1
THE ESSENCE OF THE MUSEUM
Mission, Values, Vision
David Fleming
I once began a new job, and asked the museum director a couple of starter questions. What happens when you aren’t here? Answer: “Nothing, absolutely nothing.” What are the big things coming up next? Answer: “I’ve done everything.” This was in the dark days – not that long ago – when museums were run by an amateur cadre of egotistical directors who had no truck with accountability, or social value, or even with the notion of management, if that meant anything other than issuing orders. I have known very good museum directors. But I have also known directors lacking in spirit, courage, judgment, and integrity – and the one thing they had in common was their failure to have any vision.
Why does a museum exist? What is its purpose? What is it trying to achieve? What are its goals? Nothing is more important for a museum to sort out than its mission. The answers to these questions are to be found in the museum’s values. Add together the mission and the values, project forward, and you identify the museum’s vision.
These are not just clichés, management-speak jargon, used by different people in different ways, so that none of us is altogether clear about exactly what each of the words means. They capture the essence of the museum, its worth, its social value. They define for museum staff, and for others, exactly what it is they are trying to achieve: a shared sense of purpose. This is of fundamental importance in that museums are (mostly) non-profit organizations, and so they do not have the aim of making money as their ultimate goal.
Museums are not profit-driven, but value-driven. We are here to deliver services to customers, not profits, nor dividends to shareholders. Our work is not solely about our financial performance, and is, as a consequence, hard to measure and judge. Missions in the non-profit sector are complex, the values are profound, the visions are, or should be, inspiring.
It follows that being clear about a museum’s mission, values, and vision is the primary responsibility of the museum’s governing body, and, therefore, of the museum management team. It is this clarity that enables museums to demonstrate their success, to set themselves apart from others, to offer themselves as worthy of support, to earn and win dedication and commitment from their staff and other interested parties. In this chapter I consider these issues, drawing upon the experience of the corporate (profit-driven) sector as well the non-profit sector, including detailed reference to Tyne and Wear Museums and National Museums Liverpool, so as to throw light upon what museums are for, and how best they might promote their value in a world that is changing at a remarkable speed, and which remains largely ignorant, even skeptical, of the worth of museums. In doing so, it should be pointed out that I have been closely involved in both these institutions and offer this personal view of the internal process of revising mission and vision in order to show how this work can be carried out practically on the ground. I also wish to stress the need for the museum to understand its context before setting out its mission, and the importance of the research necessary for a museum to understand that context.
Mission statements
There is nothing especially new-fangled about mission statements. The first mission statement, it is often claimed, can be found in the Bible (Genesis 9:7 – “be fruitful and multiply”). The Preamble to the US Constitution is also cited frequently (“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America”).
Today the world is full of mission statements. Look up “mission statements” on the internet and you will find a mass of references. Here are the first three American business examples from the alphabetical list of the Fortune 500 companies (Missionstatements.com 2011):
Advanced Auto Parts, Inc.
It is the Mission of Advance Auto Parts to provide personal vehicle owners and enthusiasts with the vehicle related products and knowledge that fulfil their wants and needs at the right price. Our friendly, knowledgeable and professional staff will help inspire, educate and problem-solve for our customers.
Aflac (an insurance company)
To combine aggressive strategic marketing with quality products and services at competitive prices to provide the best insurance value for consumers.
AGCO Corporation (a manufacturer and distributor of agricultural equipment)
Profitable growth through superior customer service, innovation, quality and commitment.
These missions are typical of the American corporate sector. They speak of maximizing sales/profits, and are rather more targeted at internal staff than at the outside world, such as, customers. As a consumer of insurance services, I am not likely to be influenced by Aflac’s claim that they conduct “aggressive marketing,” or that AGCO are pursuing “profitable growth,” though as a member of staff I am being given a clear message about for whom I’m working, and why the company exists. The mission statements contained in Jeffrey Abrahams’ book 101 Mission Statements from Top Companies are littered with references to profit- making (e.g., Denny’s Corporation: “to profitably grow the company”; Chiquita Brands International, Inc.: “consistently delivering sustainable, profitable growth”; Ecolab: “aggressive growth and a fair return for our shareholders”). Abrahams makes the point that the term “mission statement” may include vision and values, but that in broad terms the mission is an assertion of a company’s reason for existence; employees, customers, partners, and the community being among the primary audience (Abrahams 2007, 3). There are, indeed, lots of different ways that companies choose to express their missions – as “aims,” “objectives,” “ philosophies,” “beliefs,” “values,” “visions,” “principles,” “purpose,” “aspirations,” “credo,” or “our way.”
Here are some examples featuring a group of non-profit organizations that sent participants to attend the Strategic Perspectives on Non-profit Management program at Harvard Business School in July 2008. The program faculty collected together a number of succinct mission statements for study, including these:
Habitat for Humanity Quad Cities
Habitat for Humanity Quad Cities works in partnership with God and people from all walks of life to build simple, decent, affordable housing and improve our community so all people can live as God intended. (Habitat for Humanity Quad Cities 2011)
Unlad Kabayan Migrant Services Foundation
To promote social entrepreneurship and social enterprises by mobilising migrant workers, the marginalized in the community and their resources to build a sustainable local economy. (Unlad Kabayan Migrant Services Foundation 2011)
A fuller “statement of purpose” came from the Rainbow Centre in Singapore:
Vision: Leading in Special Education, Making a Difference
Mission: We are committed to enhancing the quality of life of children with special needs through education and training to enable them to achieve their fullest potential by:
providing a holistic developmental educational programme
