Managing (or Surviving) Organizational Change

DOUGLAS HEGLEY, JESSE HEINZEN, NIK HONEYSETT, JENNIFER SCHMITT, WILLIAM WEINSTEIN

November 9, 2017

Change

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If you haven't been part of a structural reorganization, gone through a major downsizing, been challenged with new leadership, or

experienced an inexplicable change in your reporting structure, you're lucky. Your luck will likely run out soon

Introductions

Diana Walker, Court Jester (Queen

Elizabeth II and Ronald Reagan, San

Francisco), gift of the artist, Minneapolis

Institute of Art, 84.99

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Hilltop Lair

“somewhere in LA”

The Administrator

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I’ve been on both

sides of the fence of

organisational change

Douglas Hegley, Chief Digital Officer, Minneapolis Institute of Art @dhegley

6+ years, 20+ years in museums, 27 years in nonprofits

Digital

TransformationSo you

agree?

Of course! Museums don’t

need to worry about this silly

computer stuff. It’s just a fad

among the young folks.

A museum executive

office, circa 1996

Image source: http://bensimonton.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/doctor-elephant.jpg

Agent of change – SECRET AGENT OF CHANGE!

More like this ...

Douglas: Themes

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● People, People, People

● Change isn’t hard, but preparation is

● Helplessness vs. Agency

● Resiliency: Bound and ReboundBoundin’

PixarImage source: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KOLG-BAvjz0/hqdefault.jpg

The Great American Jack-a-lope says,

“... You still got a body, good legs and

fine feet, Get your head in the right

place and hey, you’re complete!”

011

Jesse Heinzen

Multimedia Director

17+ years and 5 positions at MNHS

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CONSULTANT

Organizational Design

CONSULTANT

CONSULTANTInformation Technology

Digital Marketing

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500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins, Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel), 1938.

Visitor Services

Staff (2007)

Visitor Services

Manager

Corporate Art Loan

Program Assistant

Curatorial

AssistantHead of IT

Head of IT &

Digital

Engagement

Head of Marketing,

Communications, &

Digital Strategy (2017)

Website

Contractor

Jennifer Schmitt

deCordova Sculpture Park &

Museum

14 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins, Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel), 1938.

7 Supervisors

5 Departments

3 Executive Directors

2 Interim Directors

2 Chief Curators

5 Board Chairs

2 Strategic Plans

1 Master Landscape Plan

15

“You are stronger than you believe. You have greater powers than you know.” -Antiope

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Bill Weinstein

John H. McFadden and Lisa D. Kabnick Director of Information and Interpretive Technologies.

Philadelphia Museum of Art

016

PMA 20+ years, 34 years in museums, 30th MCN conference

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Major Structural ReorganizationA sense of pending chaos

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Why?

Ambition / Demand

Resource

● Break Down Silos

● Improve Communication

● Increase Efficiency

● Clarify Staff Roles

● Improve Prioritization & Decision Making

● Bolster Infrastructure

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Collections &

Library

Heritage

Preservation

Membership &

Development

Guest

Experience &

Education

Earned

Income &

Guest

Services

Admin &

Support

Services

Native

American

Initiatives

Inclusion &

Community

Engagement

Organizational Design - 2016

Institutional

Policy

● 3 new Executive positions

● Eliminated 5 Directors and created 6 new

● Went from Senior Leadership Team of 20

to Executive Leadership Team of 9

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Collections &

Library

Heritage

Preservation

Membership &

Development

Guest

Experience &

Education

Earned

Income &

Guest

Services

Admin &

Support

Services

Native

American

Initiatives

Inclusion &

Community

Engagement

Multimedia

Digital

Learning

Web

Tech

Services

(IT)

Digital

Collection

Services

Organizational Design - 2016

Institutional

Policy

CRM

● 3 new Executive positions

● Eliminated 5 Directors and created 6 new

● Went from Senior Leadership Team of 20

to Executive Leadership Team of 9

● Largely did not change tech areas

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Collections &

Library

Heritage

Preservation

Membership &

Development

Guest

Experience &

Education

Earned

Income &

Guest

Services

Admin &

Support

Services

Native

American

Initiatives

Inclusion &

Community

Engagement

Multimedia

Business

Intelligence

Web

Tech

Services

(IT)

Digital

Collection

Services

IT Assessment - 2017

Institutional

Policy

● Consolidate tech groups

● Create CIO position at executive level

● Increase security

● Standardization and prioritization

● Increased investment and resources (not)

Now Also

CIO!

Media and Technology

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Collections &

Library

Heritage

Preservation

Membership &

Development

Guest

Experience &

Education

Earned

Income &

Guest

Services

Admin &

Support

Services

Native

American

Initiatives

Inclusion &

Community

Engagement

Multimedia

Business

Intelligence

Web

Tech

Services

(IT)

Digital

Collection

Services

Digital Marketing - 2017

Institutional

Policy

● Transition marketing from largely print-

based strategy to digital

● Refine roles and relationships with M&T

Media and Technology

MarketingNow Also

CIO!

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Multimedia

Management

&

Technology

Reorg

Now Also

Fort Snelling

New Leadership with a Different Vision“When the winds of change blow hard enough,

the most trivial of things can turn into deadly projectiles”

- Sir Harold Macmillan

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Vision: shared

Process: relatively

transparent

Vision: top-down

Process: opaque,

mysterious

No real plan,

no resources

Tactical plan,

resources assigned

Frustration

Blaming

Sustainable change

Success

No change

Lethargy

Lacking purpose

A Lack of TransparencyDealing with the uncertainty of a top-down restructuring

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Placeholder slide

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text

A lack of transparency results in distrust and

a deep sense of insecurity - Dalai Lama

Image source: https://pageone.ng/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/opaque-1000x500.jpg

Downsizingaka “rightsizing” or “rebalancing” or “rationalizing” or “adjusting”

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Image source: http://ihaveapc.com/wp-content/uploads//2012/05/dilbert-salesman-i13.jpg

Why?

● Reduce expense

● Restructure

● Find efficiencies

But …

● Stress

● Hit to staff morale

● Loss of institutional knowledge

● Hit to reputation

● Negative impact on community

Consider

● Ethical, fair, just?

● Strategic, or just slashing costs?

● Transparency and advance warning?

● Support?

CluelessnessThe motivation to change is intended to be helpful, but ...

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Does it ever feel a little like this?

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Image source: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B8NB60QIQAAJgBD.jpg

When the staff has been left outThat helpless feeling, on the outside looking in

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Placeholder slide

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text

Image Source: https://sciencecouncil.org/web/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Boardroom-meeting-female-lead.jpg

Thank you

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Douglas Hegley @dhegley

Jesse Heinzen @jaheinzen

Nik Honeysett @nhoneysett

Jennifer Schmitt @bantryhill

William Weinstein @wweinstein