The People Theme

An overview and response to MMM’s investigation

into the competencies, qualities and attributes
which will enable creative practitioners and
organisations to thrive in the challenging
environment of the 21st Century

By Russell Willis Taylor

President and CEO
National Arts Strategies
About this paper
In 2009 MMM commissioned a research project entitled The People Theme. This purpose
of this project was to identify the competencies, qualities and attributes, which will enable
creative practitioners and organisations to thrive in the challenging environment of the 21st
Century. The full research report can be found here.

This further analysis is intended both to summarize the findings and suggest ways in which
they may be useful to arts leaders, policy makers and funders in directing resource toward
strengthening the management capacity of individuals and the field as a whole.
The People Theme: A Context for the Research

The current economic downturn has dramatically exacerbated the challenges facing the
nonprofit arts in Britain. However, long before this most recent period of financial turmoil,
most arts organizations were already “over-extended and undercapitalized, with
organizations trying to do more things than they can possibly do well.”1

This lack of capacity on all fronts, in concert with a dramatic downturn in available
resources, has been further complicated for organizations and leaders by a global trend in
the “democratization” of culture, enabled by a broad range of new technologies. The
traditional role of the nonprofit arts organization is being challenged even as resources for
all types of nonprofit activity are under threat.

In many cases the response has been to do more work of the same type, and to perpetuate
organizational forms that look almost identical to those that came before the crisis point.
As this is clearly not sustainable, the current environment highlights that new approaches
to leadership and the development of a new set of core competencies are simultaneous and
urgent imperatives if the nonprofit arts are to continue to play a vital role in British civil
society. MMM commissioned this research in response to these imperatives.

Editorial Approach

The full report has a “point of view,” openly expressed by the authors and reflected in the
research methodology. Their view is that the ideal state of the cultural field would be one of
relative equilibrium: Providing real value for audiences and society while providing
satisfying, rewarding work for arts leaders. This equilibrium would use an appropriate level
of resource at all levels: environmental, financial, intellectual, and emotional. Identified as
a “life friendly approach to thriving” maintaining this steady state requires cultural leaders
to have a high degree of adaptability and responsiveness to the world outside of the arts.

The report also highlights the need for a high degree of self-awareness in cultural leaders.
This quality is reported by many of the research respondents to be essential for the type of

1
Adrian Ellis, Mission Models & Money: new ways of sustaining the arts in the UK, MMM 2004
resilience that effective leadership requires. This contention is widely supported by a
wealth of contemporary leadership literature unrelated to this study, some of which is noted
in the bibliography.

The authors hope that their research supports a theory put forward by the International
Futures Forum: Cultural leadership challenges may offer an opportunity to encourage and
observe the development of competencies, qualities and attributes (CQAs) which could
benefit many other fields and society as a whole. The authors support the notion that both
the nature of the work and the aptitude of many in the cultural field make it an ideal testing
ground for the rapid acquisition of these change management skills, and a possible model
for other fields. An increased investment in the competencies of arts leaders could
demonstrate -- in a field more open to new ideas than some other professional fields --how
to develop the personal and professional skills that we as a society will rely on in the next
century.

Competencies, Qualities and Attributes

The research frames and then explores 78 skills, behaviours and attitudes that enable
leaders to adapt to rapid change. The range of these “CQAs” extends from the personal to
the professional, and is intended to provide a framework for the development and education
of leaders in the future.2 This applied rather than theoretical aspect of the findings could
assist funders and leaders alike in determining where to allocate scarce resources to
increase overall leadership capacity in the field.

The competencies were determined by conducting an extensive literature review, which

incorporates a very broad range of thinking on the organizational, situational, and
psychological aspects of leadership. The research team sought to contextualize the different
aspects of leadership within the cultural field, and the complexity of the leadership
challenges facing individuals is reflected in the array of literature that seeks to illuminate
the topic of leadership. 3 The CQAs are an informed distillation of the specific activities and
propensities that are most likely to ensure success in a cultural endeavour.

2
The research is not designed to address fundamental management skills or art form expertise.
3
Report Bibliography available at: http://www.scribd.com/doc/30894633/The-People-Theme-Full-Report-2010
The research methodology, detailed in the full report, included several layers of personal
interviews and extensive self-reporting questionnaires. The final sample size of 254
respondents, chosen at random, is representative of cultural leaders for all sizes and types
of organizations throughout the UK. The final phase of the methodology included testing
the identified competencies with 28 survey respondents who had been successful (self-
identified) in achieving outcomes where one or more of the competencies was relevant.
This provided a reality check from practitioners in the field about the list of competencies.

A detailed listing of these competencies is contained within the diagrams in Appendix A.

This complete listing can be sorted into two broad categories:

I. Factors within a leader’s control (internal, personal, operational)

II. Factors which are external and therefore unpredictable

Within these two broad categories there are “clusters” of competencies that have intellectual
congruence, and could be addressed collectively within the boundaries of each cluster when
considering both training design and further investment in current training programs.

I. Factors within a leader’s control

 Cognition
 Effectiveness
 Resilience
 Interpersonal skills
 Self awareness
 Values
 Wellbeing

II. External factors

 Policy shifts
 Cultural and consumer behaviour trends
 Media interests
 Environmental and ecological resource changes
 International stability (financial and political)
Conclusions and Recommendations

The value of this research lies in two areas: its recognition of core competencies as an
important area of study and consideration, and its practical taxonomy for leaders and those
interested in the development of leaders.

Core competencies within organizations and individuals are often overlooked, and yet
they form the basis for competitive advantage in any field. Most organizations focus on
outputs as the measure of their success, and think about what they make as the direction in
which all resource should flow. But it is the core competencies of organizations and
individuals that allow them to develop what the great business writer C.K. Prahalad has
called “industry foresight” – the developed ability to see where resource should flow in the
future to be sustainable, and – in the case of the nonprofit arts – to achieve mission.4 By
identifying and characterizing these competencies, this MMM research offers an invaluable
tool for individuals and organizations to audit their own competencies and see where
improvement would begin to make a profound difference in the way they progress toward
mission achievement. By viewing core competencies within the larger framework of
satisfying work (see Appendix B) the researchers have created a more holistic framework for
considering what healthy organizations look like.

The research is a detailed look at the specific areas for personal and professional
development that yield the greatest benefits with regard to leadership resilience and
emotional stamina, and thus offers a practical taxonomy for leaders and funders alike.
Firmly rooted in the applied wisdom of practitioners in the field, it provides both a
bibliographical guide to a significant body of leadership writing and a taxonomy of abilities
that cultural leaders will need if they are to adapt to an environment where the only
certainty is uncertainty. Assuming that the basic foundational skills (financial, art form
knowledge, general management) are present, these abilities can make the difference
between success and failure in leading an organization. As outlined above, the two clusters
of competencies can be of value to leaders as they train for (I) factors within their control,
and to funders as they recognize and address (II) the external factors that will have an
impact on an organization’s performance in a grant agreement.

4
C.K. Prahalad, Competing for the Future, Harvard Business School Press, 1994.
The research should also assist policy makers and funders seeking to invest in training that
will increase the confidence and competence of cultural leaders. It should be of interest to
individual leaders reflecting on their own performance and how training could improve
leadership practice. In highlighting people as the greatest resource in arts and culture,
MMM have paved the way for an informed appraisal of where greater investment and
further investigation could advance and even change the field.
End Notes:

About Mission, Models, Money (MMM):

MMM is a network of individuals and organisations in the UK and beyond whose vision is
to transform the way the arts use their resources to support the creation and experience of
great art. Details on its work can be found at www.missionmodelsmoney.org.uk

About the author: Russell Willis Taylor, President and CEO of National Arts Strategies
since January 2001, came to England in 1984 at the invitation of the English National
Opera (ENO) to establish the Company's fund-raising department. During this time, she
also lectured extensively at graduate programs of arts and business management
throughout Britain. From 1997 to 2001, she rejoined the ENO as executive director.
Mrs. Taylor has held a wide range of managerial and Board posts in the commercial and
nonprofit sectors including the advertising agency DMBB; head of corporate relations at
Stoll Moss; director of The Arts Foundation; special advisor to the Heritage Board,
Singapore; chief executive of Year of Opera and Music Theatre (1997); judge for Creative
Britons; and lecturer on business issues and arts administration. She received the Garrett
Award for an outstanding contribution to the arts in Britain, and served on the boards of
A&B (Arts and Business), Cambridge Arts Theatre, Arts Research Digest, and the Society of
London Theatre. Currently serving on the advisory boards of The University Musical Society
of the University of Michigan, Salzburg Global Seminar, The Curtis Institute, and the Center
for Nonprofit Excellence in Charlottesville, Mrs. Taylor is a Fellow of the Royal Society of
Arts.
 Appendix A

MMM’s list of competencies, qualities & attributes (CQAs)

Making sense of a changing world

Scanning + interpreting environment Learning
Recognising patterns + make connections between Seeking out challenges
things Taking considered risks
Synergising different information together Encouraging oneself + others to
Insightful about people and situations learn from mistakes
Seeing bigger picture Taking time to reflect
Working at level of detail Using feedback to learn +
Conceptual Thinking improve

A
Flexibility to adapt na
Being open to changing one’s mind Self-awareness lyt
Using one’s initiative Preferences for communication & learning ic
Working with traditional + new Personality style / character type al
Using one’s CQAs in different Prejudices th
situations in
How to get into resourceful state ki
Applying knowledge in different
contexts Paradox of being in control/not in control ng
Allowing strategies to emerge

Impact
Strategic thinking
Finding ways forward Finding win-win solutions
Creative thinking Co-creating conditions where others can excel
Asking questions to open up possibilities in their own ways
Working across boundaries Considering impact of actions from multiple
Playing with ideas perspectives
Thinking / doing things differently Feeling empathy for others
Valuing diversity Sense of social responsibility
Being open to other perspectives + ideas Actively care for nature

Reality check Clear communication

Being open to being challenged Written + verbal skills
Actively listening Actively listening
Questioning and challenging assumptions Using web 2.0 + social media
/ frameworks Telling compelling stories
 Managing relationships
Connecting with others Making things happen
Handling conflict Identifying + exploiting new opportunities
Building trust Responding in timely way
Creating mutual respect Knowing when to move on
Perceptive of group dynamics Focusing on solutions not problems
Building & nurturing relationships Recognising what is needed in particular
Perceptive of others needs & circumstances
preferences Making spontaneous decisions
Finding others to complement own Using intuition to make important decisions
CQAs Pragmatic
Drawing own boundaries/ rules of
engagement

Leadership
Resilience Willing to hold others to account
Coping with uncertainty + Challenging others in supportive way
ambiguity Matching one’s words with actions
Motivating oneself Modelling behaviour one wishes to see in others
Passionate + committed in things Helping others feel comfortable with change
get involved with Motivating others
Accepting oneself Acknowledging mistakes to others
Seeing problems as opportunities Taking responsibility for self + for one’s role in what’s
Being positive + optimistic happening
Appendix B:

MMM’s definition of Thriving

Through The People Theme, MMM seeks to help equip individuals, organisations and the
arts and cultural sector as a whole to thrive, excel, flourish, be successful and sustainable in
a world of ever–increasing change and uncertainty.
For the purposes of creating clarity of meaning in our research, we developed our own
values-based definition of thriving as a way of being/doing that integrates key concepts of
relevance, resilience and ethical practice:

Adapting to changing conditions in a life-friendly way to people and planet in order to

maintain the function of making great work happen

In nature, it is when changing is the only way for an organism to maintain itself, that change
is prompted5.
We propose that it is only when all 3 dimensions of relevance, resilience and ethical practice
overlap that thriving in uncertainty is truly realised.

Impacting on people +
Adapting to changing
planet in life-friendly
conditions
way

SUSTAINABILITY
ETHICAL
PRACTICE
RELEVANCE

Maintaining function of
making great work
happen

PURPOSE IDENTITY

RESILIENCE

5
Margaret Wheatley 1999
We would emphasise that ‘thriving’ is not a fixed state: it is an emergent property of the
complex interaction of CQAs and influencing factors in a specific situation. So we will not be
producing a ‘one size fits all’ model: it would be overly simplistic and not very useful.
By life-friendly to people and planet we mean having a benign impact on quality of life.
Including this ethical dimension was vital because we do not wish to advocate that people
make great work happen at just any cost, either to themselves, to other people or to plants
and animals.

*
.