Smart People

I love QM2's web site. They're nonprofit consultants, and some of their insights are kind of genius. And bless 'em, the site has lots of useful, free content. Today I'm digging Museum Life Cycles. This is the kind of thing that, at first, looks as though it could be total B.S., the usual stuff-you-already-knew-presented-in-a-cutesy-format that so many consultants offer. But in fact it is a distillation of a vast amount of real-workplace experience. If you've worked in a museum, ever, you'll probably find this interesting and honest.

Who knew museums could be such messy workplaces? After all, we're not doing thoracic surgery here, or extracting PCB deposits, or running a combat-support company. We're trying to take care of things we think are important so they'll be around for a few more years at least, and at the same time, let people discover a little bit more about the world than they're walking around with right now. That's all. Pretty simple mission. And yet, we so quickly grow Byzantine in the ways this article describes.