Prison, purgatory, or playground

In my line of work, I often find myself in front of a group of cultural managers, walking them through a particular tool or strategy used in the commercial world, the social sector, or academia, and framing a conversation about how we might use it in the arts. One of the great joys of being on a large university campus is that I stumble onto wonderful methods and models everywhere I wander — in the educational psychology department, political science, bioscience, law school, sociology, and on and on. So many of these might be applicable to cultural management if we tweaked them a bit.

I’ve done enough of these conversations to now recognize three possible responses from cultural managers to any new tool or management method:

• It’s a Prison
  Some percieve the tool or methodology as a horrible and horrific constraint against the creative spirit of their organization. We can’t use that in an arts organization. It’s cold, calculating, and callous (and probably some other words beginning with a “c”). This group is usually small but vocal.
• It’s a Purgatory
  Some have a middling reaction to the new strategy or tool, figuring it’s one more thing they might have to do someday and will learn it when it’s necessary. This group is the majority in the room, but rarely make themselves known. They slump and talk amongst themselves.
• It’s a Playground
  Some find the new tool intriguing regardless of their first impressions of its utility. It’s a new playground, a new creative constraint that might lead them somewhere…or might not. You can see this group leaning forward in their seats, wanting to grab the keys and take the idea for a spin. They may well cast it aside, and decide to label it a prison or purgatory — but only after they’ve had some time at the wheel. This group is also a small percentage of the room. They usually identify themselves after the session or in e-mails later on.

I respect every reaction. The tool may, actually, be useless. And the daily pressures and constraints of cultural management don’t generally allow for play and experimentation. But I’ll admit a special affinity for the “playground” group, since it’s much more fun and productive to explore these tools together from various perspectives. And you can’t explore if you don’t come out to play.