Tradition!

Let’s go on and get it out of the way because I know you sang it too:

A few months back, someone recommended that I read the book Tough Cookies: Leadership Lessons from 100 Years of the Girl Scouts by Kathy Cloninger, the CEO of Girl Scouts from 2003 to 2011 as a way to gain some perspective on how we got to be where we are today.  Tough Cookies was published in 2011 and discusses the overhaul, restructure, and strategies that were set in motion in 2004.   If you decide to read it, this information doesn’t start until halfway through the book.  The first half frankly struck me as self-important and frequently issues a call to arms since apparently there are not enough women in the boardroom or woman CEOs.  Did you know Cloninger was a CEO?  If not, she reminds you of this fact many times.  Because that’s the measure of a woman’s leadership in this world.  I say that with sarcasm, because it seems like this “every girl should aim to be a CEO” agenda was even pushed when I was a Cadette and Senior in the late 80s, so it’s nothing new.

To preface, let me state that I don’t dismiss all of the revamping that was introduced and continues to roll out as of today just for the sake of being argumentative or stubborn.  I realize that organizations have to continuously examine themselves and do what is necessary in order to stay effective and relevant.  All in all, I agree with some , disagree with some, and agree with some – but I feel the execution has been poor.

To prepare for restructuring, Cloninger begins in Chapter 5 by stating that we as an organization had to face what she calls Brutal Truths.  I would like to highlight one of them – the very first one she focuses on, in fact.  I see it as the crux of what has heavily contributed to a chasm the size of the Grand Canyon between GSUSA/council staff and volunteers.  I believe this divide has finally been recognized by GSUSA and councils and some steps are being taken to rectify it, but I don’t think what specifically I’m about to highlight has been acknowledged.

Here’s her first Brutal Truth as found on page 82:

Our cherished traditions of Girl Scouting – a longtime source of strength and bonding for our volunteers and girls – were keeping us from being flexible enough to respond quickly to the way the world was changing around us.  Adult volunteers were craving the same warm and fuzzy feelings from Girl Scouting that they got when they were children.  Our movement was being pushed by the past instead of being pulled by the future.

Wow.  Well, I’m going to assume that there was some kind of in-depth study or explanation for this viewpoint.  Nowhere in the book is there a rationale for this statement, so all I have to go on are these few sentences.  What passes as a “cherished tradition” is not defined nor are any examples given.  Also the fact that it’s the very Brutal Truth says to me that it was the most important one in her eyes.

Regardless, I feel this attitude has been taken to the extreme.  Can nostalgia hold an organization back?  Absolutely.  There’s always going to be someone who says, “Well, this is the way we’ve always done it,” and refuses to budge or consider a new way of thinking. Was there enough of that attitude holding us back at that time?  I can’t give my opinion, because this revamping happened during my twenty-one year hiatus from GS.  I’m not sure what specific traditions she’s referring to, but I will say that most of them are no longer here.  Those ties are either gone, or if they are there, they are in the form of ghosts and lip service.  Based on my experience, the majority of volunteers have no idea about SWAPs, bridging ceremonies, or Scout’s Owns.  They know very few traditional Girl Scout songs or campfire programs (if they know them at all) other than the obligatory s’mores.  Sure, these may be covered as a brief paragraph on a council or GSUSA website or mentioned in passing during some preliminary training, but it’s in one ear and out the other.  There are pockets where they haven’t disappeared due to someone making an effort to keep them alive, but by and large, I’d say they’re gone.  Additionally, the lack of a GSUSA published Leader/Volunteer handbook has been a huge tradition killer.  There’s no “go to” place for reference.

Traditions such as the ones I mentioned earlier seem to be regarded as kitschy or old-fashioned when GSUSA speaks about how we have to cater to today’s girls. Badges that have been around for decades were all of a sudden determined to be out of date and tossed. Do badges have to be updated? Absolutely – but scrapping those badges completely or modifying them to the point that they are no longer recognizable?

So congrats Cloninger – I guess we don’t have to worry about those inconvenient traditions anymore.

Let’s move on to what she says about the warm and fuzzies.  I think just the use of this phrase in and of itself is indicative of the hidden disdain of tradition that I sense from both GSUSA and councils in general (notice I say in general).  I don’t know if they are purposely promoting this attitude in the GSUSA CEO class, but if they are, it’s now obvious where this negative attitude stems from regarding volunteers who have many years of experience.  Usually the phrases “old-timers” or “stuck in the past” are thrown around.  You don’t hear it as much now because those volunteers or what I call “retired leaders” have left out of discouragement or disgust.  I guess you don’t have to worry about dealing with the “Well, this is the way we’ve always done it” people because they went out with the baby and the bathwater.  Onward and upward, I suppose?

Long-time volunteers and alumnae leaving has had an extremely detrimental effect on the program.  Usually roles such as trainers and service unit team members are filled by them. They have the ability and resources to fill in the gaps that the average troop leader doesn’t have the time to do, especially on the service unit level.  When those people are gone, the work falls to the already overworked SU team members who are also trying to juggle their own troop at the same time.  Usually things fall by the wayside and SUs become stagnant.  In turn, this part of the volunteer support system breaks down.

Service units have taken on the additional burden of providing programming that councils used to sponsor.  Now that councils are so large in area and many properties have been sold, a troop in an outlying or rural area may have to travel long distances to attend a council event.  No volunteer is going to travel any further than an hour to an hour and a half to get to an event.  MAYBE two if it’s a great one.  Any more than that, and it’s not worth the drive or time.  Two hours one way?  You’re talking four hours in the car.  That’s a lot.  With young girls, I might add.  SERENITY NOW!  So in turn, guess who has to take up the slack for local programming?  The service unit led by retired leaders?  Nope, those people are gone.  Without the support system of seasoned volunteers, you’re putting a crushing load of work on the SU team who’s just attempting to keep their head above water with their own girls.

Back to the warm and fuzzies.  “Adult volunteers were craving the same warm and fuzzy feelings from Girl Scouting that they got when they were children.”  Well of course they were craving it!  Ever taken a marketing class?  Warm and fuzzies sell!  Shows like The Wonder Years and 80s radio stations LIVE by the retro hook.  But when you change things so drastically, you just make things a lot harder on yourself.  The continuity is gone, and since that tie is no longer there, it’s easier for people to walk out the door – never to return.  I daresay many volunteers are drawn to Girl Scouts BECAUSE of the warm and fuzzies that they have from their memories of being a Girl Scout while growing up!  You’re being completely shortsighted and foolish by not using it as a positive tool and instead using it as a scapegoat.

The girls pick up on it too.  If you don’t believe me, watch me bring my patch blanket with all of my badges and patches from the 80s.  My troop loves it, and they ask me to bring it to a meeting from time to time.  I brought it with me to our service unit’s summer camp (run by a “retired leader,” I might add) and the girls went nuts over it.  During the camp, we earned a retired badge that was around when I was a girl.  I showed them the badge on my patch blanket.  They couldn’t believe it!  They asked, “And we’re doing it too?”  When I tell them they are about to participate in something that’s been done for decades, you can see how it affects their perspective.  They become part of the big family that’s been around for over a hundred years.  And I don’t care what anyone says, everybody wants to be part of a big family and feel like they are engaging in something important regardless of their age.  We’re cheating girls by not giving this gift to them.

Cloninger said it herself about how tradition is a huge strength by being “a longtime source of strength and bonding for our volunteers and girls.”  But hey, let’s throw that out the window.  And to add insult to injury, let’s promote a disdainful attitude toward it.  It’s ironic that all of this happened during our centennial celebration.

But wait!  Cloninger ends the book by asking all Girl Scout alumnae to “phone home” which really means, “Bring your checkbook.”  Yes, “phone home,” but don’t bring any of those old-timey traditions with you!

Seriously, I’d love to know the specific reasons why Cloninger felt that tradition was holding us back.  The world is ALWAYS changing.  So Girl Scouts all of a sudden has a problem with flexibility?  A whole HECK of a lot has happened in our world and culture since 1912.  A LOT.  Do I really need to list the large societal upheavals that changed history in the 20^th century?  And now all of a sudden it’s an issue?  Why is that?  Could it be that the ones in charge didn’t want to even try to creatively bridge the past and the future?  Perhaps they wanted to put their own stamp on the program?  Were they threatened by tradition and felt like it would overshadow their own legacy?  In other words, they tossed tradition out for egotistical purposes?  I’ve personally found that to be the case more often times than not.  Ego and pride can easily masquerade itself with grand statements and flashy promises.  Maybe the problem isn’t the tradition itself but the inflexibility and insecurity of the people in charge.

Cloninger felt that traditions were causing us to be “pushed by the past instead of being pulled by the future.”  For what it’s worth, I think the Girl Scout movement will move along even faster if we’re pushed by the past AND pulled by the future at the same time.

Addendum 6/17/16:  In this blog post, I wondered why Cloninger felt tradition was holding us back.  Apparently at some point the phrase “unhealthy devotion to traditions” went around the block during this restructuring process.  I asked on a FB group where that was referenced, and someone provided a presentation that was given at a 2008 CEO summit.  The complete phrase was “There is unhealthy devotion to traditions on standards, uniforms, and awards.”  I’d have to have more in-depth explanation of what was meant by that statement and how management felt that was holding us back before commenting.