My post yesterday was about exposing and challenging mental models as a first step in learning, and as a first class in our MBA in Arts Administration. But as some of you noted in your emails and comments elsewhere, that model isn’t quite complete enough.There’s a world of difference between a ‘theory of doorknobs’ as […]
Of mental models and doorknobs
In the MBA major in Arts Administration that I direct, we spend a lot of time in our early classes talking about systems and mental models…probably more time than my students would like. But after working here for 16 years, and trying to integrate business theory with real-world management practice in the arts, I can’t […]
The illusion of asymmetric insight
Did you ever get the feeling that everyone around you is showing a version of themselves, but not their whole self? Did you start to believe that you could see this performance game in your friends and family, and that you actually knew the real self they were trying to obscure? You might even believe […]
Museum as business model
In the endless search for evocative metaphors for business management, arts organizations seem to provide popular fodder. Way back in the olden days, the orchestra was promoted as a symbol of effective management — with expert practitioners coordinated through ensemble culture and the gentle waving of a conductor’s baton. Then, a decade or two ago, […]
Engaging communities
I’m thrilled to point you to a new blog in the ArtsJournal firmament, written by friend and colleague Doug Borwick. Engaging Matters is an online expression of Doug’s passion for and promotion of more-connected arts organizations — organizations that are deeply entangled with the daily lives of their neighborhoods and their neighbors. Says he in […]
Job function trading cards, bonus edition
Thanks for the great comments, tweets, and e-mails about yesterday’s post. It sounds like the idea of modular job descriptions for small arts organizations struck a chord among those who work in such environments, and/or design and develop HR strategy for them. A few “bonus edition” ideas evolved from the initial idea of individual cards […]
Job function trading cards
My (semi-serious) proposed alternative to full-length job descriptions at small to midsize arts organizations.
Invocation and allocation
Since the universe for arts and cultural enterprise is evolving quickly these days, and since I happen to run an MBA degree program that claims to prepare high-performing leaders for that universe, I spend an unreasonable amount of time trying to define what I do for a living, and how I do it. That effort […]
Collaboration: Fact v. Theory
For those looking for ACTUAL examples of nonprofit collaboration, rather than treatises or foundation edicts on how they should work, the Foundation Center now offers a helpful database of nonprofit collaboration projects, drawn from the applicants to the Collaboration Prize (data drawn from The Lodestar Foundation). The database isn’t exclusive to arts and culture, although there […]
Consider it a summer hiatus
I haven’t been posting much this summer, and likely will continue that way. Too much rethinking and reframing of my day job to be done. I’ll be back with fresh tidbits in August. Until then, happy hot days.
