CougarCorner

Gunk wrote: ↑Wed Feb 14, 2018 10:45 pm My first mission president was a disciplinary. He played by the rules. Nothing extra, but he made sure we stuck to was written in the white bible. The mission was successful, but as with all groups, especially 20 year olds, there were many that complained about his rigidness.

My second mission president came in and saw a mission hyper focused on rules. He believed missionary work was more about the spirit and following the whisperings of the HG. The hyper focus on rules was missing the mark. Plenty of missionaries complained upon his arrival of the cold, rules-first demeanor of my first mission president.

So, out went the rules. Instead, the emphasis was on love and principles. If something brought the spirit to you, it was fine. Tabernacle Choir was replaced with Metallica in some cases because Metallica is inspiring for some.

While I see where my second mission president was coming from and I tend to agree with him, telling a bunch of 20 year olds to go with their gut and to do what they feel inspired to do is a recipe for disaster.

Oh, everyone loved the new mission president. But in a matter of months a thriving mission on the verge of dividing went to one of the worst performing missions in Brazil. Before, the only missionaries that returned home early were ones with medical conditions. In a few months after my 2nd mission president, multiple missionaries were sent home for worthiness issues and it continued.

Kalani kind of reminds me of my 2nd mission president. He overreacted. He misinterpreted things. And while his approach may work well with self-motivated, mature adults, it doesn't work with 20 somethings.

BroncoBot wrote: ↑Thu Feb 15, 2018 1:14 pm interesting take. My first mission president was very relaxed (and he was lifelong military type), but he expected us to go out, work and be diligent. But he wasn't a disciplinarian. We all loved him so much that we did what we were supposed to out of respect for him. No one wanted to let him down. We were consistently one of 2 missions in Europe east area with highest baptism rate. He somehow struck a great balance of free agency and providing clear expectations of conduct. One missionary was sent home for misconduct his entire 3 years. I'm still trying to figure out how he did it.

Gunk wrote: ↑Wed Feb 14, 2018 10:45 pm Tabernacle Choir was replaced with Metallica in some cases because Metallica is inspiring for some.

1967cougar wrote: ↑Fri Feb 16, 2018 9:20 am
I sometimes wonder if that would scare off some of the snowflakes our society is mass producing. No matter how tough you are in the gridiron, if you're raised in an entitlement society, some of it has to rub off on you. It takes a different kind of coach these days, I'm guessing. Maybe what made LaVell such a good coach wouldn't work today.

Dunno. Lots of questions. No answers.

Sharper wrote: ↑Sat Feb 17, 2018 10:39 pm It is very tough to change a culture once created. The one thing KS has going for him in this instance is that it's easier when you have something like last year's record to point to as an explanation as to WHY you're changing the culture. It's easier to say, "We sucked last year, so we have to make these changes" and get players to buy in than if there was any argument that it was fine last year.

It didn't work last year and it's so obvious that it didn't work that it helps efforts to make changes this year.