4 reasons museums need to stop trying to meet community needs
Has a museum ever died of humility?
Corn, Whey Protein Concentrate, Onion Powder …
“Hi, Kyle!”
I glance up and nod at a woman pushing a shopping cart.
… Cow’s Milk, Cheese Cultures, Romano Cheese …
“Lookin’ good, Kyle!”
I flash a smile a man with a child hiding behind his legs.
… Tomato Powder, Red and Green Bell Pepper Powder … Heh. Protein, Dairy, and Vegetables? This meets all my dietary needs.
The bag of Doritos drops into my basket with a satisfying splash as a woman stocking the shelves says, “Nice to see you wearing pants today!”
“Just meeting the community’s needs!”
I strut toward the checkout line with a spicy twist in my hips because I know the community is watching.
Of course, that never happened. The last time my hips had any spice Clinton was in office, and no one praises me for wearing pants to the grocery store. Sure, the community "needs" me to put on pants, but wearing clothes isn't something I'm proud of.
Is a museum that aspires to “meet community needs” like a person who feels proud when they get dressed before leaving the house?
Maybe it’s a tortured comparison, but I’ve noticed that I cringe a little whenever I read about museums “meeting community needs.” Maybe it’s because I think successful organizations support people’s goals. Needs are tablestakes.
I think, “What else would a museum do?”
I know, I know. Museums can be warehouses for Things.
But what if museums stopped thinking about “meeting community needs” and instead adopted a more expansive point of view?
And what’s wrong with meeting community needs?
1) “Meeting community needs” feels patronizing.
Folks who want their museum to meet community needs don’t mean it to be condescending. But whenever I hear it, I picture a wise old museum looking down from on high at its surrounding communities — Its marble, white head is tilted just so, and it’s sighing because there’s just so much to do. A thought bubble floats in the clouds above: The community has so many needs. I suppose I should focus on them. After all, what will become of our little community if I don’t tend to its needs? …
2) Only a savior can truly support the community’s needs. 🙄
Thinking about needs may lull us into believing that we’re actually needed, which probably isn't true.
If the community has needs and we can meet those needs, that must mean we’re needed, right?
No.
Even if a museum does a good job meeting a need, it’s not as if people couldn’t find alternatives. Others were likely already fulfilling the need before the museum started doing it; It is probably being done by others at the same time (the museum has competition in supporting needs); Someone else will fulfill that need if and when the museum stops devoting resources to it.
Museums can and do provide unique value. But I know a lot of organizations whose products or services provide unique value to me. That doesn’t mean I can’t make another choice.
Besides, even if an organization is truly needed, isn’t it better for it to take every opportunity to believe that it is not? Has a museum ever died of too much humility?
3) The community doesn’t need your goals.
Kristin Leigh, co-executive director at Explora, wrote an essay in Change is Required about what they learned from hosting community listening sessions:
We learned that our goals — inspiring inquiry and developing scientifically literate citizens — were not among the top community priorities.
Yes! Listening is a powerful tool to remind us that organizational goals are not always the same as people’s goals. But that’s another letter.
We might think people need to develop a sense of inquiry and become scientifically literate citizens (or insert your organization’s mission there). Maybe that’s true — society does benefit from a population that is curious and literate — but that’s not a goal that is tethered to most people’s day-to-day existence, and adults are not children who are required to go to Museum School. A person is as likely to wake up wanting to be scientifically literate as they are to wake up hoping to be engaged by a cultural institution.
Explora listened and found ways to tether their mission to people’s actual goals (i.e., getting better-paying jobs through STEM learning). 👏
4) “Needs” puts museums forever at the bottom of Maslow’s pyramid.
This one I’m less sure about, but my hunch is that thinking in terms of needs makes organizations susceptible to a kind of whataboutism.
If your organization is set on meeting community needs, aren’t there always basic needs that need to be met? If you’re in a meeting and propose supporting a goal that’s a bit higher up on Maslow’s hierarchy, someone will point out that there are people in the community who need shelter, food, and water. And that’s true. And who is going to argue against saving kittens and babies?
So what’s the alternative?
What if museums focused on supporting goals rather than needs?
I think speaking in terms of goals puts organizations more in a position of service or support. If I’m helping someone make progress toward a goal, there’s at least a suggestion that that person has alternatives — that I am just one of several ways they can achieve their goal. They don’t need me.
Hypothesis: An organization is less likely to get high on its own supply if it thinks in terms of supporting goals rather than meeting needs.
Also, goals are inclusive of needs but can also encompass more — all needs are goals but not all goals are needs. We don’t lose anything by thinking in terms of community goals instead of needs.
The frame can have an outsized impact on the picture
I worry this may sound trivial to you — just semantics.
But if we agree that museums do need to put people first — and that they are susceptible, just like every other type of organization, to becoming mired in their own goals and losing sight of their community’s goal — then isn’t it worthwhile to at least try out different frames that might counterbalance those tendencies?
(Aside: I’m not the language police. Whenever someone talks about meeting community needs in, for example, one of our MAP Community meetups, I don’t think twice. I know where they’re coming from, and in that context, we’re shedding ideas, not writing scripture.)
What about you?
I’ve been kicking around versions of this newsletter for nearly a week, wondering if this is just me being picky or if others might feel a similar aversion to needs. Is it just me? Let me know in a reply to today’s letter or leave a comment. I’ll appreciate hearing from you.
Kyle
