Scouting, Manufacturing, and Skilled Trades

They're all about DOING

This week I traded show appearances with fellow manufacturing consultant Ed Marsh. What a treasure trove of great points we got to discuss between our two shows!

One of my favorites came on Ed’s program, when he asked how my involvement with Scouting meshed with my advocacy for manufacturing and the skilled trades. Here’s Ed’s LinkedIn post featuring a clip of our discussion.

I think the central point I made about how all three are about people actually doing things and tackling real challenges is vital, and I particularly loved Ed’s addition of virtue to the exchange. Scouts, like manufacturing workers and those in the trades, take on challenging tasks that all too often must be accomplished in less-than-ideal circumstances and environmental conditions.

It just so happens that my younger son AJ, with the help of his fellow Scouts and a few adult leaders, knocked out the bulk of his Eagle Scout service project last weekend. For those unaware of what that is, it’s one of the central pieces of achieving the highest rank of Scouting. An Eagle Scout must complete a project that serves the community and demonstrates significant leadership.

Before cleanup

AJ took on the cleanup of a section of hiking and biking trail right near our community’s downtown, where people had disposed of yard waste for years: everything from grass clippings to logs from cut-down trees to bales of hay to a large Christmas tree. Then he cleared a section, leveled and mulched it, added decorative plantings, and prepared an area for a bench. Our city public works department will be installing the bench base today, and the final step will be assembly and installation of a bench that AJ is providing, sometime in the next day or two.

It turned out that the main work day was one of our hottest ones yet this summer. And while we love when we have sun in often-gloomy Michigan, that day it only made the scorching conditions that much more challenging. So AJ was also responsible for making sure everyone was staying hydrated and getting breaks in the shade.

Work in progress

AJ had to put together a project plan, pitch it to the city’s representatives and get their approval, specify and purchase all the materials, schedule the work and enlist his fellow Scouts to help, direct the work, and coordinate with the city for pick-up of the pile of debris that was cleared from the area and for installation of the bench.

Almost done

All of that is why I tell my Scouts that there is exactly one thing they can do at their age that, if it’s on their resumes when they’re my age, will still matter: achieving the rank of Eagle.

It goes back to those points Ed and I made, his about the virtues of hard work, commitment, and follow-through, and mine about how actually delivering a tangible product that is valued by a customer is what I call the crucible of the business world. What Eagle Scouts do in completing their projects is to me fine preparation for learning to deliver exactly the kind of value those in the skilled trades and our manufacturing workers provide to the world.

So yes, I am a very proud father and former Scoutmaster right now.