Be Prepared, one of the most famous mantras, was coined by Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scouting Movement. Today (1 August) is World Scout Day and many lessons in learning and creative thinking can be drawn from an organisation that started 101 years ago and has touched the lives of so many people.

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Wanting to play an active role in my daughter's development in Girl Guides, I became a Scout as an adult and spent 10 wonderful years volunteering at the Victorian Scout Heritage Centre - a fabulous little museum that preserves the history of scouting for the youth of tomorrow.

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The whole experience and the wonderful people I met along the way (such as the wonderful Lillian Beard) had a major impact on my life. I developed my leadership skills, increased my creativity and became more aware of the world around me.

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Staying relevant in a constantly changing world and absolute clear purpose/focus (i.e. supporting young people in their development so that they may play constructive roles in society) are key drivers for innovation.

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The Scout Motto is: BE PREPARED which means you are always in a state of readiness in mind and body.

• Be Prepared in Mind by having disciplined yourself to be obedient to every order, and also by having thought out beforehand any accident or situation that might occur, so that you know the right thing to do at the right moment, and are willing to do it.
• Be Prepared in Body by making yourself strong and active and able to do the right thing at the right moment, and do it.

 In 2007, Scouting and Guiding together had over 38 million members in 216 countries. Not just those interested in social entrepreneurship should study not-for-profit organisations in how to be creative, innovative and positively promote life-long learning over the long term.