![\"BuggyWhip\"](\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/BuggyWhip.jpg\")
In a summer’s over “manifesto” of sorts, here is why I am so adamant about the need to more fully engage with our communities.<\/p>\nIn a summer’s over “manifesto” of sorts, here is why I am so adamant about the need to more fully engage with our communities.<\/p>\n
Business schools and \u201ccommon knowledge\u201d both tell stories of the crisis faced by \u201cbuggy whip manufacturers\u201d with the advent and then the transportation victory of the automobile. As the horse and buggy faded from the scene, the need (and market) for buggy whips plummeted. The companies that remained totally or largely focused on that particular product gradually faded from the scene. Those that re-imagined themselves and transformed their business to meet the needs of the horseless carriage era survived.<\/p>\n
The digital age has provided far more recent examples of similar social transformations impacting entire industries. A generation ago libraries had to determine if they were primarily about books or information. Those that chose the former, as long as they survive, serve a valuable historical function but are few in number and not part of the social mainstream. Needless to say, their future is not one of growth and vitality.<\/p>\n
The immediacy and do-it-(all)-yourself nature of digital image capture has made film photography a distant memory for all but a handful of creators employing it for artistic purposes. Stuck too long in seeing photography as based in a particular product\u2013film rather than a \u201cmission\u201d of image capture and sharing, neither Polaroid nor Kodak successfully navigated the rapids of that technological and social upheaval.<\/p>\n
Print journalism is facing existential danger. Printed newspapers, manually delivered to homes and businesses, are an increasingly costly product; the time lag in receipt of news between the moment of occurrence and delivery of the newspaper is \u201cso Twentieth Century;\u201d print advertising (print journalism\u2019s primary source of income) is incapable of competing with the cost and flexibility of the Internet (where advertising and sales can be directly linked); and centralized, highly curated, corporate information sources are suspect in an era when authority is distrusted (a trend that had it\u2019s beginnings in the 1960\u2019s). The future of news reporting is online. Media companies, if they can<\/i> survive, must transition to that reality.<\/p>\n
In each case the lesson is that if survival\u2013much less organizational relevance or vitality\u2013is important, awareness of major shifts in society are critical for any industry. That awareness must then inform a strategic analysis of the core business (What is our essential<\/i> purpose?) and retooling the product (or creating new ones) that respond to the changed circumstances.<\/p>\n
I believe that given challenges of change in economic, demographic, social, technological circumstances, the arts industry has been and is facing a mission crisis of similar (or even greater) proportions. The key to response is identifying our core purpose in a way that meets the needs of the world in which we exist.<\/p>\n
And my prescription lies in increasing relevance, expanding impact\u2013in more fully and more substantively engaging with our communities.<\/p>\n
Engage!<\/p>\n
Doug<\/p>\n
Photo: In a summer’s over “manifesto” of sorts, here is why I am so adamant about the need to more fully engage with our communities. Business schools and \u201ccommon knowledge\u201d both tell stories of the crisis faced by \u201cbuggy whip manufacturers\u201d with the advent and then the transportation victory of the automobile. As the horse and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","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":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"The Buggy Whip Lesson: Recognizing a Mission Crisis\u2013The mission challenges facing the arts http:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-Nt","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[12,13,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-3067","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-overview","7":"tag-arts","8":"tag-community-engagement","9":"tag-mission","10":"entry","11":"has-post-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-Nt","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3236,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/10\/trading-in-the-studebaker\/","url_meta":{"origin":3067,"position":0},"title":"Trading in the Studebaker","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"October 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Frequent readers of this blog know that I am in the midst of a series of posts dealing with core mission in the arts. (The Buggy Whip Lesson: Recognizing a Mission Crisis, The Metamission of Arts Institutions, The Old Ball Game, Examining the Mission Model) I've discussed many aspects of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Overview"","block_context":{"text":"Overview","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/overview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Studebaker-Cropped","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Studebaker-Cropped-300x143.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3128,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/09\/the-metamission-of-arts-institutions\/","url_meta":{"origin":3067,"position":1},"title":"The Metamission of Arts Institutions","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"September 25, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Where angels fear to tread . . . ! If changing environmental factors\u2013like the rise of digital photography that decimated the world of photographic film production (remember Polaroid and Eastman Kodak)\u2013threaten the future of the arts industry (The Buggy Whip Lesson), what should be done? We must seek an expression\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Overview"","block_context":{"text":"Overview","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/overview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Angel","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Angel-208x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3216,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/10\/the-old-ball-game\/","url_meta":{"origin":3067,"position":2},"title":"The Old Ball Game","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"October 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In light of my recent posts about mission (The Buggy Whip Lesson: Recognizing a Mission Crisis, The Metamission of Arts Institutions), Sept. 29th's New York Times Op-Ed piece on baseball was fascinating. (\"Is the Game Over?\" by Jonathan Mahler) I found myself reading it and channeling discussions about the future\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Overview"","block_context":{"text":"Overview","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/overview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Baseball_BandW","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Baseball_BandW-300x237.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3161,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/10\/examining-the-mission-model\/","url_meta":{"origin":3067,"position":3},"title":"Examining the “Mission Model”","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"October 9, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Over the past five to ten years, much discussion has taken place about the need for revised business models for the arts industry. On the expense side this comes from recognition of the labor cost challenges faced by the performing arts and the capital cost struggles of edifice-centered organizations (museums\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"MissionMotel","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/MissionMotel-300x199.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5720,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2019\/10\/mission-creep\/","url_meta":{"origin":3067,"position":4},"title":"Mission Creep??!!","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"October 16, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"If connecting people with the arts represents \"mission creep\" for your organization, your organization needs to seriously re-examine it's mission.","rel":"","context":"In "Overview"","block_context":{"text":"Overview","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/overview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Mission.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5903,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2020\/04\/community-citizenship\/","url_meta":{"origin":3067,"position":5},"title":"Community Citizenship","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"April 22, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"On being good community citizens in a time of grave crisis.","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Hands.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3067\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Attribution\"](\"http:\/\/l.yimg.com\/g\/images\/cc_icon_attribution_small.gif\" "\\"Attribution\\""){kind=icon}
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