Elevate Your Team: Professional Development for Museums
Traditional approaches to museum professional development follow a typical pattern:
Staff attend occasional conferences or workshops
They absorb information out of context from their daily work
They return inspired but struggle to implement new ideas
The cycle repeats, with minimal lasting impact
This model, born out of 20th-century constraints, prioritizes novelty over sustained growth and lacks a coherent point of view on crucial aspects of museum practice. While it can provide valuable insights, it rarely results in lasting change.
At Museums as Progress, we’re developing an alternative designed for continuous learning and meaningful progress.
MaP Academy: Principles and Approach
Our approach isn’t about isolated learning events — it’s about fostering a culture of continuous learning and practical application.
Here’s how we’re different:
Continuous Engagement: Instead of isolated events, we offer ongoing learning opportunities that integrate with your daily work.
Context-Driven Learning: We encourage participants to test what they are learning in their workplace, then bring resulting challenges back to the community so we can help address barriers to application and implementation.
Collaborative Community: Learn alongside peers from other institutions, sharing insights and solutions in a supportive environment.
Progress-Focused Methodology: We teach skills that help you understand and support your community’s goals, not just your institution’s outputs.
| Traditional PD | MaP Academy | |
|---|---|---|
| Learning Format | Primarily conferences and workshops | Blend of courses, workshops, and ongoing community engagement |
| Frequency | Occasional (often annual or semi-annual) | Continuous, with regular touchpoints |
| Context | Removed from participants’ workplace | Persistent, virtual connection |
| Application | Left to individual after event | Guided application through projects, events, and discussion |
| Support | Limited post-event support (if any) | Ongoing community and expert guidance |
| Focus | Broad industry trends | Tailored, progress-focused skill development |
| Collaboration | Limited to event duration | Ongoing peer learning and problem-solving |
| Outcome Measurement | Often based on attendance or satisfaction surveys | Focused on practical application and institutional impact |
Increase audience engagement by prioritizing community progress.
Speaking Engagements
Challenge conventional museum practices with MaP’s thought-provoking presentations on progress-focused methodologies, community engagement, and innovative approaches to cultural sector challenges.
The Integration Lab
Participate in sector-wide research initiatives to identify how museums can better support their staff and ensure a healthy future for cultural institutions everywhere.
Courses, Workshops, and Live Practice
Develop new skills to go beyond optimizing existing offerings at your museum and drive innovation grounded in the goals of the people your institution supports.
The Integration Lab
The Integration Lab
Supporting Future Leaders
The Future Leaders study was inspired by the book Time to Listen and focused on how museum leaders support future leaders. Nine leaders participated in listening sessions, with community members summarizing their thoughts and guiding principles. The research aims to offer valuable insights into cultivating future museum leaders and includes a mental model diagram developed by participants.
Status: Complete
The Value Realization Collaborative
This year-long program combines MaP's Progress-Space Research methodology with Dr. Falk's Value Realization Process to help museums develop goal-oriented strategies for community understanding and engagement.
To participate in a study or get early access to project insights, register your museum.
Courses & Workshops
Courses & Workshops
Listening Deeply in Museums
Gain a deeper understanding of the goals of the people your museum supports using Indi Young’s method. Access 11 hours of video lessons and materials and attend live practice sessions with other museum professionals.
Data Synthesis Part 1: Concepts & Summaries
Indi Young shows you how to identify the most valuable elements from listening sessions so that you can cultivate cognitive empathy with the people your museum wishes to support.
Data Synthesis Part 2: Cultivating Patterns
Learn how to use the data from listening sessions to identify gaps in support for your museum’s visitors and members. Following Indi Young’s method helps make more inclusive and intentional decisions.
Visitor Heatmapping
Erin Milbeck Wilcox helps you begin building a body of knowledge about key spaces in your museum, which will allow you to measure the impact of your decisions on visitor behavior.
Wardley Mapping in Museums
Instructor Ben Mosior teaches how to create and use Wardley Maps as a strategic planning framework that helps museums understand their environment, make better decisions, and uncover opportunities.
Live Practice
Course participants are invited to participate in live practice sessions in the MaP Community. Ask questions and practice what you’re learning with our instructors and certified members.
Course prices and registration can be found here. Supporting and Museum Members receive $50 off course registrations and discounted or free registration in seasonal events and workshops.
Speaking Engagements
Speaking Engagements
The Road to Relevance Is Paved With Goals: How Museums Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Progress Space
A one-hour talk challenging the idea that museums should "meet people’s needs" and strive for relevance. Participants learn about the three types of goals people have and why museums might prioritize progress toward goals instead of engagement.
Visitor Typologies and the Damage Done
This session examines how visitor typologies can undermine museums’ efforts to support communities, reinforce stereotypes, and extinguish curiosity. We explore how Thinking Styles offer an alternative that centers people’s goals and fuels creative talent within museums.
The How and Why of Listening
An introduction to the practice of listening for interior cognition and how it differs from typical museum research methods. Participants receive hands-on practice and guidance on building a habit of progress-focused listening within their organization.
Fees for in-person engagements start at $2,500 and include travel and accommodations. Pricing depends on factors such as your organization’s budget, event type, and location.