Articles

Written by:  Dave Lee

Steve and I had the pleasure of attending a CES Keynote address featuring Ursula Burns (CEO of Xerox), Alan Mullay (CEO/President of Ford Motor Co), and John Stratton (President of Verizon Enterprise Solutions). The keynote was an eye opening discussion regarding leadership, education, failure, company development, product design, innovation, and political involvement. I will begin this series of three posts with Ursula Burns’ contributions. That is just a small portion of what Ursula Burns brought to the keynote panel at CES 2012, the global stage of innovation.

Of the three CEOs, Ursula Burns really stood out. In her opinion, the most important element of creating a successful business and creating an innovative America is the educational system of America. She stressed that science, technology, engineering, and math must be a necessity. Governmental and company policy should enable the educational system. If governments and companies do not invest in the system, we cannot complain about the results. When considering her point, every industry is fundamentally dependent upon a foundation of science and engineering systems. At a fundamental level, the American educational system is still doing well, a world-class example. She cautioned that changes would need to be made. The lack of financial solvency, a current issue with several educational systems, will cause America to drop off the map as a world leader in educational output. Finally, Ursula Burns stated, which comes of no surprise, that we are a society built on the fabric of Hollywood glamour and sports stardom riches. That has to change in order to ensure the future of the educational system.

Failure and judgment were prevalent themes in her discussion. In her remarks, we all mess up every day. As employees, we make mistakes. As spouses, we make mistakes. As friends, we make mistakes. Mistakes are an expectation, understanding that mistakes and failures happen. From a business prospective, the concerning point should not be failure in product design, product development, or release date. Those that make mistakes can be mentored. The concerning point should be an employee’s failure in judgment. Poor judgment costs businesses millions of lost productivity and therefore revenues.

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By:  Dave Lee

I’m not making a bold statement here – People hate waiting! The aggravation, the frustration, and the annoyance of waiting are written all over peoples’ faces. We do a lot of waiting, some of it justified and some of it not. We wait in line for groceries. We wait in line to see the latest movie release. We wait in line to buy a birthday present for a party we really don’t want to attend. We wait in line for the latest cell phone. The line for the ATM can seem infinitely long on a Friday evening. We all know about waiting in the doctor’s office. I could go on for another three paragraphs about what we wait for.

Waiting has never bothered me much. I find waiting as an opportunity to observe people, observe behavior, and observe the culture around me. Recently, I was waiting for a tire rotation to be completed on my car. Knowing that I was in for a one to two hour wait, I had come prepared and brought my Amazon Kindle. I sat down in the waiting room with my observation eyes open.  The man next to me was sipping on what smelled to be stale coffee with artificial sugar. He was reading the local section of the newspaper. He politely said “Good Morning” and I returned the acknowledgement. The man sitting about ten feet away from him was reading a library book. It was rugged, green, and had seen better days. He didn’t bother to lift his head from his readings.

So in this moment, we have three different methods of content distribution, three different individuals, and different preferred formats of media. Many of us believe that content in book or newspaper form is antiquated, old fashion, or “so 2002.” Newspapers, library books, and Kindles have their place in modern society, despite popular belief. Newspapers continue to provide great quality reporting on the local, state, and federal levels of government. The industry continues to be the go to source for community events, news, and issues. Libraries, despite the financial gutting that has taken place over the past three years, continue to be a resource for children, families, and community members. Libraries provide a sense of history that we so often lose in today’s fast paced society. Moreover, libraries possess a healthy learning environment that is so crucial for the development of children and the strength of public education.  The Kindle provides a vast array of books and magazines to your fingertips within seconds. The ability to access biographies, science fiction works, and mystery novels has never been easier than it is with the mobile devices.

I found that, in this moment, I was experiencing the progression of technology that we so take for granted today. Authors, poets, and novelists have been around for centuries. The newspaper industry dates back to the early 1600s. The arrival of the printing press and the advancements in transportation logistics allowed newspapers to become a major contributing factor to the beginning of the American Revolution against the British. These events don’t happen without technological innovation and human creativity. The Kindle is a true example of technological creativity and advancements.

So, the next time you are waiting in line, do yourself a favor and begin observing the world around you. You may be surprised as to what’s around you. You may be surprised to find how much technology is around that you have never considered to be influencing your life. Turn the waiting game into something other than stress, anxiety, and frustration.

By Steve Lee
Editor

In the last 100 Years technology has taken on many shapes. It’s hasn’t all been about computers and staying connected. In the early days of Scouting so were the early days of aviation. Then came advancements in electronics, medicine, nuclear science, space exploration, the micro chip, and the list goes on. Scouting needing to stay true to its origins also had an obligation to keep up with the rest of the world and attract what I call “the youth of the moment” over the last century of its existence. The Merit Badges over the last 100 years are the most obvious examples of the changing world.

With these constant changes in the world around us, comes more demand. The youth of today find the use of a computer to be second nature and so obvious. Many wonder how the “old folk” got by without it.

But the facts are certain. If youth are to be given and attracted to the opportunity to learn about the principles of Scouting found in the Scout Oath and Law, then Scouting has to keep up with them or risk the losing interest in being part of this great program.

Well the 100th Anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America provided a wonderful opportunity to make a significant leap forward. Recently Bob Mersereau National Director of the 100th Anniversary at the Boy Scouts of America said in an interview focusing on technology: “We realized this (100th Anniversary) was our once in a lifetime opportunity to remind the nation in a big and bold way that Scouting has never been more relevant or needed than it is today. The BSA has made significant strides in using technology to reach and engage young people. We’ve gotten active on social media channels like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter and have incorporated really fun and even cutting-edge technologies into our programming routine including:

• The 12th edition of the Boy Scouts of America Handbook is available via an iPhone app plus there is an accompanying website that is designed to enhance the overall experience.

• Over the next year, we are introducing three new technology-oriented merit badges including Robotics, Inventing and Geocaching.

• During our centennial celebration in Washington D.C., the BSA hosted Scout Quest, its first digital scavenger hunt using smart phones, QR codes, Facebook and Twitter.

One of the greatest things about Scouting is that we have stayed true to our mission for one hundred years.  The fundamentals of Scouting — service to others, respecting and embracing the outdoors, doing your best, achieving your potential — are timeless. As long as our country needs strong leaders and healthy young people, it will need Scouting.

Although, we do recognize that more than ever we must be nimble and flexible in the ways we reach out to young people and parents in today’s fast-paced, high-tech world.”

Bob is right. So all of us “old folk” come onboard and embrace the next generation of Scouting. Need a little help? Here is a guide to what Scouting is involved with in Technology. Go and play with these tech tools and “talk the tech” with your Scouts even around the campfire.

About RSS
Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a XML file format designed to display news from particular Web sites without having to visit the site. You can receive news from any RSS-enabled Web site by subscribing to their RSS feed.
Typically, the feeds are displayed as a series of headlines and brief summaries with links to the source of the full text. Many Web sites offer several RSS feeds for specific sections or channels of their site.

About ScoutCast
Scoutcast is a central location where we locate all our podcasts. A podcast is a media file, typically audio or video, that is distributed by subscription over the Internet using feeds. These syndication feeds are then collected by applications called “aggregators” and can then be played back on mobile devices and personal computers.
It is not necessary to own an iPod in order to view or listen to a podcast; the name is merely a holdover from the device on which they were introduced.
Likewise it is not required that you have iTunes on your computer to listen to podcasts. Other applications can manage your podcast subscriptions.

About Facebook
Facebook is a social utility that helps people communicate more efficiently with their friends, family and coworkers. The company develops technologies that facilitate the sharing of information through the social graph, the digital mapping of people’s real-world social connections. Anyone can sign up for Facebook and interact with the people they know in a trusted environment. Go to http://facebook.com and sign up for a free account.

Also check out the Facebook page of The Bechtel Summitt, home of the 2013 National Jamboree at http://www.facebook.com/TheBechtelSummit.

About Twitter
Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read other users’ updates known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 bytes in length. Updates are displayed on the user’s profile page and delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them. Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends (delivery to everyone being the default). Users can send and receive updates via the Twitter website, SMS, RSS (receive only), or through applications such as Tweetie, Twitterrific, Twitterfon, TweetDeck and Feedalizr. The service is free to use over the web, but using SMS may incur phone services provider fees.

Go to http://twitter.com/signup and sign up for a free account

About YouTube
YouTube allows people to easily upload and share video clips on www.YouTube.com and across the Internet through websites, mobile devices, blogs, and email.

Everyone can watch videos on YouTube. People can see first-hand accounts of current events, find videos about their hobbies and interests, and discover the quirky and unusual. As more people capture special moments on video, YouTube is empowering them to become the broadcasters of tomorrow.


Go to http://youtube.com and sign up for a free account.

About Scouting Community
With Scouting Community, you can blog, join a discussion forum, send e-mail to friends, listen to podcasts, view videos, and generally communicate with people about Scouting. This community is a safe environment for members and leaders of Scouting to interact and share best practices for all things Scouting.

Visit http://www.scouting.org/follow/ScoutingCommunity.aspx

For more information about any of these tech tools, please visit http://www.scouting.org/Follow.aspx