GOALS & PLANNING
A patrol says, “We want to get better at teamwork.” Their leader changes the goal to, “By the end of tomorrow, every patrol member will take responsibility for at least one assigned task.” This change makes the goal more effective because it adds this SMART characteristic.
What is Specific?
(or Timely)
Two patrol members disagree about how to solve a problem. Instead of immediately picking one person’s solution, the patrol leader makes sure everyone first agrees on exactly what problem they are trying to solve. This is an example of doing this before choosing a solution.
What is defining the problem?
These are the four stages a patrol moves through as it develops into a high-performing team.
What are Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing?
Name all four parts of the Scouting EDGE method.
What are Explain, Demonstrate, Guide, and Enable?
A patrol leader spends the entire activity giving orders and completing the difficult tasks themselves because they think that will make the patrol successful. This approach misses the central idea of this Day 4 leadership concept.
What is servant leadership?
A patrol’s goal is to finish their pioneering project by 4:00 PM, but they have no idea whether they are making progress toward that deadline. This SMART characteristic is missing.
What is Measurable?
A patrol’s first solution doesn’t work. The leader doesn’t immediately declare the activity a failure; instead, the patrol examines what happened and determines whether a different approach could work. The leader is practicing this skill.
What is problem solving?
Your patrol has been together for a few days. Everyone understands the basic expectations, members are settling into their roles, and the group is establishing ways to work together. The patrol is most likely in this stage.
What is Norming?
A Scout has never used a GPS receiver. Before asking them to operate it independently, the leader first tells them what the controls do and what they need to accomplish. This is which part of EDGE.
What is Explain?
A leader notices that their patrol members are struggling with a skill. Instead of taking over and doing it for them, the leader focuses on helping the members become more capable themselves. This reflects the NYLT idea that a servant leader should do what for those they lead?
A patrol wants to complete an enormous project in one afternoon. The goal is clearly stated and has a deadline, but the patrol doesn’t have enough time or resources to realistically accomplish it. This SMART characteristic is the problem.
What is Attainable?
Your patrol is struggling to finish an activity. One person immediately proposes a solution, and everyone starts following it without considering anything else. An NYLT-trained leader would instead have the patrol do this before committing to one solution.
What is consider alternatives?
Members don’t know one another well, aren’t sure what their roles are, and look to the leader for direction. Rather than expecting the patrol to immediately operate independently, the leader should recognize that the team is currently in this stage.
What is Forming?
You are teaching someone to measure distance by pacing. You explain the technique, show them how to do it, and then watch as they try it themselves while providing assistance when needed. Which EDGE step are you primarily using at this point?
What is Guide?
You’re deciding whether to do something that would make your patrol’s job easier, but it would violate one of your core values. Before making the decision, you check whether the choice allows you to remain loyal to your values. This question comes directly from the Day 4 ethical decision-making checklist.
What is “Does it allow me to remain loyal to my values?”
Your patrol decides it wants to improve its campsite inspection score. Instead of immediately assigning jobs, the patrol first determines exactly what needs to happen, when and where it will happen, how it will happen, and who will do each part. They are applying this NYLT tool.
What is the 7-Step Planning Process?
Your patrol identifies a problem, discusses several possible solutions, chooses one, and puts it into action. The leader then checks whether the original problem was actually solved. This last step is the one that prevents the patrol from assuming that a solution worked simply because they implemented it.
What is evaluate the solution?
A patrol has started arguing over responsibilities. Members challenge one another’s ideas, and the patrol’s progress temporarily slows down. Just because the patrol is in this stage, it doesn’t mean they are failing.
What is Storming?
A troop guide is teaching a skill to a patrol member. The Scout makes several mistakes, and the troop guide is tempted to simply take the task back. Instead, the guide keeps the Scout actively performing the skill while providing feedback. Why is this approach important?
What is allowing the learner to develop the skill through hands-on practice rather than having the leader do it for them?
Your patrol faces a choice where both options have legitimate ethical arguments behind them. There isn’t an obvious “good versus bad” answer. NYLT identifies this type of ethical situation with this phrase.
What is Right vs. Right?
Your patrol completes an activity successfully, but afterward the patrol leader says, “We completed the outing, so our plan must have been good.” According to NYLT, this conclusion skips this evaluation tool: judging how well the planning process worked and identifying improvements for next time.
What is Start, Stop, Continue?
During a patrol challenge, the team gets stuck. One member says, “We need to work faster.” Another says, “No, we need more people.” Instead of arguing over proposed fixes, the leader gets everyone to step back and determine exactly what is preventing the team from accomplishing its objective. This demonstrates the NYLT principle of doing this before trying to solve the problem.
What is identifying/defining the actual problem?
This 5th stage of team development is lesser known, but most NYLT participants experience it at the end of the course. Sometimes nicknamed the “mourning” stage, it represents the time when a team disbands after achieving their goals.
What is Adjourning?
This Day 3 activity allows participants to practice all four scouting EDGE steps, with the troop guide coaching the people doing the teaching.
What is GPS Geocaching?
A leader is considering a decision. It would accomplish the patrol’s goal, but the leader realizes it could damage the trust other patrol members have in them. Before proceeding, the leader uses NYLT’s ethical checklist to test the decision against this specific consideration.
What is “Will this choice help me build trust with others?”