Flexibility

Evolving communities have evolving needs.  In order to serve a community’s shifting needs and continue to stay relevant, a museum must adapt.  Flexibility is not optional for the modern museum administration. Audiences are increasingly diverse. Expectations are growing, but financial support is often waning.  The digital revolution has put the sacred substance of museums, information, in everyone’s home or even their pocket.  Getting people off of the computer and actually out of the home is the biggest threat to the museum field.  The ability to listen effectively is unparalleled.  This is applicable for a leader, but also for the organization.   Data collection and evaluation are effective tools to listen to the audiences.  

Now more than ever, the field is data driven. This facilitates growth and relevancy. Programming is not developed on a whim. Exhibits have an inherent connection to the audience. Education reaches everyone through varied learning styles. The “book on the wall” style of interpretation is antiquated. Marketing today is vastly different from that of a decade ago. The dynamics of donors are changing regularly.It is not possible to list all of the ways that the field has shifted, but the simple premise that the field is continuing to shift has to be made clear. “That’s the way we have always done it” is now a cancerous comment disguised as museum conservatism. The change does not have to be radical, but it has to keep pace with the changing world and community served.