At a recent forum about arts and culture in our community, the director of the art museum referenced Isaac Newton’s First Law of Motion, which states that a body moving at a constant speed in a straight line will keep moving at a constant speed in a straight line unless it is acted upon by a force. His point was that it is easy for organizations to become complacent and do things the way they have always done them. “We need to build capacity to overcome our own inertia,” he said.
It’s true not just for arts groups where the temptation is to offer the same type of events every year or to produce the annual fundraising gala. Individuals as well as other types of organizations fall into routines and become comfortable with doing things the way they have always done them. This leaves two choices to prevent demise: have the initiative and courage to create change within or respond to the environmental change that is imposed.
A few strategies that were raised in the arts forum as ways to be inertia-busting may be applicable to your organization:
- Go beyond just promoting an event and actually invite people to attend it
- Take programming out to other locations — if you go to them and provide a “small introduction to the large” they may be more willing to come to you later. Show up where you haven’t been
- Create programs that look like the people you want to attract
- Encourage people to participate at all levels of the organization, not just as audience members
- Promote giving arts as a gift to expose people
- Create meaningful engagement with people you have traditionally not had relationships with
Even if you have nothing to do with arts or culture, you are still subject to the same laws of organizational physics. You need to intentionally deploy strategies to alter your routine or you will be ruled by it. What can you do today to shake something up?
