strategy
FOUNDRY
A Strategy Foundry helps your museum identify which strategic challenge or opportunity to pursue over the next ~17 months. We recommend completing one before investing in audience research or new partnerships.
Why a Strategy Foundry?
We introduced the Strategy Foundry to ensure organizations that want to embark on audience research or community outreach initiatives have the capacity to do so.
Organizations eager to embark on research projects often have a host of other challenges they’re juggling. It’s helpful for a museum to pause, take an inventory of its current challenges, and identify which is most important before trying to support “underserved” communities or seeking new community partners. It’s even more helpful to have a co-created resource that reflects the decisions the organization has made. Without an intentional pause and an external reference, the museum risks sabotaging its efforts to cultivate authentic relationships with the people it hopes to support.
Our Strategy Foundry is designed to create that moment of pause and facilitate an intentional decision as to whether now is the best time for your museum to begin supporting new audience goals. The name — Strategy Foundry — comes from Richard Rumelt. Our process combines Rumelt’s Foundry method with the audience prioritization process we’ve developed in The Prioritization Workshop.
Who it’s for
A Strategy Foundry can benefit cultural organizations that are looking for ways to engage with new or diverse audiences.
The two primary ways to attract new audiences are through research and partnerships (though they’re mutually exclusive and can complement one another). MaP specializes in research as a means of growth and connection, but community partnerships can also be advantageous. However, ensuring the organization agrees that either path is best is essential before deciding which one to take. You don't want to find yourself halfway up the ladder on the wrong wall. Your team may decide the timing isn't right for building new connections. It’s better to know sooner rather than later.
Here’s how a Foundry unfolds.
Foundry Facts
Deliverables
We co-create a strategy statement that reflects the decisions you’ve made. The statement accounts for several key elements:
The core challenge or opportunity that your museum has decided to focus on (“the crux” in Rumelt’s parlance);
The guiding policy that reflects how you’ve decided to address the challenge;
Two or three actions that support the guiding policy;
The constraints and assumptions that shape the strategy;
The advantages your organization will leverage in choosing the strategy;
Proximate objectives and check-in dates to review assumptions and make any course corrections.
Additionally, your team will have access to a live copy of the canvas we create. Continue building on your canvas and print snapshots of your work as you capture new opportunities and challenges for future Foundries.
Participation Requirements
The Strategy Workshop is for leadership in the organization. We will interview directors and include their (confidential) views of the organization’s challenges and opportunities. However, the Foundry should include no more than nine people. We will identify key staff with you in advance and use a scheduling tool to make finding times that work for everyone easier. We schedule each session at least one day and no more than two weeks between one another. If you choose to host the sessions in person, we’ll complete the sessions over consecutive days.
Fee & Delivery
The first 90-minute session is free.
If you decide to proceed after the first session, the fee is $10,000.
We can facilitate sessions virtually or at your site. A virtual workshop allows for more scheduling flexibility and lower cost. We’ve invested in the resources needed to deliver a high-quality remote experience for your team, including fiber-optic internet service, high-quality A/V equipment, and software services that support collaborative experiences. However, if you prefer to complete the workshop on-site, let us know, and we can arrange to travel to your location.
