Focusing on engagement can distract from more fundamental objectives and undermine museums’ impact. Rather than (or before) focusing on engaging audiences, museums can prioritize people’s goals.

Everyone has goals they’re trying to address. Goals can be long-term or short-lived; We can be more or less conscious of our goals. Goals can be situational (“I need to entertain my in-laws this weekend” or “I’m bored. What can I do today?”) or enduring and identity-driven (“How can I cultivate my child’s curiosity and love of learning?”). Museums are positioned to support some goals better than others, and each museum can choose which goals it wants to prioritize based on its mission.

When someone addresses a goal, they are engaged. Engagement is the shadow people cast when they’re trying to make progress toward a goal. Engagement is agonistic. A person can be engaged without making progress toward their goal. Failure can be just as engaging as success. Engagement is an effect, not a cause, and we use progress-space research as a tool to help museums focus on causes.

Relevance is similar to engagement. Museums strive for relevance just as they try to engage audiences even though no one is looking for things that are Relevant or Engaging. An organization is relevant only to the extent that it supports a person’s goal. Relevance, like engagement, is a byproduct of progress. Museums as Progress helps museums understand what fuels engagement and relevance by integrating progress-space research principles into their strategic decision-making.