History of "Q-Docs"

"Q-Docs" were originally invented during the Renaissance in Finland by Alexander De vinci (a third cousin once removed of the famous Leonardo). The "Q" stands for Quick and the Docs for documents. In Finnish "Q-Docs" are called "Kuik-papier". Alexander devised a method of shorthand forms in his employment at the Marina in Helsinki. None of his other coworkers could understand what he was talking about and he was promptly fired. Alexander moved on and eventually ended up in Holland.

Alexander passed on and willed his worldly belongings to the Holland institute of Art. Among these collections of creative and ingenious designs, the "Q-Doc" concept lay dormant in archives for a long time.

It was Johan Uber in 1908, a Colonel in the Holland National Army that rediscovered the De vinci document and introduced it to the Holland Council of Guard, the agency in charge of the Holland Armed forces. At that time the Holland National Army and the Royal Air Guard of Holland had been experience a steady increase in paper work required by the top echelon. De Vinci's concept was simple, let the men in the field fill out shorter documents and pass those upward through the ranks. Let the upper Echelon sort and categorize the information for planning of strategies and tactics. "Q-Docs" were quick, easy, cheaper and faster in storing and providing information.

The Holland Council of Guard were very impressed with the De vinci documents and convinced and eventually converted all levels of their Government to the "Q" system.

In 1923 William S. Hunter, a high ranking Official in the Boy Scouts of America, saw what the Dutch had done in their Military. He introduced the concept to the BSA with little acceptance. William S. Hunter went on to form several Boy Scout Councils in the U.S. and abroad. Hunter organized thousands of Troops and DIstricts throughout the World. With little acceptance from National BSA, Hunter kept his secret to himself, but in the end when he was recognized for being probably the most influential man in Scouting history, he attributed his success to the use of "Q-Docs" and their inventor De Vinci.

Today there are still a handful of Councils across the World that use "Q-Docs". Over time the movement has been toward more paper work at higher levels and more administration. The theme seemed to be centralization is efficient. Within the past couple of years 'Q-Docs" have begun to make a comeback. Partially from the adaptation of "Q-Docs" to the digital world and that de-centralization movement of self empowerment and partially because good ideas, just don't die.

We at Troop 344 have taken the stance that we support and utilize "Q-Docs" as a dovetail to regular Scouting documents, but not as a total replacement. As our District and eventually our Council switch to "Q-Docs", we may also follow suit.

Testimonials about "Q-Docs"

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