Opening Your Mind to the world of Business Literature

To begin with a generalization: arts leaders tend to be skeptical about the value of business culture. A lot of us would consider the phrase "business culture" to be an oxymoron. I'm using it to refer to that vast sector of knowledge production in education & media & conferences, to the arcane language and value system, the network of identifications and affiliations, symbols and hierarchies, protocols and etiquette that constitute the business world.

A lot of people in non-profit arts organizations define themselves and the mission of their organizations in contrast, if not outright opposition, to that culture. A lot of us come out of the peculiar cultures of academia and the performing arts or fine arts, or some hybrid of these. These cultures think about values outside of material and monetary values. They tend to be anti-authoritarian. They encourage the development of the individual and his or her ideas, especially what is new, what speaks truth to power, what sheds light on the assumptions and blind spots of the dominant culture. I could go on.

but the one area arts and academia don't think very much about is leadership, teamwork, the behavior of people in organizations.

This is all a lot of armchair sociology bloviation meant as a kind of "working through" of ideas prepatory to a reading group I want to organize--business books for arts people. There is much to be learned from the Peter Druckers and Jim Collinses of this world, though we might not always see it.

which is not to say that arts leaders are in any way less capable, less smart, less prepared than their counterparts in for-profit industries. They are less cared for, and are able to spend less resources on training that allows them to see the broader field, the broader possibilities. Leading an arts non-profit is at *least* as complex and demanding as leading a similar-sized business. We know this. But all the more reason to read widely and find out what's going on over there that can be helpful to us here... more to come.