I’m reading Seth Godin’s book Linchpin right now and it has my brain spinning about small, non-protit arts organizations and how those with a linchpin are successful and how those without one, are not.

A Linch Pin (from Wikipedia) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lynch-pin.jpg

A linchpin in this case is a key person in an organization who holds things together so that it thrives and is successful. You could even think of it as someone who keeps the wheel from falling off, though they are much more inspiring than how that sounds.

Non-linchpins (most people) often think little organizations can simply be run “by the book” and that everyone is replaceable. In 25 years working in the arts, I have never once encountered an arts organization or small group that has been run successfully “by the book” (except for the really boring ones, and for those, who cares?).

A successful organization, even if it has only a few people, comes down to having at least one linchpin somewhere in the organization who can move mountains, inspire, push, rebel, fight, speak and essentially, LEAD.

Succession planning…
Though well intended, I’ve often heard from funders that succession planning is lacking and that if only these organizations put in place principles and plans, they would be successful. Bah, not a chance. It’s a nice idea and lots is paid to consultants to show how it can be done. They often use models of large organizations or government to show how systems can be put in place to ensure success.

The trouble is, little non-profits and artistic companies work differently than large ones and it always comes down to one person: a linchpin. And that’s the way it should be.

Find the linchpin in your volunteer organization and 90% of your battle is won. If you hire staff, hire a linchpin and let them do their work, and 90% of the battle is won.

Small non-profit arts organizations are not for the world of the bureaucrat.

Yes, linchpins may make mistakes. Yes, linchpins will have failures, but the failures aren’t nearly as “sure” compared to when you try to submit everything and everybody to yet one more strategic planning session and develop a manual for who comes next and what procedures are to be done all as if you run a 19th century factory.

From what I’ve observed, small arts organizations thrive when its leader and those who care about their organization, act like linchpins.

If your organization is in the doldrums, I’ll bet you have no linchpin. They either left the organization or if you were once the linchpin yourself, maybe you just got bored. Whatever the case may be, find the linchpin in your organization or your community and get behind them and cheer them on. If you can’t find one, pack up shop now.

What would happen if what you’d been charging for for many years suddenly was offered for free (or next to free) by someone else or by some other means (new technology)?

It’s happening all over. As soon as something can reasonably be made or reproduced in a digital format, it will happen. The post office doesn’t send as much paper mail as it used to. Record companies don’t ship CDs any longer nor are there stores to sell them in.

Bookstores are about to go the same was as CD stores once the digital book hits big-time by being enabled by someone like Apple (and don’t believe people who say “paper books will always be around.” That’s just being nostalgic). The big Chapters bookstore in downtown Vancouver where I live will not be there in 2015 (unless it sells just kitschy things which it’s already doing).

Anything physical that can be made digital will be replaced by its digital version. Don’t like that? Too bad.

But what about less-obvious things like face-to-face events? Think they are safe? I’d say “think again.”

What if the price to travel goes up (oil is going to go up and up and that means travel cost will, too) and what if new tools come into play that mean things online lessen the value of meeting in one physical space? People will start to stay at home and find other ways of connecting than face-to-face. Maybe this is already happening? I think so.

An example near and dear to my heart is arts marketing conferences. With stretched arts funding dollars and the costs of physically attending not showing any signs of lessening soon, it seems inevitable that finding other ways of doing things is needed before it’s too late for the entire business. If you are the organization making this happen online it will put you in front (and save your ass).

It’s an earthquake followed by a Tsunami.

The earthquake has just happened (the arrival of the Internet) and the big wave is about to hit the shores of many businesses (more gets delivered digitally using new and richer Internet tools). Right now, everything seems calm, but it won’t be for very long. The giant wave is almost here.

My advice is to start figuring out how to use the digital tools that are out there. Not all will work, but some will and if you become conversant in them, you will be ready for the coming wave.

Facebook, Twitter, blogs, YouTube and others should become your best friends because that’s where future real (and virtual) friends will be found. Those friends may be your current members or customers who want to move ahead and many new ones who may not even know about the “olden days” when people spent thousands of dollars travelling to be in one place together (how “quaint” they will say).

Ready or not… DIGITAL is here. Make it a big part of your marketing strategy.

This is first in my series of “Work Wednesday” posts where I’ll discuss aspects of the work we do or feature projects I’m working on.

Recently I watched a TED Talk delivered by Daniel Pink about how the science of incentives in business actually work but how businesses don’t adopt these findings and treat white collar workers like they were assembly line workers.

He points out that the type of work most white-collar workers do now is cognitive in nature as opposed to simply tasked-based. For this sort of work, people need to think about things from all sides and angles.

The key appears to be giving people the option to have autonomy, mastery and purpose.

• Autonomy: the urge to direct or own our lives
• Mastery: the desire to get better and better at something that matters
• Purpose: to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves

Of the non-profit arts organizations I know of and work with, the ones that excite me are the ones that allow their staff to do those very things. Recently, I presented my workshop to seven employees at AMSSA and I have to say “hats off” to their executive director, Lynn Moran for letting them take two hours out of their day to attend the workshop. It’s an example of an organization that does let its employees have a good degree of autonomy, mastery and purpose.

Giant companies like Google allow their employees to work on anything they like for one day a week. ANYTHING, so long as it’s not their regular projects. The innovation that comes out of this has resulted in products like Gmail and Google Reader.

Maybe I need to give myself a day a week to work on anything that doesn’t involve current projects. New things, creative things, fun things, challenging things.

I wonder if nonprofit arts organizations would let this happen?

What are you thoughts? Would it work? Do you have autonomy, mastery and purpose in your job?

[ image is from bigstockphoto ]

This post is the first in a series from what I will call “Marketing Mondays” where I’ll discuss an aspect of marketing in relation to artists or non-profit arts organizations.

We get so averse to busting out of what’s normal when it comes to marketing our products and services. We tend to stick to what’s worked in the past instead of trying new things.

Sometimes, we just get lazy.

I wonder if the fear of trying something new is a fear of failing and the likelihood of embarrassing ourselves in front of peers, customers, members or supporters? Who doesn’t remember embarrassing moments in their past?

Me and my band in 1985. See, I can laugh at myself.

Having once been a singer/songwriter and performer, I learned some valuable lessons about trying new things and sticking my neck out. First, I learned that to grow as an artist, I had to try new things. When I stopped doing that (and I did), it was time to exit that career.

Second, I learned that I could trust myself on stage which freed me to be more expressive. Usually this worked but sometimes it didn’t—I failed, fell flat on my face. After a while, though, I knew that it was still better to go out on limb than stay safe even if I got hurt occasionally.

Writing this blog is a bit like risking things on stage when I was a performer. It feels uncomfortable and scary at first, but “so what” I say. I’m really doing this blog because it’s challenging and fun even if it is out of my comfort zone. People may laugh at me. Oh well.

If you aren’t doing anything they may laugh at or that you may fail at, maybe it’s time to step off the stage and put the guitar in its case, find a new job, step down from the board, get out of the way for those who want to do something new. Close the curtain and go home.

It’s much more fun to try new things.

What are you or your organization doing that people may laugh at?

In my previous post (Trepidation: 2010) I spoke about what scares me about the year ahead. Today, I want to mention a few things that excite me about the coming year.

Expanding my online presence is where I’ll be focusing more attention. I’ve gone from almost zero at the beginning of 2009 to a modest start by the end of the year. In 2010 I want to be far more active with my blog, with facebook, twitter and taking part in other networks as well as learning how to be better at using all these tools.

It’s marketing stupid. It’s really marketing that I love. I want to explore how my clients (and potential clients) can use techniques and other ways of thinking to do a better job of marketing.

With the tools available now, this doesn’t have to cost a fortune, but really knowing what’s possible and implementing is the key. In particular, I’ve noticed that there’s a great deal of talk about how easy it is, but for many small arts organizations, actually doing one small task can be very difficult. Finding ways to help is what I want to do.

Workshops. I plan to present my Communication by Design workshop several times in 2010. I love doing this session with people and enjoy spreading my enthusiasm for typography and easy tips to help people create better looking content.

If your organization is in the Metro Vancouver and would like the session presented, contact me as I’ll be offering it for free a few times this year.

I’m going for one week to South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive in Austin, Texas this March. I have no real idea what to expect but my approach is going to be as a sponge, soaking up much and seeing what I can take away and use in my own business.

In this first of two posts, I’m going to cover what things give me cause for trepidation in the year ahead. In the next post, I’ll talk about what’s got me excited.

As a freelancer, I always wonder where the work will come. It’s not uncommon to see the calendar with nothing on it a few months out. The good thing is, I’ve been working like this for many years now so I’m somewhat used it.

With the devastating funding cuts from the BC Government this year and the massive uncertainty for next year, I have a sense that things could be quite grim for my clients and my traditional business. Many of my clients relied on the support that has been cut and it’s in 2010 that I believe, the real effects will be felt. Time will tell.

For the past two years I’ve administered a program of the BC Arts Council called Community Presenters Assistance and I’d love to do that again. I enjoy the work and really enjoy chatting with performing arts presenters from around the province. Fingers are crossed, both for me and especially for all the great clients of the program who rely so much on the grants they receive.

I plan to take on using more social media tools (I’ve got to find a better term than “social media” because I’m so sick of hearing it now). Implementing consistently will be the trick. I will try to be use what Seth Godin says is the “drip, drip, drip” technique. I often feel overwhelmed and don’t take things on. I have to learn how to break things down into daily little bite-sized bits.

Lastly, there is always a wildcard or two thrown our way. These are events that we never saw coming and have no way of preparing for. I don’t worry about these things (whatever they show up as) until they show up, but it’s always good to know that sometimes, the “best laid plans” can go awry.

I sometimes wonder if we’ve learned anything from the artists we say we so highly admire.

I’ve often heard performing arts presenters dismiss an artist because the artist didn’t create much new material in the previous six months. The sentiment is “You must not be very good because you didn’t produce enough new work. Approach us again when you have” Yet, how many presenters push themselves and risk with new directions? They play it safe but demand more from the artists they hire. (note: not all do this, but many do)

Then there are the organizations whose primary purpose is serving artists. Granted, they often have to deal with the bureaucracy of a larger institution or funders, but maybe they could “live dangerously” and do something so bold as to paint the office walls a different colour than beige and maybe put art on those walls? Who knows, with inspiration around them, perhaps they’d start making more creative decisions.

We need to adopt from artists a creative way of thinking in our organizations. We need to add “artistic” to the decision-making process. That’s how new things come along. It’s scary and it means risk.

With all the funding cuts to the arts in British Columbia I can see the fear creeping into the decision-making at arts organizations. I get it. They’re scared of making any missteps and dropping the basket with the couple of eggs in it.

Welcome to the world of the artist.

If you are running a business or non-profit in the arts sector, maybe it’s time to start thinking like an artist and demanding your organization take risks and act unconventionally, boldly and courageously.

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NOTE:
A good short blog post by Seth Godin ties in with this in regard to two types of approaches artists take. Which one are you? Boundary makers

Seth Godin, New York, Nov 2009

So, there I was, in New York last week at Seth Godin’s day-long seminar/workshop getting all charged up and hyped about possibilities for my business and those of some of my clients and then… the busy life of daily work dared to intrude: a new website to design for ArtStarts, a Newcomers Children Information Exchange site for AMSSA not to mention loads of grant applications to pour through as part of my contract administering an arts program for 2010 Legacies Now and the finishing touches on the next Creative City News Special Edition.

My situation is nothing unique. Most of our work and personal lives are spent this way. It’s why it’s so hard to take the little steps that lead to the big changes. It’s why we stay stuck in our current businesses rarely changing from the inside but rather, only when external forces—like funding cuts, bad economy—come our way.

We get little moments of inspiration where we say to ourselves “yah, doing this or that would be exciting, challenging, fun and maybe even profitable,” but then a deadline comes and the steps aren’t taken.

Often, we have very productive organizations where it seems just fine to leave things as they are. After all, there’s enough work and it seems profitable. Seth Godin talked a fair bit about this. We think we have the “perfect business.” Why change anything?

I see two reasons to change before change happens to us or our organization.

If possible we should try to gaze forward a little and read the signs of where things are heading for our business/industry. Often, there’s a cliff or waterfall ahead but we don’t know that because we’re too busy hiking up the mountain of daily work or busy paddling when suddenly, technology changes and our old business is abruptly replaced by someone or something else.

When everything appears to be going along well, it’s hard to see these signs (in BC, who knew a year ago our government would so brutally reduce support for the arts).

In my case, I experienced this blindness with the small static web sites I’ve designed for ten years. In my market niche (small to mid-sized artists and arts organizations), it no longer makes sense to develop in this way. There goes a line of my business that was moderately successful and easy to carry out. I have to admit, I had an uneasy feeling for the last couple of years that this was happening but I kept ignoring the signs and I didn’t change until now.

Another reason to look at changing our “perfect businesses” is a more personal one. This is apropos for solo operators or artists. My goal is to have as much fun working on projects as I possibly can. It’s why I try to avoid clients who are not fun to work with (I’ve fired a couple). Still, it’s easy to get trapped with good paying work but not very exciting work. When this happens, maybe it’s time to move in a new direction even if the outcomes are not completely known.

So, we have what we think is our perfect business. Watch out. Maybe it’s time to make some bold steps and move in a new direction. It takes guts to drop stuff that is working, but it’s what artists do all the time.

What am I going to drop and when am I going to drop it? I’ve started some new things, such as this blog and I’m now helping clients set up sites using WordPress and other social media tools as well as offering workshops again on design. It all means I just have to learn to live with the ambiguity of it all and go for it.

Is your business about to go over a waterfall? Are you willing to change your “perfect business” from the inside before someone or something else changes it for you?

I am in New York City to attend a one-day seminar/workshop by author Seth Godin. He’s written books on marketing and networking such as The Purple Cow, Permission Marketing and more recently, Tribes.

Tribes is a short book, but packed with his take on leading networks of people and movements. I think he explains the need for and role of social media in leading groups very clearly and in a more poetic way than many do.

Reading Tribes, coupled with my recent “conversion” to using social media tools with my own business (see previous post), has really reignited my interest in the way networks actually work. Kevin Kelly writing about 1,000 true fans and Seth’s take on tribes are all really great places to learn and think about how social media can be implemented in an arts business/organization, large or small.

Coming to an event like this is a rare thing for me to “splurge” on but I’m quite excited about what I’ll learn and pick up from the day. Check back in a few days for my review and thoughts on what was learned.

But, before that, I have today to check out the Guggenheim. Yay.

Given the current financial scenario of non-profit arts organizations, especially in British Columbia, I think that next year, there will be many who will be in the same situation the BCTC was in in 1998: No money but a big new opportunity.

Isn’t that fantastic?

Now it’s time to get clever and redirect where the focus goes. The problem is, it’s hard to make these moves to the new social media tools. We all get comfortable where we are. They make for an entirely different way of working and thinking. For me, an “ah ha” moment came at an Arts Summit held in June 2009 in Vancouver where I heard Kris Krug speak about using the current tools.

I was “cutting edge” back in 1998 and I’d followed the changes since then, but I was still using older tools in my own business. I had a Twitter account but didn’t really use it. I had a Facebook account but didn’t really use it. I still had a very dormant, static web site that was a pain to update (and websites were my business!). I really didn’t like what I’d seen of these new social media tools but the real crux of it was that I just didn’t “get it.”

The points Kris Krug brought up got my mind spinning. For the first time in ten years, I was completely stoked again about where all this could go and how it could be used. One of the key pieces I realized was, “just start.” I come from a time that when you wrote something, produced something, whatever… it was finished and done, never to be altered again. This approach is very limiting because it slows everything down and makes one very careful.

I’ve come to realize with the new publishing tools such as WordPress-run websites, Facebook, Twitter, videos on YouTube, etc., that so much of it is about the process. I realized it’s ok not to have everything finished at once or have content that is “perfect.” As marketing guy, Seth Godin said “Waiting for perfect is never as smart as making progress.”

With my “ah ha” moment, I started to look more deeply into the various new tools. I switched my website to one using WordPress. This has been so liberating for me. I can now update it quickly and easily. Twitter is fun to use, Facebook is proving to be more effective than I thought it would be, I’ve been blogging, posting images of my work to Flickr, and I’ve just started using YouTube for video. Where it will lead, I’m not entirely sure, but it’s certainly invigorating.

Sometimes, you just have to step into the pool.

What’s the lesson for non-profits? Start swimming, even if it’s in the kid’s end of the pool. Take the plunge and just start moving your arms even if you feel like you’re flailing in the water. It’s ok, you won’t sink like a stone.

For he who gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside and it is ragin’
It’ll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’
- Bob Dylan

Resources

Check out a good blog about this by Beth Kanter called Nonprofits That Adopt Social Media Share One Characteristic: Vertigo Tolerance

Also, this one by Seth Godin called The problem with non

ADDED: Another Seth Godin post about which “hammer” you use and learning when to switch them. It’s called Hammer Time.