[Philmont] Paint Pails and Micro Management

The crew had six shakedowns before Philmont. They tried 8 qt pots and 4 qt
pots. They had crunchy food one trip, lots of unhytrated lumps on several
others and a spilled pot on another. They cooked directly in the pots and
they tried turkey bags. They also had the opportunity to talk with other
scouts who had been to Philmont the two previous years. The scouts rotated
jobs, throughout the shakedowns, so everyone had the opportunity to do every
job several times. By the time we went to Philmont, any of the scouts could
have done any of the jobs. The point is, the scouts tried, succeeded and
failed during the shakedowns and they made the decisions on what worked best
for them. This included the cooking method, whether to use permanent or
rotating jobs while at Philmont and many other things as well.

The advisors made sure the jobs rotated during the shakedowns and they
pointed out some of the pros and cons of rotating vs. permanent jobs. But,
it was the crew's decision on how do to things at Philmont. For the most
part the permanent jobs worked well, although the crew chief made some
adjustments a few days into the trek. There were also several times when
one team had more or less to do than another, and for the most part the
scouts jumped in to help where necessary.

I see this process as being similar to how positions are determined on a
sports team. At the beginning of pre-season practice you may rotate folks
through different positions, offense or defense, infield or outfield etc.
But when it's game-time, you go with your starting quarterback and lead-off
pitcher. And unless it's a very unusual circumstance, you don't substitute
a defensive back for an interior lineman during the game. But when someone
fumbles everyone goes for the recovery; if there is an interception even the
quarterback tries to make the tackle.

I guess it just depends on how much preparation you have and how you define
'team'.

Just curious, of those who rotate assignments, how many rotate Chaplain's
Aide along with the other duties? Why or why not?

Happy Trails,

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Received on Sat Oct 13 13:46:38 2007