1. Generational Scouting
As we go along, I will be asking a lot of questions, so I hope you all contribute to
this discussion.
I hope you take home some of the following points:
■ Generational differences are just another aspect of diversity.
■ These generational differences impact each group.
■ These differences give more insight into the “adult led, youth run” aspects of
each unit.
■ Learning to work together across generations will help us build a better future.
The first thing we are going to do is to play a game.
Staff members are going to place an adhesive note on your back, which you will
not be able to see. Each note has the name of a famous person written on it,
covering various decades from 1900 to today—people such as John Lennon,
Amelia Earhart, and Gandhi.
You are going to pair up with a person from a different patrol and figure out
“who you are” by asking the other person up to 20 questions about the person
named on your note.
Remember as you play the game, a Scout is trustworthy, so please don’t cheat
and peek at your note. (Give the group five minutes.)

2. What is a Generation?
The dictionary gives one meaning of generation as a group of people who were born in approximately the same time frame who share common cultural icons and attitudes.

3. What is a Generation?
Scouting has been around for more than 100 years, and while much is the same, many changes have occurred as well.
So now let’s take this concept of generations and pull it into Scouting. Scouting
has been around for more than 100 years, and while much is the same, many
changes have occurred as well.

4. Think Back
Go back about 30 years, the mid 80’s just about when the movie Back to the Future came out.
Since that time, how is Scouting the same?
So on the flip side, how has it changed?
Using your crystal ball what do you think future changes will look like?
I’d like you all to think back on just the past 30 years—back to good old 1984,
just about when the movie Back to the Future came out.
Since that time, how is Scouting the same? Anyone want to share?
So on the flip side, how is it different? How has Scouting changed?
(Lead to questions such as “Why do you think it has changed?”)
Does anyone want to share what they think future changes will look like?

5. Generational Inputs into the Program?
■ The Scouts themselves have a huge impact because of their changing interests and technology.
■ Young parents and the rise of single-parent households — Scouting definitely needs to be convenient and accessible for their busy schedules.
How are these changes a reflection of different generational inputs into the program?
■ The Scouts themselves have a huge impact because of their changing interests
and technology.
■ Young parents and the rise of single-parent households—Scouting definitely
needs to be convenient and accessible for their busy schedules.

6. Generational Inputs into the Program?
■ Experienced members (aka Ancients)—deep knowledge of the program to help keep that continuity and tradition.
■ Experienced members (aka Ancients)—deep knowledge of the program to help
keep that continuity and tradition.
Back on Day Two, we had a great presentation on leveraging diversity through
inclusiveness. We discussed differences in gender, education, ethnic background,
and many other factors, just one of which is age.
We currently have five major generations participating in our program. Each
group has different expectations, communication skills, learning styles, commitments,
motivation, training, productivity, engagement, feedback, and evaluation
styles, just to name a few.

7. Generations Currently Involved
1. Greatest Generation - born 1925 to 1945
2. Baby Boomers - born 1946 to 1964
3. Generation X - born 1965 to 1981
4. Millennials - born 1982 to 2000
5. Generation Z - born 2001 to today

8. The Greatest Generation (born 1925 to 1945)
■ The aftermath of World War I ■ The Great Depression ■ Roosevelt’s New Deal ■ The attack on Pearl Harbor, World War II ■ The Korean War ■ The GI Bill ■ The introduction of radio ■ The introduction of the telephone
Dick van Dyke, Yogi berra, Sammy davis jr, Johnny carson,
Jim nabors, clint eastwood, winston churchill, elvis, fidel Castro, marilyn monroe

9. The Baby Boomer Generation (born 1946 to 1964)
■ Student protests ■ The civil rights movement ■ Watergate ■ The Cold War ■ The Vietnam War ■ Woodstock and the power of music ■ The space race ■ Assassinations of American leaders ■ The introduction of credit cards
Trump, stallone, dolly parton, sally fields, steven spielberg, magic johnson, steve jobs, bill gates, george w. bush, benjamin netanyahu

10. The Generation X (born 1965 to 1981)
■ The Internet
■ Cellphones and video games
■ The HIV/AIDS epidemic
■ On TV, this generation saw:
The fall of the Berlin Wall
The Challenger disaster
Desert Storm
The first music videos on MTV
Charlie sheen, mike tyson, adam sandler, Kobe bryant, Will Smith angelina jolie, Gordon Ramsay

11. The Millennial Generation (born 1982 to 2000)
■ School shootings such as Columbine ■ The rise of social networking, with chat rooms, Facebook, and now Twitter ■ The Enron/WorldCom scandals and the dot-com bubble ■ Advances in genetics, shown by the cloning of Dolly the sheep ■ 9/11, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
Prince William, Danica Patrick, Kate Middleton, Jennifer Lawrence, Justin Bieber, Adele, Usain Bolt

12. The Generation Z (born 2001 to today)
■ Tablets, apps, and smartphones ■ Climate change ■ The housing bubble and great recession ■ The cloud and issues of data security ■ Gains in equality in terms of race, gender, and same sex relationships

13. Characteristics of Generations
■ Do you agree with the assessment of your generation? ■ How about of other generations? ■ Are they accurate? ■ Are there descriptions in other generations that fit you or others about your same age?
I’m going to have a couple of staff members come back up and give each of you a
Characteristics of Generations handout. It does just list the first four generations
I’ve talked about, but I want each of you to spend the next couple of minutes
reviewing this sheet. (Give the group five minutes.)
Do you agree with the assessment of your generation? How about of other
generations? Are they accurate? Are there descriptions in other generations that
fit you or others about your same age?
(The characteristics are just generalities; there will always be individual traits that
can be found in any of the groups.)

14. Why is this information important?
■ Can knowing about these generational differences help with our leadership or teaching skills? ■ Can this impact how we use the EDGE method? ■ How are our other leadership skills such as communication and conflict management influenced by this information?
Can knowing about these generational differences help with our leadership or
teaching skills? Can this impact how we use the EDGE method? How are
our other leadership skills such as communication and conflict management
influenced by this information? It’s important to know.
Even though it’s late in the process, how can you use this in writing your ticket?
Remember, diversity is a required component of at least one item.
Here’s some good news! Scouting has never been more diverse in gender, ethnic
background, and age of participants. If you look around in your unit, you just
may find members of every generation I described earlier.
Scouting is also always reaching out for more opportunities to serve communities
in new and unique ways. The challenge or opportunity is to create a cohesive
team to address the specific needs and challenges of the units, the districts, the
councils—and, most of all, the Scouts!
One of the roles of a leader in any group is to engage the minds and ensure the
commitment of all participants in order to meet the productive output required
(the goal) while maintaining positive attitudes (the morale). Does this sound like
the skills vs. enthusiasm in the stages of team development?
Today’s Scouts are from both the Millennial Generation and beyond

15. ■ Generational differences are just another aspect of diversity
■ Generational differences are just another aspect of diversity. ■ These generational differences impact each group. ■ These differences give more insight into the “adult led, youth run” aspects of each unit. ■ Learning to work together across generations will help us build a better future.
Here’s another example from the sporting world and the 2010 NCAA Final Four
in Indianapolis. Coach K (Coach Mike Krzyzewski of Duke University) is a Baby
Boomer who teaches classic basketball fundamentals. He is a Top 5 coach, has
won four national championships, and is a legend destined for the Hall of Fame.
His team came out for pregame warm-ups all wearing exactly the same attire,
performing consistent team drills, and behaving in a very disciplined manner.
Duke was facing Brad Stevens and his team from Butler University. Coach Brad
is a Gen Xer who is on his second career (his first job was in advertising for corporate
America). Now, he also understands basketball very well and really knows
how to build teams. His team participated in pregame warm-ups dressed in all
varieties of Butler wear, preparing in their individual ways, with many wearing
iPods, listening to music, and enjoying the moment.
Although there is still an “old-school” mentality when it comes to sports fundamentals,
we can all be reminded how important it is to adjust your beliefs as a
leader based on whom you are leading. While Duke won the game, the Butler team
gave Coach K and his team more of a challenge than anyone thought they would.
Teaching is one thing, but building a cohesive team is often more than simply
providing direction. Sometimes you have to bend and let the team do some of
“their” thing.

16. Remember the Mission
The mission of the Boy Scouts of America is to prepare young people To make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law.
Young people respect and are willing to learn from well-intentioned people of
their parents’ and grandparents’ generations. If they know you care, they might
just want to see how much you know. The youth of today are open to partnership—
be sure that YOU are.
They have much to share and to say, so listen to them. Find your shared vision
and make it a reality.
Scouting tomorrow will be as different from today as it was 30 years ago.
By using the skills that we are learning here at Wood Badge, we will be able to
work together to create the greatest change in Scouting history and equip our next
generation of leaders to build upon our legacy—a legacy of positive influence on
every generation, including the ones to come.
Let’s remember the mission of the BSA. (Have someone read the Mission.)