Yup, talk about overreacting.  It isn't necessarily about change, but
about how to deal with life as it punches the heck out of you, in a
museum setting of course.

O
Olivia S. Anastasiadis, Curator
Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace
18001 Yorba Linda Boulevard
Yorba Linda, CA  92886
(714) 993-5075; fax (714) 528-0544; e-mail:  [log in to unmask]

On Tue, 17 Feb 1998 19:18:30 EST David Haberstich <[log in to unmask]>
writes:
> I can't say anything about this book because I haven't read it, but I
>would like to give an opinion on "change"--in museums or anywhere.
>There
>seems to be a sort of institutional prejudice against people who
>"really
>don't want to change." To maintain perspective, don't forget that
>"change" is not automatically good. There's something uncomfortably
>Orwelleian about the implication that all change is good and must be
>accepted.
>     Much change is NOT good, such as the changes Hitler brought to
>Germany; some changes are neither good nor bad, just different, and
>sometimes a difference is a good idea, sometimes not (if it ain't
>broke,
>don't fix it) and sometimes you can't tell until the smoke clears.
>Sometimes the mechanism to accomplish a "good" change is badly
>engineered. Anyway, I don't believe all change--in museums or
>anywhere--
>must be embraced with alacrity. I hope museums and related
>institutions
>take a critical and cautious attitude toward proposed changes in
>missions, programs, administration, etc.--neither too quick nor too
>slow
>to change things that need changing--but willing to debate and
>evaluate,
>and have the wisdom not to change things that can't or shouldn't be
>changed.
>      Opposing change out of fusty rigidity is the problem people fret
>about, but sometimes opposition to a proposed change on the grounds
>that
>it's harmful is mistaken for rigidity by change enthusiasts unwilling
>to
>let a conservative viewpoint upset some juggernaut of change. In the
>area of historic architectural preservation, developers try to be
>agents
>of change by demolishing historic structures, calling their opponents
>old fuddy-duddies, out of tune with the times. It's ironic that people
>who seek to perform a similar "conservative" function within their own
>institutions sometimes get the "developer" response from their
>colleagues.
>     Sometimes change impacts negatively upon one's career, and it
>should be obvious why such a change might be resisted (with good
>reason); if you believe in what you're doing and you're told the
>coming
>change means you can't do it any more, you may think the change is a
>huge mistake). With the arrival of a new director at the Baltimore
>Museum of Art, the abrupt dismissal of the head curator has stunned
>the
>staff; the rationale for this change seems to be a change in mission.
>When the human consequences of a change are so severe, it might be a
>good idea to question the foundation of the change, as well as its
>implementation.
>      I don't mean to overreact to the mere mention of "change," but
>change in museums is not automatically good, any more than it is in
>other spheres of activity. As far as change being "traumatic" is
>concerned, I suggest that the more ill-advised or unnecessary a change
>is, the more trauma that may ensue. Guess I'd better read this book.
>      --David Haberstich
>

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