I was planning to write a post this week about positivity in
management. And, I think I will, eventually. I have many thoughts, and a few notes
on my dark forays into, well, darkness. But, instead, this week, I want to talk
about the positivity of social media.
Listen, I’m not Pollyanna about much, and certainly not
social media. It’s a time suck. It’s false social and often poor media. It’s
disjointed and siloing. It’s hateful and harmless. All that bad exists in
social. But there are bright spots of good. That’s what I want to showcase this
week.
Work for many museum managers has gotten real recently, I
suspect. If your fiscal year i
begins July 1, you’ve gotten past the blurry fun of
the first half of the year and moved into budgeting. You are looking at
spreadsheets. You’re trying to make tough choices. It’s keeping you up at
night.
At the same time, if you’re in this field as both an avocation
and a vocation, you can’t help but hear the constant drumbeat of change. The quicksand
of philanthropy is underneath, and our footing feels precarious. I’ve
buttonholed more than one colleague to try to talk about real solutions for salary equity.
The problems in this field are real, and so many of us want to be the ones to solve
them. Though, these solutions will only occur if we talk more.
I’m so lost as to how we’re going to get out of the mess
that is the equitable support of arts and culture in the age of billionaires. It’s
a big ole mess, frankly. That said, I know I’m solving this with others.
Enter social media. I started a conversation about salary as
a percentage of operating costs. Mostly, I was trying to understand how to make
sense of the field. I wanted some outside perspective. So many people responded,
like Michelle Moon of the Tenement and Bruce Wyman of USD-Mach Design
Consulting. Their conversations with me helped me continue and expand my ideas.
It might have been a moment in their days but it had a big impact on me. I suspect
many of us have dropped a note on social, without much thought, that had an impact
on others. It might not be social like your coffee meetings with live
colleagues at work, but it is a social form of meaning-making. I am truly
appreciative of this resource.
Which brings me to the larger comment about social media. Museums
are a very small sector (though larger than coal-mining!). The scale might feel
suffocating. It’s hard to be in this a while and not know everyone. But, it’s
also wonderful. It’s great to be in this a while and know everyone. The
power of connections is what makes this whole crazy fieldwork. I suspect, and
tried to test this on Twitter, but didn’t quite hit it right, everyone is about three degrees
from everyone else.
Alright, experiment here. Can we make a giant linked thread of people in this field?— Seema Rao (@artlust) February 14, 2020
Like Libby and I are connected by a book @CabinetofCurios .
Sarah, who is someone who connects you and me? https://t.co/YSx4aa9whh
Think about that. Everyone can find someone else who can
help them within three degrees. I’m not talking about a popularity contest. Being
cool or popular isn’t the point. Instead, it’s about being three degrees from
someone who can help you with your thoughts. Or being three degrees from
someone you can help. We’re in a position, largely due to social, where we can
make collective action happen every day on social media. Art Museum Transparency
is one good example of this; as are #MuseumsRespondtoFerguson and #Museumsarenotneutral.
What are the ways you can make a positive impact, one social connection at a time?
What are the ways you can make a positive impact, one social connection at a time?
Next week, we’re going to talk about how the quirky parts of
our job can be positive. Do you have a story to share about something positive
that resulted from doing the “other duties as assigned” parts of your job?