{"id":1073,"date":"2007-09-20T09:24:46","date_gmt":"2007-09-20T16:24:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp\/2007\/09\/evolution_vs_adaptation_vs_ult\/"},"modified":"2007-09-20T09:24:46","modified_gmt":"2007-09-20T16:24:46","slug":"evolution_vs_adaptation_vs_ult","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/main\/evolution_vs_adaptation_vs_ult.php","title":{"rendered":"Evolution vs. adaptation vs. ultimate good"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m slogging my way through the fascinating economics book Culture and Prosperity<\/i><\/a> by John Kay (known as The Truth About Markets<\/i> in its original UK release). Kay offers a thoughtful and detailed overview of how markets work, or don’t work, and how economists have succeeded and failed at describing that functionality over time. He’s also particularly adept at describing our common assumptions about free markets, and then beating them apart like some party piñata.<\/p>\n

I’m still getting to the good part, but two recent sentences stopped me in my tracks:<\/p>\n


\nEvolution favours what is good at replicating itself, rather than what is good. This fundamental distinction is essential to understanding any evolving system.
\n<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We can easily see in human history (and I see it in my own biases) a presumption that evolving systems slowly create better results. We’ve used the argument in reinforcing the supremacy of humans on the earth (animals and nature are in service to man, because man was the one to evolve the best). And we often use the bundled assumption in describing healthy organizations — in the arts and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

But Kay’s simple point cuts to the heart of these assumptions. Evolution — and even adaptation — are extraordinarily effective at advancing what can be replicated. But they have nothing to do with selecting and advancing the best<\/i> responses for any larger challenge. In fact, established organizational cultures are highly effective at perpetuating themselves through these very systems.<\/p>\n

A museum with a culture of inward-focus and civic entitlement, for example, will have a board with such a culture, who will hire administrative leaders with such a culture, who will hire staff with such a culture. The rewards, incentives, and social mores of the organization will encourage such perceptions and behavior, even among staff who aren’t quite in line. Those who don’t eventually adapt will leave or be sidelined.<\/p>\n

Whether or not that particular culture is effective for the mission and larger success of the museum is not part of the evolutionary system. Kay discusses several organizations, businesses, and political entities that entered the same trap, where ”the behavior which is adaptive within the organization is dysfunctional for it.”<\/p>\n

So leading organizations that have a positive, dynamic, and responsive connection to the community and the needs they serve isn’t just<\/i> about creating a strong internal culture. It’s also about constantly assessing whether that internal culture advances or detracts from the thing you claim to do.<\/p>\n

Probably a bit of an esoteric point for a Thursday morning. But it stuck in my head, so I thought I’d spread the love.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m slogging my way through the fascinating economics book Culture and Prosperity by John Kay (known as The Truth About Markets in its original UK release). Kay offers a thoughtful and detailed overview of how markets work, or don’t work, and how economists have succeeded and failed at describing that functionality over time. He’s also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1073","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-main","7":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1073\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}