Issue 653 – August 30, 2020

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Hi Folks! The surgery went well, and although it’s taken a little while, I’m back in action. So here we go…

Hi Andy,

Well, I wrote to our BSA National Office about the discrepancies in the definitions of the points of the Scout Law, and I did get a response. The letter below is exactly what they have to say. (Connie Knie)

Re: Discrepancies in Law definitions

Connie,

Roger Mosby, CEO, has asked me to respond on his behalf. We always enjoy hearing from volunteers with thoughts about how to improve our programs, so thank you for reaching out with your concern.

While the verbiage on our website isn’t verbatim from the handbook, it isn’t meant to be. The website is more public facing and is often not a 1:1 reflection of what is in our handbook, mostly because our program websites are meant to encourage those who are not in our program to join us in serving the youth in our country and need to be more concise than what we can put in handbooks. The handbook is our actual program content and is what our Scouts are using to guide their development.

I’ve developed a side-by-side comparison, attached, to illustrate that what’s on the website is a high-level version of what is in the handbooks for non-Scouts to get an idea what the Law means, and that the content in the handbooks does go into much deeper discussion about what each of the points of the Law can mean to a Scout. Though the website and handbooks represent different purposes and different audiences, I’ll be speaking with our Digital Strategy team to see if there is a better way to more fully represent the handbook content on the website.

Thanks again for your feedback, and thanks for your time and skills to help lead the youth in your community.

April

April McMillan, Ph.D.
National Director of Program
BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA – National Office

First, it’s great to see that you’ve received a direct and forthright response to your inquiry. Isn’t it terrific to see that our National Office is invested in responding to us boots-on-the-ground volunteers!

That said, and with all sincerity, I believe the BSA has a larger problem than a simple internal communication breakdown. I’m professionally obligated to state that the BSA is making a huge error in not adhering to the “One Sight—One Sound” principle of corporate and brand marketing. From a 40+ year career in marketing and communications research and consulting for such corporations as American Airlines, IBM, Sun Microsystems, Samsung, General Motors, General Mills, Prudential, Heineken, Nestle, Sara Lee, Mennen, Gillette, Ore-Ida, Equitable, Proctor & Gamble, Bristol-Myers, and the list goes on and on, I can cite failure after failure when management allowed two or more different versions of their mission statement, marketing positioning, brand strategy, etc., etc., and even package design to reach the market. I can also sight many, many more successes when the organization recognizes that every word, every image, every impression, every slogan and motto and motif must match in the eyes, ears, and minds of each and every audience.

Firestone’s “Where the rubber meets the road” slogan entered the American lexicon almost a half-century and it shows no signs of evaporating from daily conversations.

“Better living through chemistry” was coined by DuPont in 1935 and they kept it—without change or variations—for the next fifty years.

People today still frequently refer to a bonus of some sort as a “Lucky Strike extra,” often without necessarily knowing that this began some 70 years ago by a—would you believe it!—cigarette manufacturer.

These are a mere handful of the thousands of examples of the successes enjoyed when the target audience is delivered a one sight-one sound message.

But when the target audience gets more than a single-focused message, two things inevitably happen. The first is confusion. The second and even more deadly thing that happens is dismissal. When this occurs, the game’s over.

Imagine: A “dumbed-down” pledge of allegiance as precursor to the “real” pledge.

Imagine: An “early” version of Be Prepared, such as “be ready” or “be poised” or “be equipped”?

Imagine: Instead of “On my honor, I’ll do my best” we could have “I promise to try…”

Imagine: “A Scout is upright, true, obliging, sociable, polite, caring, dutiful, merry, frugal, valiant, decent, devout,” and he or she can learn the “other” version later on.

Imagine: “Eight-seven years ago, our ancestors started up a new country that was based on doing as we want to and that we’re all the same” (Lincoln is rolling over at this moment).

Imagine: “To go boldly…” instead of “To boldly go…” because that first one is easier to understand.

Well, enough.

If the marketing experts at the BSA are really, really smart, they’ll hunt down every deviation, every time something’s said two ways instead of one, and convert all of these to a single message. After all, every council has most likely been given a Graphic Standards Manual (you’ve done this, yes?) so that the logo, fonts, formats, and motifs of all BSA publications and printed (or pixeled) visuals are consistent, one to the next. The same principle needs to be applied to all things written.

I’ll give you two instances that weren’t overruled and, as a result, have caused unnecessary confusion ever since. The first is those silly “Totin’ Chip” and “Firem’n Chit” patches that some genius came up with—and then shaped them like “mini-flaps”—years ago. The BSA’s insignia guide says they’re “not for uniform wear,” but guess what… Yeah, they’re sewn on BOTH shirt pocket flaps! The next one is more recent: The “color order” of the JTE awards to councils, districts, and units. For this one, another bunch of geniuses decided that the BSA’s hundred-year-old bronze-gold-silver color order was “confusing” for “new parents” (who have little to do with the JTE process—go figure), they’d use the “Olympic” order of bronze-silver-gold. (I guess they failed to notice that the Eagle on the medal is silver and that Explorers and now Venturers have had the Silver Award.) So now we have two color orders, and when, for instance, a troop earns a “gold” JTE award, it looks most like a “second-tier” recognition.

So maybe the BSA Digital Strategy team will have some conversations with the folks who work directly with content, and together they agree that what’s said in one place will be said the same way in all other appropriate places. What a concept!

Stay safe, stay healthy, and stay positive!
Happy Scouting!
Andy

Have a question? Facing a dilemma? Wondering where to find a BSA policy or guideline? Just drop a line to askandybsa@yahoo.com. (Please include your name and council, and if you’d prefer to be anonymous—if published—just say so and that’s what I’ll make sure to do.)

Although these columns are copyrighted, all readers have my permission to quote or reproduce any column or column part, just so long as you attribute authorship: “Ask Andy” by Andy McCommish.

[No. 653 – 8/29/2020 – Copyright © 2020 Andy McCommish]