Why I picked it up: Design thinking is big. Bill Burnett and Dave Evans from Stanford are two of the most notable gurus of design thinking. Even though this book is written through the lens of designing your life, I thought it might serve as a good primer for design thinking in general. 

What you need to know: To think like a designer, you need to internalize five mind-sets (pp. xxvi - xxvii):

1 - Be curious. See opportunities everywhere. "Get good at getting lucky." I would add to that the willingness to absorb a lot of disparate things and then work to make unusual connections. That's not luck. That's curiosity, thinking, and work. It just appears like luck to those who are not willing to put in that time and effort.

2 - Try stuff. Take risks, try different things. Prototype, fail, and try again. I would add to this perseverance.

3 - Reframe problems. Approach from many different angles. Don't anchor on one solution. It may not work. If you have ever heard me say "let's step back," that's me reframing a problem.

4 - Know it is a process. Toss out initial ideas or hypotheses if they are bad … or even simply not good enough.

5 - Ask for help. Participate in what they call "radical collaboration" so you get new advice, new ideas. I think this also helps tremendously with #3, reframe problems. 

The mindset they don't include, though they hammer it home in the conclusion of the book, is that design thinking never ends. Ever. That's a pretty big one to come around to as well. Every project, program, exhibition, is part of a larger endeavor that never ends. We should know this. Museums are in the forever business after all, right?  Yet we forget it all the time.

Implications for museums:  Although this book focused on how to design your life, I found it more useful to think about how a savvy executive director/CEO could apply design thinking to the life of a museum. That is a rather smart, long-term, yet extraordinarily nimble perspective, and one that would likely do much to create deeper impact in a community and with audiences. 

Read or skip?  It depends on what you need.

• A solid introduction to design thinking. Read the introduction. It does this very well.
• To use design thinking personally, in your own life. Absolutely pick it up. It has some self-help book characteristics that I personally am not a fan of, but the core of their advice is worthwhile.
• To use design thinking to strategically rethink your museum. Ah, now this is interesting. I would love to see these guys rewrite this book as "Design Thinking Your Organization." But until then … if you are good at mental leaps, yes, read it and consider how to apply this to an organization, not just a person. Heck, maybe I'll just write that article someday. Doesn't need to be a book.

My final response: I love design thinking, probably because it is how I operate already. What I appreciated about this book is that it has me thinking more deliberately about how I could develop ways to lead the senior leadership at a museum through a design-thinking process to plan their future. This isn't strategic planning (though it is both strategic and planning), but instead an exercise to open up paths of inquiry for research … which could all feed into a more effective strategic planning process.

The Nitty-Gritty (for those interested):

Introduction. 

Design starts with a problem for which there is no one best solution. Because there is not necessarily a clear goal, or existing data to inform a decision, it requires new thinking to create a solution. How that problem is framed is crucial. To effectively design a solution start with empathy, and use empathy to reframe the problem from the perspective of those affected by it. 

My response. That's why design thinking works well for human conditions. Emotion is involved, and humans are rarely that predictable. So of course empathy is the right place to start!  If you want your museum to matter to your audience, to your community, you have to take the viewpoint of your audience and members of your community. What matters to them? What problems do they need  solving? For a visitor, the problem they need solved is unlikely to be the science of bubbles, or class issues in 17th-century English portraiture. It is wanting to have well-rounded children, or to have an enjoyable outing with a loved one. It may even be wanting a powerfully human experience that puts what it means to be human in this world in perspective (though almost no one will be able to articulate that!). As museum professionals, if we can start with this empathy for our visitor, we'll be far more effective in what we do, and our museums will likely matter more. So yes. Love this (but then, when it comes to me, they were preaching to the choir here.)

"To speak authoritatively, you need data." (p. xxii)

My response. Amen.

Emphatic about enforcing risk, as it is less risky than the status quo (I think Seth Godin was the first to say that). And that the "... best results come from radical collaboration ... the principle that people with very different backgrounds will bring their idiosyncratic technical and human experiences to the team. This increases the chance that the team will have empathy for those who will use what they are designing, and that the collision of different backgrounds will generate truly unique solutions." (p. xxiv)

My response.  This makes the case for museums of different types to work together. (I know from experience that history museum people think completely differently than children's museum people … and that they have much they can learn from each other.) But it also makes the case for museums to work with completely different organizations to solve community and societal needs. Go bold! Take risks! 

They say a couple of times that designers build their way forward, not think (italics theirs). 

My response. This I don't agree with. It takes both. If you are not thoughtful about what you are building, you are going to waste a lot of time and resources.

Goes on to discuss the five mind-sets, which I covered in "what you need to know." 

The individual chapters of this book are the steps and framework for reinventing your life.  I don't feel it is necessary to recap it here. 

Full citation: Burnett, Bill, and Evans, Dave.  Designing Your Life: How To Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2016.


Have a suggestion for my reading list?  Email it to me at susie (at) wilkeningconsulting (dot) com.

Why I picked it up: Hispanics and Latinos are the second-fastest growing minority group in America (after Asian Americans), and the largest, and youngest, minority group. If museums are going to thrive in the future, they have to adapt to meet the needs of a broader swath of Americans; Hispanics and Latinos have historically been underserved by museums.

Best thing in report: A chart showing how how different racial and ethnic populations follow news topics. (See below.)

Two findings in this chart particularly fascinate me:

1 - That whites are far more interested in local town or city news than African Americans or Hispanics. It makes me wonder if there are barriers to connecting with a local community that African Americans and Hispanics are more likely to feel. And if so, what can we do about it? Lots of questions here.

2 - That Hispanics are more interested in science and technology than whites, with African Americans significantly less interested. That seems like a great opportunity for museums to tap into (as well as work to be done).

Why I picked it up: Young adults are foodies.  A number of studies have indicated that, compared to older Americans, they are more likely to self-identify as a foodie (Ypulse) and they also spend more on eating out, despite having relatively lower incomes (Restaurant Marketing Labs). True, foodie-ism seems to be increasingly more prevalent across generations, but is there something specific about this generation of young adults that make them even more prone to it? If so, is this an opportunity for museums as they seek to engage young adults (and teens)? 


The gist of it: Overall thesis is that yes, young adults are food obsessed.  Suggests that a main reason is that food is a very analog, multi-sensory experience and an antidote to their screen-based lives:

• "…this generation is, without doubt, lacking in sensory stimulation, and we're finding a remedy in food." - Kindle location 638

The book is very much written from the perspective of a well-educated Millennial, so while the assumptions made may hold for those with the financial resources to support "foodie-ism," they seem unlikely for those of lower socio-economic status.  Goes on to explore Millennial farmers, etc. 


Implications for museums:  Two overall thoughts.

1. Data does seem to bear out that young adults are more likely to be foodies than older adults, especially among the well-educated.  Thus, high-quality and interesting food programs and events, held on-site or at an interesting location, likely would do well.  Especially if you make an excellent tie-in with your mission.  See the Interpreting Food Facebook page for ideas.
2. If the second part of her thesis is true, that food is a rich, multi-sensory, and analog antidote for the virtual lives of young adults, then museums may be in an interesting position to build on the very multi-sensory experiences we already provide.  How can we use high-quality, interesting foods to further enrich the object-based, tactile experiences museums are capable of?

Read or skip?  Skip.  While I think the overall thesis about  young adults being more food-obsessed than older adults is generally true, this book is lacking substance.  Sources were scarce for the data she shared; a definite concern, especially when she states things like nearly 60% of young adults grew up in upper-middle-class or wealthy families.  How is that possible?  This makes me also question the direct line she draws between virtual lives and food as analog antidote.  It is a good hypothesis, but not proven.


Two additional tidbits:

1. Food is the new art for presenting oneself as educated and sophisticated, per a William Deresiewicz op-ed:  "Nobody cares if you know about Mozart or Leonardo anymore, but you had better be able to discuss the difference between ganache and couverture." - Kindle location 820

1. Outdoor history museums and historic sites may be sitting on a gold mine: "…the farm wedding may be hipster chic - Mason jars, mismatched China and burlap runners …" - Kindle location 2185

Full citation:  Turow, Eve.  A Taste of Generation Yum.  (Amazon ebook)


Have a suggestion for my reading list?  Email it to me at susie (at) wilkeningconsulting (dot) com.

Why I picked it up:  Demographics is destiny, right?  Well, not necessarily.  But understanding how the population is shifting is rather important to long-term planning in museums. Additionally, this book is grounded in research by the Pew Research Center, one of my most trusted sources on major societal shifts in America.

What you need to know:  Our population is aging rapidly, and as more people live longer, shifts in resources that already disproportionately help seniors (possibly at the expense of children) will only be exacerbated.  If we want our society to thrive long-term, we need to think long and hard about this resource allocation. Additionally, Americans are sorting themselves in ways that align with political persuasion. 

Implications for museums: 

1. Aging population.  With a rapidly aging population, there may be opportunities to reach more seniors in meaningful ways, providing cognitive and social stimulation that promotes healthy aging (and are cost-effective in the long-term to society).  Larger museums may want to add an educator that specializes in senior learning and engagement, while smaller ones will certainly want to stay on top of research that helps them with this audience as well.  On the flip side, however, if museums cannot position themselves as vital to senior health, sources of funding may disappear as resources are reallocated. 
2. Childhood shifts.  Poverty is disproportionately affecting families with young children, and children in the US have a harder time achieving economic stability than in other developed nations.  Consider how museums and other informal learning organizations can serve these children more effectively, particularly out of the classroom. 
3. Societal sorting, aka "The Big Sort".  The self-sorting we do as a society, even if not intentional, likely isn't the best thing for our country or our communities. What are the places in a community that truly bring people together to trade ideas?  Can museums, and libraries, be places of cohesion?  Is that our mission?  Why or why not?  More questions than answers for this one.

Read or skip?  Skip.  If you really need hard, national data to back a project you are working on go straight to the Pew Research Center's excellent website or the ultimate source, the US Census Bureau (though they field different, yet complementary, research). 


Running synopsis (for those who want the real meat):

Chapter 1 - Political Tribes

Overall thesis that Americans are "sorting themselves - by ideology, age, race, ethnicity, wealth, gender, education, religion, immigrant status, neighborhood - into silos that align with their [political] party affiliation" (p. 2).  Through Pew Research Center's questions, they can place respondents on a liberal-to-conservative continuum and then look for differences in societal perceptions, etc.  States that conservatives value "teaching children religious values and obedience, while liberals are more inclined to stress tolerance, empathy, creativity, and curiosity."  On some of these factors, the difference between "consistent liberals" and "consistent conservatives" is enormous.  But individuals of all political persuasions tend to value responsibility, independence, hard work, and good manners (p. 9).  Concludes that conservatives are slightly more siloed than liberals, and that people seek out places to live that generally align with their political ideology.

My response:  Interesting.  Are there people who actively choose to not silo themselves?  Who are they?  And do they actually take action, or are they really just as siloed as everyone else? Is anyone willing to admit that the silos are OK?  (Not that they are, just curious who might think they are good.) 

With the huge differences in opinion on some of the values they tested, does that affect museum visitation?  Are there differences in perceptions of museums, and visitation rates, based on political persuasion?  If yes, does it matter? If not, how interesting.  And should we find out?  I have mixed feelings about fielding this work because it could be incredibly useful, but it could also be incendiary given the polarity of our political climate. 


Chapter 2 - Demographic Destinies

Three facts jumped out at me from this chapter.
​

1. "A teenager has less chance of being raised by both biological parents in America than anywhere else in the world" (p. 34). 
2. The market for adult diapers in Japan exceeds that for baby diapers (pp. 35 - 37).
3. Children in Canada and Europe are statistically more likely to reach upper socio-economic status (SES) than children in the US (p. 39).

My response:  I have nothing to say on the teenagers thing except I am shocked.  That is just stunning. 

As the US population ages, how will we deal with the significant shifts in resources?  The population of seniors will likely exceed that of children in just over 20 years. Will museums begin to have specialists in senior learning who work alongside school program educators?  And how can museums help promote healthy aging, especially cognitively?

Finally, what can museums (and other informal learning organizations) do to help children from lower SES households achieve more?  I bet a lot. 


Chapter 5 - Battle of the Ages?

As our population ages, and entitlement programs have changed, we have become a country that supports seniors, but possibly at the expense of children.  Programs like Social Security and Medicare have done much to provide a stable quality-of-life baseline for seniors (and seniors were the cohort least affected by the Great Recession), but has that been at the expense of children?  Currently, "the federal government now spends about $6 per capita on programs for seniors for every $1 it spends per capita on programs for children" (p. 79) and young adults with children are the poorest age cohort in America. 

My response: Given that children do outnumber seniors by quite a bit now (23% of population vs. 15%, though this is changing quickly), the disparity is rather significant.  Even taking into account that senior healthcare costs are more than children's educational costs. What will this mean, long-term, for children? For society?  (Also, see my comments from chapter 2; this book was a bit repetitive!)


Chapter 9 - Whither Marriage?

Discussed in fair detail decreasing marriage rates, especially among those with less education, with marriage now perceived as a capstone, not as part of a one's path to adult stability.  That is, one is not "marriageable" until one has economic prospects.  Thus, those with more education are marrying at higher rates than those with less education.  And since marriage in and of itself tends to support greater economic stability and prosperity, it is a bit like a self-fulfilling prophecy.  Meanwhile, single motherhood has increased as marriage rates decrease.

Shifts in parenting philosophies are also discussed.  Generation X parents have gained a reputation for being engaged parents who are a bit prone to helicopter behavior.  Yet they may be outpaced by Millennials:  52% of Millennials say being a good parent is "one of the most important things in life" compared with only 42% of Generation Xers when they were the same age (p. 146). 

Finally, a warning sign for economic and social vulnerability among Baby Boomers as they age: one in three are single (p. 152).

My response:  If leading indicators are that Millennials are going to be even more engaged parents, what does that mean for museums that primarily serve children and their caregivers?  Can children's museums give us a preview? 


Chapter 10 - Nones on the Rise

Generally, a discussion of how the US population is gradually growing less religious, with younger adults in particular less likely to have any religious affiliation.  But two things jumped out from this chapter:
​

1. "Numerous studies indicate that people tend to report going to church more often than they really do" (p. 164).
2. "Americans do not generally become more affiliated [with] religion as they move through the life cycle from young adulthood to middle age and retirement.  Rather, the percentage of people in each generation who are religiously affiliated has remained stable, or decreased slightly, as that generation has aged" (p. 166).

My response:  So let's pick these two things apart. 

First, over-reporting.  In a survey, people often like to present a "face" that is more positive than reality.  It isn't necessarily intentional, but trying to present well, even to anonymous survey analysts.  Thus, this finding that people over-report going to church.  My hunch?  People over-report their museum visitation too.  Actual results should thus always be either taken with a grain of salt or adjusted to compensate for this (and that adjustment should be duly noted).

Second, the fallacy that as people grow older they will "return" or "grow into" something.  Cultural organizations that primarily serve older audiences may count on this too much, assuming (for example) that the Boomers will flock to their offerings once they retire.  Well, some Boomers are 70 now and have these organizations begun to see audience growth?  Most have not.  If the groundwork isn't laid early and often, why should those audiences miraculously appear? 


Chapter 13 - Empty Cradle, Gray World

The world's population is aging, and while Japan may be at one extreme, and the US on that pathway, this is a worldwide issue.  According to UN estimates, the worldwide population of children under 15 will only grow by 10% by midcentury … but the global population of seniors (65+) will nearly triple (p. 211).  What kind of resource allocation will be necessary with that shift?  And have elected officials, here and abroad, put off the "day of reckoning" that this generational inequity has created, with programs for the young being neglected in order to continue the current social safety net for ever-more seniors? 

My response: Fascinating to see the global numbers. But does this have to be an either/or?  How can we make it a both/and?  If it is an either/or, the ramifications for neglecting the young may be devastating.



My final response:  The book was rather heavy overall on the generational shifts, especially aging and discussions of resource allocation.  Makes it a fascinating read, with lots of numbers to back up the case … but it also was a challenging read because it was repetitive and unwieldy.  Not for the faint-of-data-heart. 


Full citation:  

Taylor, Paul.  The Next America: Boomers, Millennials, and the Looming Generational Showdown. New York: Public Affairs, 2015.



Have a suggestion for my reading list?  Email it to me at susie (at) wilkeningconsulting (dot) com.

I read. Voraciously.  And I read a variety of things to keep abreast of societal trends and changes that may matter to museums and cultural institutions. 

Some of what I read is fantastic.

A lot is pretty useless.

Regardless of the quality, I'll cover it here, because sometimes knowing what not to read is just as important as what to read. That's part of the Knowledge Curation™ I provide.

For each post I'll share anything interesting, pick apart methodology or logic, and discuss implications for museums. I'll cover books, articles, and reports I finish … and ones I don't.

What you need to know about each review will be right at the top, and for those who really want to get into the weeds a "running synopsis" will cover the details.  You can then quickly decide what merits your attention (and how deeply) and what really doesn't matter to you and your museum.

All of this is with the primary goal of giving you what you need to know from each book, article, or report, so you can make more informed decisions in your work.

Let's get reading ... critically.  


Have a suggestion for my reading list?  Email it to me at susie (at) wilkeningconsulting (dot) com.