I'm with Pam on this one.

I've been working with a museum that has
virtually all power concentrated into two or three positions at the top.
The individuals in these positions are very skilled and knowledgable IN
THEIR RESPECTIVE FIELDS, but none of them has any experience with museum
practices, let alone museum management. (Nor do they have any background in
the subject areas of the museum.)

To their credit, these people are invested in the success of the museum,
and I believe they do their very best. On the other hand, they seem to feel
that no special skills or knowledge are really needed, and are quite
content to fly by the seats of their pants. I maintain that running a
museum isn't like operating a lemonade stand, and that these people should
answer to someone with solid museum experience. At the very least, a museum
professional should be part of the leadership. (Isn't that somewhere in the
AAM accreditation guidelines? About line 3 or 4?)

The situation at this museum has led to many actions that run contrary to
the most basic museum practices and codes of ethics, as well as decisions
that could lead to major problems in the future.

While I agree that top management doesn't need to know how to unclog
toilets or classify fossils or stabilize artifacts or write good labels or
design a safe interactive, they should understand enough to recognize the
need for people with expert knowledge, and give those people the support to
do their jobs effectively.

It seems my experience isn't uncommon in the museum world, and situations
like this (along with some plain old disagreement on priorities) must
account for a great deal of mistrust.

Just my opinion.

Chuck Stout

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