My whole family was involved in Scouting when I was growing up; my mom was a Beaver leader, my dad a Scout leader and Venturer adviser, my brother did Beavers through Scouts and I did Beavers through Venturers. So when flipping through the paper or a magazine, articles on Scouting tend to stick out.

In Wednesday’s paper was a commentary piece about Scouts in the UK not being allowed to carry a knife anymore to prevent the spread of a growing knife culture. Here are some choice quotes.

  • Either give the little blighters the knowledge and skill required to become good scouts, or keep them at home and give out badges for ordering pizza.
  • Indeed, there is a thin line between savagery and civilization, but there is also one between civilization and demoralization, and somehow we have to civilize boys without turning them into ciphers.
  • I hasten to add that girls are just as disadvantaged by the ban, as girls need to be just as prepared as boys. What’s next? Confiscate all the needles from the sewing kits? No tent pegs?
  • “Be Prepared … a scout must prepare himself by previous thinking out and practicing how to act on any accident or emergency so that he is never taken by surprise.” And: “The boy is not governed by don’t, but is led by do.” – From the Boy Scout manual

I don’t have a nice, tidy connection to testing with this (yet), but I think it goes something along the lines of: In the context of Scouting, a knife is their primary tool and they need to know how to use it effectively in their context. In testing, our primary tool is our brain. We too need to know how to use it effectively in our context(s). Relying on ‘best practices’ promoted by people who do not know or understand your context is akin to handing over your knife to someone in order to keep you safe.

Actually, that did come out rather tidy.

And while we’re talking about Scouting, my son is now a Beaver and I’m one of the Colony’s three leaders. That means I get a subscription to Scouting Life magazine. In the August / September 2009 issue they have an article on which forms you need to use for different types of activities which included:

Leaders and Participants are:

  • in the Right Place,
  • at the Right Time,
  • with the Right People
  • and with the Right Equipment

Seems like a good set of guidelines for a lot of different situations, like building a team, or even a company.