Unplugging: 18 Months Later

In July of 2010, I wrote a blog post entitled "Unplugging and Taking Control." Little did I know that that post would become one of the most popular ever written for this blog. To date it has generated the second most number of hits and has consistently been one of the most read pieces on this site. Today, I was trying to think of something to write and I realized that it might be time to revisit the "Unplugged" concept and put it into perspective for the current times.18 months may not seem like that much time in general, but in the world of DeMolay, it's almost half of a "generation" of the average active membership, hence why it bears revisiting.

I think the one thing we sorely lack is a solid definition of the Unplugged idea. In my thoughts, I see it as follows:

"Unplugging means transferring control and responsibility for Chapter programming and planning to the young men while keeping their skills, abilities, and needs in perspective. It further mandates that Advisors recognize their role as mentors, guides, and protectors rather than hands on project managers and doers."

That definition was fairly long and complicated, so let's break it down. First, the real key to the whole statement is summed up in "transferring control and responsibility for Chapter programming and planning to the young men." This means that the members of the Chapter should be deciding what activities the Chapter is going to do and how they are going to plan them. It purposefully uses the word responsibility - as the DeMolays need to take personal responsibility for their program. If an event doesn't happen or a program fails, it's on the young men and the leadership of the Chapter to recognize their short comings and learn how to avoid those problems in the future. That's the real value of the DeMolay program. With little exception, there is not one thing in DeMolay that can't afford to fail. Failure is part of life and DeMolay provides a safe area for members to fail and learn from their mistakes. There really is no other program like it.

Next, we come to "while keeping their skills, abilities, and needs in perspective." This is the other half of the phrase above. It assumes that the Advisory Council understands the maturity and ability of the members of the Chapter and adjusts its approach accordingly. No, twelve year olds are not capable of planning a 300 person banquet. However, they are capable of learning from the process of planning. This might be a case where an adult has to step in and provide more "hand on" expertise, but effort should be made to include the young men in the planning and execution of the event to the fullest extent possible. This way, the next time the Chapter does a banquet, the Advisors will need to do less. Unplugging is a process - not just a flipping of switch. Advisory Councils should facilitate this process over several terms. In doing so, they will create an older generation of DeMolays that can teach and transfer skills to younger members. The first step, however, is creating that older generation, which usually has to be done with some Advisor assistance.

Now, we come upon the mandate that "Advisors recognize their role as mentors, guides, and protectors." By this I mean that Advisors must come to grips that they are there to be a sounding board and a resource, not a fall back plan. The young men should be able to ask the Advisors for help and receive guidance and support. They should not be able to ignore a project with the knowledge that at the last minute an Advisor will sweep in and clean up the pieces to ensure the event occurs. The definition also reminds the Advisory Council that they are to protect our youth and their assets through the Youth Protection Program and sound financial decisions in planning for the future.

Lastly, it enjoins the Advisors not to be "hands on project managers and doers." Again, this must keep in mind the skills and abilities that have been previously mentioned. Early in the process of Unplugging, Advisors may have to take a more active role. The important part here is that an Advisor should never plan, organize, or execute a project without the direct involvement of a member. Period. If you, as an Advisor, are putting together an event based upon the whims of the Master Councilor or because the young men won't step up to do it, you aren't Unplugging - you're enabling. In the long run, enabling members to not do the work and still succeed will have far more disastrous consequences than one or two failed programs.

There are a multitude of facets to this concept and even more "what-ifs." The best thing to remember is that as long as you have the active participation of DeMolays in the operations of a Chapter, you are Unplugging. It won't happen overnight and it isn't going to be a quick process, but it will provide for a better Chapter and a better future for your local program.

Frat! ~ "Dad" Seth Anthony

Musings from Westmoreland

Today's post is by "Dad" Bruce Neubauer, Chapter Chairman of Westmoreland Chapter, located in Greensburg, PA. "Dad" Neuabauer wrote this article unsolicited and sent it to PA DeMolay. I enjoyed his thoughts and he graciously allowed me to post it here. I hope you enjoy it!

You might think DeMolay is just about the young men, but it's not. DeMolay is also about the Advisors. You might say that this comment does not fit in with the "Unplugged" concept. But remember, Unplugged does not mean disconnected. I hope you find this story interesting. I have seen some things lately that I thought were amazing.

Westmoreland DeMolay has a very long and exciting history in PA. In the olden days the Chapter was very active in ritual competitions and sporting events. We understand they had a Chapter with a lot of members. Over the years the members got involved with other activities and a lot aged out and moved on. Westmoreland Chapter was lucky to continue to have a few young men to keep it alive. Our hats go off to these young men, because it would have been easy to go dark. Westmoreland continued to have a good Advisory Council that did not want to see the Chapter close.

About 3 years ago Westmoreland started to get a few more young men. They joined one at a time. Now we know that the guys are to try and recruit their friends, but they need help. Before a member is going to ask a friend, he must believe it is the right thing to do. In the beginning, the young men would not ask anyone to join. Some of our Advisors talked up DeMolay how the young men could join. There were Masons that thought DeMolay was gone. Westmoreland had a sports prospect party that summer and two young men had come because of the interest sparked at the Masonic meeting with a friend. Both guys joined with in a couple weeks. It is very important that the adults never stop talking about DeMolay because the young men need your help.

All of a sudden we had about 6 young men, who were 12 and 13 years old, wondering "What am I doing here?" When they sat through the first business meeting none of the young men knew what to do. At that point the Advisors did a lot. They had to help with ritual, explain how to make a motion, and why you needed one in the first place. The new members were very nervous. We had a Master Councilor That was trying to work with the members and stayed on for an extra term or two until the younger guys were ready. Later that year we had an Advisor that went to a leadership weekend and found out from our Master Councilor that the Advisors were way too involved in the meetings. The Advisors started to back off and it was not easy. This was right before "Unplugged" debuted as a concept. When we read the "Unplugged" article one of our Advisors absolutely did not agree with it because he felt the guys were not prepared to run the Chapter. He thought they did not have the tools needed to be successful. Upon further review the Advisors felt that it would work if you stayed connected when the members needed help.

This now bring us to today. Our guys are now between 12 and 16. We have a truly "Unplugged" but not disconnected Chapter. This does not mean they are own their own. As advisors, you have to know when to get involved. Our young men are working on the "Take Control!" program. The Young men have seen a couple terms and now know some of the things they need to do, such as Scheduling dates with your meeting place, setting a budget for activities, following up with who is going and much, much more. At the Councilors meeting the Chapter Advisor is part of the meeting. This is where the young men review the activity.

We have seen the young men "Take Control!" of the Chapter. They are taking pride in the ritual and Master Councilor puts together a meeting agenda and has copies for everyone. Over the past few meetings the transformation in the Chapter is been amazing. The older members are helping the newer members. We just had a Prospect party with four prospects. But remember, he guys will not ask friends to join until they believe. We can see where the members of Westmoreland Chapter are working as a team by the way everyone had a great time at the party.

Finally the Advisors of Westmoreland Chapter have had a lot to do with the young men gaining the confidence and learning needed to succeed. As an advisor, you must never stop asking your friends, family, or Brothers if they know about DeMolay. The Young men are learning how to be leaders and the Advisors are using their skill to help them learn. As advisors think of the rewards when you can sit back and say WOW what a change.

Metaphorically speaking...

Alright, I promised you one of "Dad" Anthony's patented thoughtful rants today. On Monday, not too long after I completed the blog post for that day, I was talking with another Advisor and came up with a great metaphor (at least I think so anyways!) It relates back to the Unplugged concept and tries to place all of the puzzle pieces together to show how DeMolay should operate.

DeMolay is an engine for social learning and positive change. This occurs at every level. Whether your Chapter is out planting trees, PA DeMolay is donating to the Learning Centers, or DeMolay International is helping Relay for Life, the organization is providing young men across America the chance to show that young people can and do still make a difference. The real question is, how do we get this proverbial "engine" to fire on all cylinders? Well, before we can maximize performance of this engine, we must understand the component parts.

In DeMolay, the the engine is the program. I think that's pretty obvious as it provides the mechanism for the members to do all the things they like to do - social activities, community service, etc. In every engine you need two key things to make it function - fuel and a spark. In this case, the fuel are the DeMolays. Without a constant stream of enthusiastic members, the program will quickly run out of "gas" and the engine will stop functioning. However, just pouring fuel into an engine doesn't help either, you need a spark to ignite the substance. The spark, is provided by a spark plug in a regular engine and in the DeMolay "engine" it's provided by the Advisors. They show the young men how to flow through the program and make it work, sparking their interest when necessary and then remaining dormant until the next need for an ignition. While spark plugs don't "unplug" they don't constantly fire either. They are there to provide a quick spark to keep the whole system firing.

There are many, many, more parts to an engine, but this simple metaphor seemed to explain the Unplugged idea a bit more in my head, so, I thought I'd share. What is your Advisory Council doing to keep the engine running on all cylinders? Are they sparking too often, or not enough?

Frat! ~ "Dad" Seth Anthony