Old Slideshow and New Message

Museums and I.C.V.

View more presentations from James Leventhal.

A colleague from many years ago was looking through old presentations I had up in slideshare and wrote the following:

Among the many charms and pithy paradoxes of your slideshare presentations, today I enjoyed responding in a new and, I hope, insightful way to your slide that says "The Poetry of Process / The Beauty of Bureaucracy." That's one I would like to have heard your witty words on in the moment you put the slide up.

Would I be right to take that as brightening the hue of Max Weber's sociological lament on the "iron cage" of bureacracy? As in, learn to work with it? Even, "Love it All?" Enjoy the art and craft in the human side of organizational life. Make a vigorous sport out of winding through mazes on tilting floors. Appreciate the complexity of forming alliances for shared and individual aims. Rather than whine about bureaucracy and "process", why not sing a soulful ballad -- an ode to human toil and striving in mission-rich organizations.

Is that kind of it?

After all, we're awfully lucky to get paid -- and paid nicely -- to work for such wonderful places. We spend our days tending to the bright side of life. And that's a big part of why we attract major donors who underwrite our museums with their money, their time, and their good names. So let's work inside our organizations with the same kind of care we direct outside: let's be discerning, be appreciative, and be strategic with museum colleagues as well as donors and volunteers.

Am I getting it?

Quite a slide there! The first time I saw it a few months ago, I laughed a bit. This time I stopped and thought more. I like the second viewing!

Comments

BREAKING NEWS: USC to Absorb HUC in LA?

This just in from "The God Blog." A source told Jewish Journal editor-in-chief Rob Eshman that the University of Southern California and Hebrew Union College-Jewish institute of Religion, which already share some faculty and facilities, are working on a deal to fold the L.A. campus into USC as a Jewish studies program. “Its a win win,“ the source said. “HUC gets a big chunk of money for what it owns—about a block of prime real estate by the USC campus—and USC gets to solidify a Jewish studies and outreach program that it has been building for some time now.“ Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles has been having big problems -- a consolidation of resources may present a novel and impactful solution. VERY INTERESTING.

Why Go to A Conference Anyways?

@lidja @lyndakelly61 @futureofmuseums @creativemerc @museum_flavor pLz look http://tinyurl.com/qxlja4 &here http://bit.ly/q1mhV assoc./conf. grpthink @RichardMcCoy @DanielCull very import.

A Year-end Letter Update from James and Family

Dear Friends and Family, On the brink of the new year on December 31, 2019 we stood at the foot of Kehinde Wiley's brand new monumental equestrian sculpture in downtown Richmond at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. There were a bunch of families gathered around taking pictures together. Emblematic of this entire year and entitled “ Rumors of War ,” the monument depicts an unarmed Black man in heroic pose atop a horse. The man’s sneakers are in the stirrups, looking back over their shoulder like Napoleon as they ride forward up a ridge . It was a strange harbinger of the year that was, and how it’s going. Kamala Harris will be named our vice president in a few weeks. In between, the apocalyptic has been commonplace; I mean, what a year. Emil started high school this fall. Graduation this past spring from Mark Day School was likely the year’s highlight. Karen is still at Mark Day. This fall they've been doing hybrid learning. It’s the first time Karen and Emil have not been goi

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