free rank badges is a nice plus but it wasn't enough of a bribe to keep playing the game. When asked we put some softball figures on the sheet that we easily exceed at years end and thats how we played the game that year. We concentrate on runnning a good unit not BSA time wasters national tries to foist upon us.

This all may be a good way to try and get suffering troops and packs to step it up or reward those that are doing well. What turns us and other troops off that I have talked to is that it smells of modern corporate games and management flavor of the month (Six Sigma, Mission Statements, Total Quality Management etc). I and many others in corprate jobs are sick to death of this kind of stuff at work where we have to put up with it and appear to cheerfully "play the game". When I am on my free leisure time and volunteering to help run a unit (And we do a good job running a good unit) I don't want to play the games I am forced to play at work. One of the hallmarks of corporate games is changing up the game plan or program regularly even if in essence you are changing the dynamics of the game very little. It appears those in charge "have a plan" when they make changes. I smell that when every year the name of the BSA program changes, Quality Unit, Centennial Unit JTE etc. Some of the things I have read at Council and national websites describing JTE and other recent things out of Irving smack exactly like corporate speak. I'm often wondering when, not if, BSA rolls out Six Sigma to the councils and districts.

I know some will say it's only quick paperwork, why not do it and get the free badges. The reason we don't care to is we have this kind of Dilbert like nonsense forced on us at our jobs, we don't want any part of it in our non work time as well, we don't care to support or acknowledge it, we don't HAVE TO play this game so we don't.

[SctDad]

Here is my issue with the JTE.

 

Retention. For Cub Scouts no one can tell me what the retention numbers are based on. I have one person telling me that the numbers are based on the recharter for the previous year. I have my DE telling me that the numbers are based on my end of year membership.

 

If we go by the previous years recharter, then I can probably get the points. But if I go with the end of year numbers, which include the round up numbers (Last year I had 36 sign up, and 14 stayed not to mention the 4 that never returned this year in scouting) then there is is no way I can do it. My pack seems to be given the scouts that have no idea where to go, or the scouts that are left over when the other packs say they are taking no more.

 

This part is bad for our pack if they use the numbers that include round up, where I am sure that parents sign up their kids just to get them to be quiet for a day.

 

I also have to say that I agree with the Day Camp cost issue. I can go to my districts day camp at $55 (if I register early) and go for 5 nights from 6pm to 9 pm. Or I can travel and extra 30 minutes the other direction and pay $55 (if I register early) and go from 8 am to 4 pm for 5 days. Gotta think about the costs here. I think going to another district is more bang for your buck.

 

So I think that there are some flaws in the way that the program is being planned.

[nolesrule]

retention rates are calculated on recharter years. The JTE program is a charter year program, not a calendar year program, for simplicity in baselines and calculations

 

Each item that requires a calculation has a calculation formula, and it's in the actual paperwork.

 

This from a supposedly not-quite-final version that was distributed to us in January:

 

#2 Retention: Number of previous youth that rechartered © or separated/reregistered (D), divided by total number of youth members on the pack's previous charter renewal (E), less the number of youth who aged out or graduated (F). Total = (C + D) / (E - F).

[AvidSM]

There are so many variables to JTE. So, the answer to "why bother" depends on who is asking the question.

 

For a new leader who has no clue as to what JTE is or what a district or council is, I would say: JTE is a set of standards that indicate how well you are delivering the program to the youth in your unit. It will point out where you need to make changes/improvements in your unit and its program. It's a self-evaluation tool, so it will help you focus on what is important and you will learn from this.

 

For an experienced and trained leader I would say: JTE is an affirmation of the great job you are doing with your unit and its program - you should get recognition for this. Also, there is always room for improvement and you might find out something that you need to work on. It looks like more paperwork for you, but take a look at it and give it a chance. The BSA means well by it and it not much different from the old Quality Unit Award.

 

For the burnt out leader who wants nothing to do with their district, council or the BSA: I would say nothing. I can figure out what is going on in their unit without seeing a filled out JTE form. Chances are, they are going to need help.

[Beavah]

JTE is a set of standards that indicate how well you are delivering the program to the youth in your unit. It will point out where you need to make changes/improvements in your unit and its program. It's a self-evaluation tool, so it will help you focus on what is important and you will learn from this.

 

Yah, hmmmmm....

 

Do we really believe this?

 

I'm not sure that's entirely how or why it was developed, and I can't say as I'm convinced that that's what it achieves.

 

What yeh have with JTE are some markers that are associated with good units, but just focusin' on the markers is no guarantee of success.

 

Let's take da obvious one: filling out the JTE form. That means that yeh have enough volunteer interest and loose volunteer time to spend on that kind of paperwork task, eh? That, indeed, is a marker for a strong unit, eh? Lots of volunteer time and energy available even for paperwork tasks.

 

But it doesn't mean that if yeh fill out the form on time that you're closer to being a successful unit.

 

Same could be said for many or most of the items, eh? They can be markers of a strong unit, but just doin' the things listed, by themselves, won't make yeh a strong unit.

 

Beavah

 

[JoeBob]

I think JTE is an improvement over QU.

 

The matrix is easy to understand.

There are enough variables so that you can build on a strong area to compensate for a weakness, and still score high.

It's simpler approach makes it easier for new Cub leaders to get with the program and feel that they've had an impact.

 

I'm just too lazy to change out a temporary patch every year. So the boys wear 'em.

[Once_Eagle-Always_Eagle]

Basement:

 

Am reviving this topic after it has been inactive because I just learned about the program today and the first thing I did was came here to see what others are saying about it. Like you, I believe I run a pretty quality unit and I don't put much stock in what national, council or district does. On the other hand, there are resources to be had by working with these larger groups rather than against them or even ignoring them. Personally, I eagerly embrace the change from Quality Unit to Journey To Excellence and I'll explain why with an example:

 

The way things were laid out before, DE's/council staff were compensated based on the number of units they started. It was more desirable to the paid BSA staff to have 10 units of 10 boys rather than 3 unit of 33 boys. This caused our DE and I to actually 'compete' against each other for recruiting new boys in our town with population 12,000. I constantly kept finding myself at odds with council/district about how to recruit from the schools and the support we would even receive. For example, council would not approve the wording we requested on our fall recruiting flyers (and therefore wouldn't print recruiting flyers for us in the fall) because they wanted to manage the recruiting events. In other words, council did not want us to manage our own recruiting... and to do so placed me in direct competition against council. It wasn't a good situation.

 

By comparison, the new JTE program focuses on the quality of existing units. Is your unit growing? Are you putting on strong programs? Are you doing community projects? Are you doing outdoor camping events? Are you advancing the boys? Are you retaining the ones you have signed up? For my unit (and it sounds like for yours), the answer to all of the above is yes, but now my DE has compensation tied to my doing what I have always done. This lets us work as partners in continuing the quality of my unit- not as competitors.

 

and for that reason, I am excited to see this program and I would like to see it embraced.

 

 

[ScoutNut]

The Quality Unit award, no matter what it has been called, has always been, in some fashion, about delivering a "quality" unit program, and thus increasing the number of your members.

 

DE's salary has always been tied to both the number of member registrations, and the number of units.

 

It still is. That has not changed at all.

 

Both the District, and the Council, level Journey to Excellence award, have a increase in market share, and membership, as requirement objectives.

[SeattlePioneer]

Personally, I think the JTE is a useful planning tool. As Cubmaster, I've discussed it with our Pack Committee Chair and suggested that we meet to review where we are with it's various issues.

 

Unfortunately, that meeting has never occurred, despite my suggesting it several times. So it's a planning tool we aren't using in and active sense, unfortunately.

[NEPAScouter]

Thanks Once_An_Eagle_Always_An_Eagle, for reviving this thread. My unit was, and is, a "decent" unit, but my fellow leaders recognize that there's room for improvement, and it helps to see some concrete guidelines from National to get a better idea of where we can direct our improvement efforts. We're an old unit (83 years) that was very strong up until the mid 1990s, but hit a rough patch of about 10 years of having only 5 or 6 members. Over the past 6 years we've gradually built membership up to 23 scouts. Although some of us "old timers" from the troop's earlier salad days came back to help, it's essentially a new troop. JTE helps all our leaders start at a common point of reference when we're discussing how/whether to improve, because the memory of the "rough days" still haunts us, and we don't want to go backwards. The chartering organization lost its parochial school, and we'd hate to see the youth activities in the parish dry up any further.

 

On a related note, in my council JTE is being used to identify units that don't meet Bronze levels this rechartering cycle (December 2011) as "flagged units." They will be encouraged to work closely with committed unit commissioners to improve themselves over the next year, but if there is no evidence of improvement (note, they don't have to make Bronze, just show improvement), their charters will not be renewed at the end of 2012. The council sees it as a process of "protecting the brand."

 

For example, if a troop isn't getting outdoors, or having boy-led activities, or making progress on using the PLC and the patrol method, or helping their chartering organizations with at least a service project in a year, what impression of scouting is it making on the public?

[Once_Eagle-Always_Eagle]

>> in my council JTE is being used to identify units that don't meet

>> Bronze levels this rechartering cycle (December 2011) as "flagged

>> units."

>> if there is no evidence of improvement (note, they don't have to

>> make Bronze, just show improvement), their charters will not be

>> renewed at the end of 2012

 

Woah! that is a bit intrusive and authoritarian. :-/ While I understand their lofty goals, there are a number of reasons units may not hit bronze- interest in the program being one of them. While I like the program and BSA setting goals of what the program should be... witholding recharter approval is overstepping imho.

 

[NEPAScouter]

Yes, it could have been authoritarian, and some might see it that way. I may have drunk the koolaid (hope not!) but the goal as I've been told is to see units make an effort. Things out of their control aren't going to be held against them. What the council wants to see is active troops with good programs for their situation, not necessarily huge troops or high recruitment in areas where there just aren't enough boys for large growth. They're more interested in helping a troop or pack work at some kind of improvement than summarily terminating them.

[Beavah]

They will be encouraged to work closely with committed unit commissioners to improve themselves over the next year, but if there is no evidence of improvement (note, they don't have to make Bronze, just show improvement), their charters will not be renewed at the end of 2012. The council sees it as a process of "protecting the brand."

 

Holy Smoke! I see they've discovered that the easiest way to improve your test scores is to expel all the kids who are gettin' below a "B" from school.

 

Yah, this is da stuff that drives poor old furry Beavahs to distraction about the BSA corporate culture. "Protecting the brand" my flat tail!

 

This is why all corporations have to be very careful about their incentive structure, eh? If yeh have incentives for creatin' units (and limited monitoring), people will create lots of low-viability units. If yeh have incentives for numbers of youth (and limited auditing), people will register ghosts. If yeh create incentives for havin' JTE units, people will try to force low-scoring units out.

 

The only metric that a council should tolerate for employee evaluation is quality of service provided. Da corporate BSA is a NFP service organization, eh? If we'd just evaluate our people based on the quality of service they provide to units, volunteers, and COs, all of these issues of bogus units and membership fraud and trying to force out units would go away. Problem is, Irving interferes with da councils who want to focus on service, and sets up a conflict of interest for BSA execs.

 

NEPAScouter, place a call to your Regional folks to let 'em know what's up. Droppin' unit charters is somethin' that's supposed to go above the council level for approval on a case-by-case basis. And then have some of your CORs have some conversations with your district and council officers to express their sentiments on the matter, and their willingness to make "changes" at the annual meeting if necessary.

 

Beavah

 

[ScoutNut]

>>"if there is no evidence of improvement (note, they don't have to make Bronze, just show improvement), their charters will not be renewed at the end of 2012."