Lessons

I was honored recently to have Barry Hessenius ask me to contribute to his annual post “What I Have Learned.” He asked a number of people to share life lessons from both personal and professional life. The demands of blogging being what they are and the busy season being what it is, it seemed not unreasonable to double dip with my response, so, while you may have seen this in his blog, here it is again.

Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.
Most people are reasonably good at more than one skill. Letting “should” force you into joyless tasks is soul killing, and, in the long run, counter-productive.

Work on those things the world most needs done and you most need to do.
The choice of activity in which to invest oneself is best found in those things that maximize benefit to the world and to your satisfaction.

“Crises” may resolve themselves if benign neglect is applied.
I am predisposed to “do.” It took holding positions in which too much was coming too quickly for me to learn that some “emergencies” are inappropriately labeled. Patient non-response is sometimes the solution.

Privilege is systemic and an existential threat to the nonprofit arts industry.
As recently pointed out in Barry’s Blog, the time for viewing diversity and justice as “challenges” is past. They must become obsessions for practical (e.g., demographic) and moral reasons.

There is no “them.”
Every habit of thought and action that leads to a separation of “us” from “them” is an impediment to viability in the arts sector. We are integral parts of our communities.

Excellence is heterogeneous.
Technique is important in the arts. So are relevance, inclusiveness, and impact–to name only a few additional criteria. Excellence is best sought in everything that matters but it can seldom be achieved in all categories in equal measure.

Relevance is vital and defined by beneficiaries.
Relevance is critical to the long-term viability of the nonprofit arts industry. It determines the level of public support; and it is the public, not ourselves, that is the arbiter of relevance.

Engage!

Doug

Photo: Some rights reserved by henry…