The Mission Paradox Blog

Another Paradox

Courtesy of the Standford Social Innovation Review, I give ya The Nonprofit Paradox.  See if it describes where you work.

And a bonus link from Derek Sivers on value and art

Pressure Point: Part 2

I'll tell you my own pressure story.

I started Mission Paradox right after quitting my job as an arts administrator.  I had no Plan B.  I was either going to make Mission Paradox work or I was going to lose my home, my car and eventually be back in my mother's basement.

So there was a bit of pressure.

During the first six months of the whole thing the hardest part was resisting doing dumb things because of that pressure.

Dumb things like making promises to clients that I knew I couldn't keep because they had a check for me.

Dumb things like chasing clients I really didn't want to work with because they could pay me.

Now you have to understand that doing the actual work of my consulting practice wasn't the hard part.  When it was time to do the workshop, give the speech, or sit down with a client I handled those moments pretty well.

The hard part was managing all the times I wasn't doing the work . . . the moments in between projects and opportunities.  That is when I would feel the pressure the most.  That's when the desire to do dumb things was at the peak.

In hindsight, I entered the world way too focused on my skills.  I thought if I had the skills necessary to help people then everything else would work itself out.

But making a living outside of the grid of a typical 9-5 is about a lot more then skill.  It's equal parts skills, strategy, luck . . . and your ability to handle pressure.

 

Pressure Point

Pressure.  It is sort of a taboo subject.

Professional sports is one of very few areas where it is ok to say that a player missed the shot or dropped the pass because the moment was too much to handle.

But pressure is a huge factor in the arts as well.

It's one of the reasons that I advise people to use caution before they try to make a full time living through art.

There is a huge difference between the group of friends putting up a play for fun/beer money and the group putting up a play and trying to make enough money to pay rent or buy groceries.

They are entirely different things.  And the difference is pressure.

The reality is that you can be a talented artist that simply can't handle the pressure that comes with trying to pay bills through art.

That isn't a character flaw.  It doesn't make you a bad person.  It just makes you human.

Before you even consider trying to make art a career you have to consider how you handle pressure.  If you work with a team, you need to consider how all of them handle pressure.  This is a moment for extreme honesty.  You can't let your ego get in the way of the analysis.  You've got to look at your own history and your character and REALLY think about it.

Because if you can't handle pressure, this isn't a land that you should depend on for paying bills.

 

Budget Re-do

One of the best things to make sure your values align with your budget is to do a bit of post show/event evaluation.

Here's what I mean:  Take a copy of a budget for a recent show and pretend you are building it from scratch.  Given what you know now, what would you have done differently?

Would have spent more in one area?  Less in another?

Would you have spent money on an entirely different area that you didn't even consider before?  Did money spent on some area go to waste?

All too often we move on to the next thing/show/event a little bit too quickly.  Pull out some old budgets, take a step back and see if what you have done before makes sense with your long term goals.

 

 

 

The department of clear thinking

Who has the job of cutting through the clutter?  Who has the responsibility for helping people know the difference between what's urgent (which gets a lot of attention) and what's important (which is often ignored)?

We all need people who can help us overcome our resistance/fear and see the world as clear as possible.

They can be formal mentors, your Board of Directors, an advisory board, or just friends who have a good sense of perspective.

In this environment the ability to stay calm, think clearly and be brave is so damn valuable.  Seek out people who can help you and your team get to that place.

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Alright, quick side note.

I try to plan out my speaking/workshop/consulting plan in six month blocks.  Over the last six months I did workshops at places like here and here, helped groups like this one come up with a marketing plan and wrote that e-Book I keep shamelessly promoting.  BUY IT!

So the next six month block of time is upon me which means that I am officially looking for:

1.  Arts service organizations that would like me to do a speech or workshop

2.  Arts organizations that could use some short term but damn effective help

3.  Individual artists who want more long term (but also damn effective) help.  This sort of coaching can be done remotely so I can help you wherever you are.

You can learn about the services here, grab a few testimonials here and if you are ready to talk email me at mission.paradox@Yahoo.com

 

 

 

 

The Biz v. The Art

At the Culture Future Blog, there was a response to a post I did last week.  In that post I offered a quote from Anthony Bourdain.  Here again is the quote and the response from Culture Future.  The response is in bold

If there's a new and lasting credo from the Big Shakeout (the economic crisis) it's this: People will continue to pay for quality. They will be less and less inclined, however, to pay for bullshit.

- Anthony Bourdain: "Medium Raw"

"Really? It seems to me that Mr. Bourdain is placing faith in the rational consumer, that beast whose existence is getting increasingly disproved in this decade. Will people continue to pay for quality? Or does it put more pressure on them to favor the McDonald's dollar menu over cooking at home?

It's true that people will be less and less inclined to pay for what they consider to be bullshit, but is what they think bullshit actually bullshit? My fear is that to the average American, the arts are bullshit. It appears that for state governments, for instance, the arts are bullshit."

 

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Couple of things.

 

First, I'm not sure who exactly an average American is, but I'll use the term anyway.  Also, pointing out what the average American does or doesn't do ignores the fact that millions of people attend live theatre, museums, concerts, etc. each and every year.

 

I know we wish that number was higher.  I know many of us also wish those people came to see/buy our stuff more instead of that crap the other guy makes.  But we shouldn't let the fact that we are an complex industry, with complex challenges mask the fact that people do come to see what we do.

 

We should also consider that the level of participation in the arts is still pretty decent.  People paint, sculpt, produce and edit their own films, form community choirs, produce their own plays, etc.  I'm certainly not the first one to note that technology has liberated the tools necessary to create and distribute art.

 

So I think art in general is in good shape.  There is a lot of really fantastic stuff out there.  Yes, there is also a lot of bad stuff but that's unavoidable.

 

But the "business" of art . . . well that is not so great.  Getting a film made is easier than ever.  Creating a film that is distinct enough to attract a sizeable audience without the backing of "Big Hollywood", well that is hard.

 

Starting a theatre, easy.  Finding competent to good actors, scripts, etc, that can be done.  Bringing in enough revenue so that people can make theatre a living . . . much harder.

 

So often we equate "I can't make a living doing my art" to "the arts are in crisis".  One thing can be true without the other being true.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Easy to do

It's easy (and fun) to rip every idea to shreds.

It takes zero skill to question the motives of every arts funder, declare the death of an art form, or bash a stylistic choice.

Anybody can sing the virtues of their small (but ultimately powerless) artistic clique and snicker at everyone else.

That's 101 level stuff.  Easy to do.  Easy to spread. 

But it takes real courage to try and make ideas work in the real and messy world.  It takes heart to face the difficultly and possible ridicule that comes from trying to make something happen on any significant scale.

When you are thinking about who you want on your team avoid those who do the easy stuff, the bashers and cynics.  Place a value on that small (but vital) group of people who take the risk, fail but ultimately get stuff done.

 

 

Just Noise

I was watching the Reality TV Show Intervention.  The show basically follows an addict up to the point where his/her family stages an intervention with assistance of a professional.

Right before the intervention, one of the professionals always tells the family something like this:

"We only care about whether the addict is going to get help.  All the other stuff they may mention, like why they are an addict, their responsibilities, that sort of thing . . . . all that stuff is just noise.  Ignore it.  Don't get caught up in it."

To me, that sounded like good advice for any situation.

One of the most difficult jobs you'll have as you build an artistic career is learning how tell the difference between connections, conversations and actions that really make a difference . . . and noise.

The drama, the gossip, the intrigue . . . all noise.

The agendas, the petty (but exciting) conflicts . . . all noise.

There are going to be some many things competing for your time and attention and you have to be a pretty ruthless filter of what matters and what doesn't.

 

The final option

I've written before about how I believe the nonprofit structure is still viable for the arts.

I stand by what I wrote, but here's a caveat:

Nonprofit status should be your very last option.  You should only do it after you have considered (and maybe even tried) a bunch of other options like

-  Making it as a for profit

-  Partnering with an existing nonprofit

-  Doing it on a strictly volunteer basis

-  Working under a fiscal agent

You get the idea.

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I'm not advising this because I think the nonprofit is "broken".  But I do think that running a nonprofit is complex.

Really, really complex.

Running a nonprofit requires an almost ridiculous level of vision, patience and coalition building.  It means always walking the fine line between artistic needs and fiscal reality.  It means that you have to learn to love things like cash flow statements and organizational design as much as you love theatre, dance or indie film.

It isn't for everybody.  But we don't say that often enough. 

Instead we watch as people start nonprofits that were doomed from the inception.  We watch as aggressive artistic folks that want the fame and spotlight NOW languish in a model that is inherently built for the long term.

We watch as our friends ignore basic economics concepts like competition, supply and demand as they build an arts organization that is 99% similar to everything else out in the world and then wonder why the world isn't beating a path to their door.

Starting a nonprofit is a serious decision.  It isn't a joke, or a game, or something you do when you lack other options.

So the first thing you should do before starting, or continuing, your nonprofit arts organization is consider your alternatives. 

 

 

 

Another Year In the Books: Lessons Learned

With the close of the last play in my day job's season it's time to review how things went from a marketing/sales perspective.

Note:  I did this for the previous season and if you want to remember what happened then click here

Here we go . . . 

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Subscriptions:  9% below projection

Might as well get my mistake out the way first.  During the previous season we generated a decent number of new subscribers by offering deeply discounted subscriptions.  When it came to the next season I assumed that maybe 20-25% of these discounted new subscribers would be willing to renew at the full subscription rate.

I was wrong.

The number was more like 10-15%.  That's a big part of the reason we came in below projection and it was (probably) an avoidable mistake.

The good news is that we were very proactive in trying to improve our subscription program for future years. 

I spent a significant part of the year working with the Booth School of Business doing audience research and trying to understand why our particular audience does or doesn't subscribe.  I think we have some good, actionable, information out of all that.  Our current subscription campaign is going well and likely will meet (or maybe exceed) it's projection.

Single Tickets/Groups:  14% above projection

This season represents the first in a very long time (at least 10 years) that each show in the season exceeded it's single ticket projection.  Each show received a pretty incredible amount of critical praise and audience response.

I think the way marketing contributed to the success was our ability to build a narrative around each play and use every tool we had to select appropriate audiences for the show.  We expanded our web presence, used podcasting in a smart way, built relationships with more effective advertisers, etc.

Basically it comes back to Michael Kaiser's old school formular success . . . great art, well marketed.  The art certain did it's part and I'm glad we did ours.

Bottom Line:  When you put all the numbers together it equals a season where the overall earned revenue (subscriptions, single tickets and groups) projection was exceeded.  It's the second straight year my department accomplished that.

On a personal note, I think what makes me the happiest is that culture of the marketing department has shifted.  No one is suprised when we hit our goals.  I think now everyone expects to be successful.

We got there by embracing the idea of the "small win".  It was all about doing little things, hitting deadlines, executing the details, etc.

That's how you created earned confidence . . . you execute properly over and over again.  You make sure people see the relationship between the process and the goal. 

And when you mess up (and trust me, you will) you analyze the cause of the mistake, correct it and move on.

Another year down . . . and it's on to the next one.