When someone says the word spy, what comes to mind? A guy in a trench coat? Someone who is doing something wrong? To me, a spy has a sinister connotation. Alternatively, when someone says scout, it conjures up an image of someone exploring ways to accomplish or conquer a challenge.
The 12 men sent by Moses to explore the land of Israel and see how to conquer the land that G-d has bequeathed to them, were they scouts or spies? 
The answer would depend on whether you asked Moses or those that were sent. Moses sent scouts who thought of themselves as spies. Moses sent people to answer the question "how can we?" They came back with the answer to "can we?"
This distinction answers a question that is asked on Rashi, the foremost commentator of the Torah.
At the beginning of the Parsha, the Torah Portion, Rashi comments: All of them were men of distinction... At that time, they were virtuous. A short 24 verses later, Rashi comments: Just as their return was with evil intent, so was their departure [on the journey] with evil intent.
When did they become evil? They were chosen as men of distinction. When they departed on the journey it was already with evil intent?
Another question that is bothersome: Why did Moses pray for Joshua "may G-d save you from the counsel of the spies"? If Moses knew of the spies’ evil counsel, he should not have sent them!
Perhaps the answer is that Moses knew there is a fine difference between scouts and spies. A scout is a person of distinction and not worried about the public opinion. Scouting is being dedicated to help others and to keep one’s self physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight. (see https://www.scouting.org/
Spying is by default acting like who you are not, focusing on how you can help your superior and assist them in gathering intel. What others think of you is most important.
Moses was saying: we are going into Israel, let us see how. The spies said: but what are people going to say about us? They were worried about the locals considering them as grasshoppers.
Moses sent scouts and prayed that Joshua should be saved from the counsel of "spies", were they to go that route.
When we need to do something holy, when we need to see what we can do to reach our Holy Land, we should not worry about what people will say about us! We should proudly scout the spiritual landscape and conquer it to make it our own!
Happy Scouting!
Rabbi Kushi Schusterman