One of the reasons Springboard for the Arts is able to take on and implement large scale projects with their small team is through leveraging their staff. The staff lives and breathes seven principles: We view artists as vital contributors to their communities. Our programs are delivered by artists to artists. Our capacity to build relationships is the basis of our effectiveness. We emphasize building systems of investment and support. We develop cross-sector collaborations. We operate with a sense of transformational … [Read more...]
Core Values & Cupcakes
An Ideation Summit is a process that transforms stakeholders with divergent interests into collaborators. It provides a roadmap for identifying, clarifying and activating solutions. NAS has built an event that does just this, The Summit at Sundance. We’ve designed a process that empowers a group of colleagues to harness their collective brainpower and wisdom and tackle tough challenges facing their work. Our first Ideation Summit brought CEOs together to collectively work on real-world solutions to four key problems facing the field. The … [Read more...]
Marginal Thinking & Our Personal Boundaries
Clayton Christensen eloquently takes the conventional business idea of marginal thinking and applies it to personal decision-making, in this Harvard Business School piece. We may think that making a decision to cross our personal boundaries “just this once” might have a low/marginal cost, but when we begin to weigh the actual costs, we could end up bankrupt or down the rabbit hole of lies and deception. Christensen asks us to question our personal values and morals. That's what the devil and angel on our shoulders are for, right? How do you … [Read more...]
Values: A Part of the Everyday
Our personal values relate to decisions we make every day. Even the most mundane according to, Joel Urbany, author of How to Make Values Count in Everyday Decisions. We know, this got us all thinking about what it says about you when you leave your desk for that third cup of coffee or that you always eat out for lunch. Urbany dives into the term values-based decision making and draws a direct line between organizational values and those of individual employees, noting that this directly effects the overall decision making ability of an … [Read more...]
Get to Know Your Team
“There is a real reason for getting to know the people you’re working with.” Surry Scheerer, executive coach and lecturer at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business and Ford School of Public Policy, suggests that leaders and their organizations take a more mindful approach to building and supporting teams. Sheerer emphasizes the importance of team building whether your team exists in a conference room or through virtual means. How do personal values influence teamwork? Do you know what your colleagues value most? Tell us in … [Read more...]
Constructive Conflict
Jeff DeGraff, a professor at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, expands on the Competing Values Framework, sharing how the creation of constructive conflict allows for internal innovation. How do you see constructive conflict in your own values? Do you see this between your personal values and that of your organization? Tell us in the comments section or at #ValuesNAS. … [Read more...]
A Return to The Competing Values Framework
The Competing Values Framework is one of the best tools that allows organizations to assess their internal culture. You can have each staff or team member share the current and preferred values of the organization, analyzing where “competing values” fall. This exercise gives employees buy-in and provides space for the sharing of organizational and personal core values. Check out our original post on the Competing Values Framework that appeared on Field Notes in December 2012. You can see what we learned by completing the exercise internally … [Read more...]
Do Your Values Actually Mean Something?
In this Harvard Business Review article, Patrick M. Lencioni discusses how constructing organizational core values is not a simple or meaningless task. We cannot and should not establish values because “we think we should” or “it’s the right thing to do.” They must be based on true meaning and upheld to the highest standard. Ensuring the core values of an organization resonate positively with employees is essential. Lencioni states that core values should be integrated with every employee-related process in the organization and that … [Read more...]
Values and What We Do
It’s pretty easy to identify the values of a cultural organization or initiative. Most mention them somewhere on their website, if not have an entire web section dedicated to this. We talk about values often, too. Inclusivity, equity, excellence are all frequently discussed at our conferences. Values are important to identify and certainly important to name, discuss and debate. It’s helpful for potential stakeholders to know what you stand for and for the world to know what we stand for, as a field. But I’m less interested in talking … [Read more...]
An Arts Advocacy Day Conversation in Decatur, GA
Today is Arts Advocacy Day, but for working artists it can feel like every day is arts advocacy day as we continually make the case in each of our communities to support the arts. I consider myself fortunate that I inhabit two worlds - local government as a Planning Director and the performing arts as a choreographer. It surprises me that I spend a large amount of time in both worlds simply trying to engage the community to participate. Whether a transportation planning project or a dance concert I’m often jumping up and down saying, “Hey! Stop … [Read more...]
An Arts Advocacy Conversation in Salt Lake City, UT
The Utah Museum of Fine Arts represents an arts institution that sits within and reports to an institution run by folks outside the field - The University of Utah. A staff member of the Utah Museum of Fine Arts speaks with University President, David Pershing on he views and values the arts. When I say “the arts,” what does that mean to you? The term, “the arts,” symbolizes to me all that is stimulating to the sense in a profound way in the performing arts – from beautiful music (a single voice or a choir, or a single instrument or an … [Read more...]
An Arts Advocacy Day Conversation in Hartford, CT
Kristina Newman-Scott, Director of Marketing, Events and Cultural Affairs for the City of Hartford, Connecticut asks her colleagues Brian Matthews, Director of Housing for the City of Hartford and Khara Dodds, Director of Planning for the City of Hartford how they see, value and advocate for the arts. Listen to their conversations below and share what you heard from colleagues outside of the arts. [soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/playlists/90218204" … [Read more...]
An Arts Advocacy Conversation in Thayer, MO
Founder of the Oregon County Food Producers and Artisans Co-Op, Rachel Reynolds Luster poses the three simple questions to a member of her Thayer, MO community. Elizabeth, 16 years old: When I say “the arts,” what does that mean to you? "music, dancing, acting" Where do you see arts in your community? "I don't." Tell me about a moment you connected with arts personally. “Learning to clog dance at Marilynn's Clogging Studio and play guitar.” Advocate for the Arts! Click on the Twitter logo to … [Read more...]
An Arts Advocacy Conversation in Lynchburg, VA
I spoke with Anna Bentson, the Assistant Director of the City of Lynchburg's Office of Economic Development, about how she views and values art. What most struck me is that her early childhood contact with art and artists was through her family and in turn that has influenced how she values and views art in her life today. Her relationship to art is personal and I think this gets to the core of a very valuable lesson. Anna's family was filled with musicians. She said, "My grandparents were musicians (actually from a long line of professional … [Read more...]
Stop Talking About Art as an Abstract Concept
Whether we're talking to friends or strangers, how do we talk about the value we create? Mary Lou Aleskie, Executive Director of the International Festival for Arts & Ideas, shares why she believes we should stop talking about "the value of the arts" and start talking about the experience of arts and culture as a gateway to civic engagement and participation. http://youtu.be/b_S6kgrofto Advocate for the Arts! Click on the Twitter logo to share this with someone outside the arts. Start a … [Read more...]