Why do we need Machiavellian Arts Management?
Artists and arts managers must be able to demonstrate to a consumer that what they offer is just as emotionally exciting and mentally stimulating as a sporting event or concert, as well as being affordable when compared monetarily. Events such as baseball and football games, places such as parks and movie theaters, and people such as rap super stars and country music artists vie for the attention and incomes of consumers. I believe that the management style that will most prepare arts managers for this competition can be found in the philosophy of Niccolo Machiavelli.
A writer once said, “As a whole, the strategies of Machiavelli are even more applicable to the world of business than to the present day world of politics.” I believe that Machiavelli’s thoughts can be adopted by arts leaders to design and implement strategies that will level the playing field with competitors and make the arts a viable option for consumers.
The plans of managers for their organizations must be directed first, and foremost, by information that is based on well-researched data, or other available criteria, instead of basing their decisions on traditionally held feelings for the arts. Arts managers who lead their organizations as if they would any other business, managing in the ‘is’ and not the ‘ought’, will be better able to position their organizations as valid choices for consumers’ attention, time, and money.
Machiavellian Arts Management can be summed up in one sentence containing four principles. If an arts manager is willing to make use of proven business techniques, hire and retain appropriate staff, ensure that partnerships and/or collaborations are mutually beneficial, and mentally prepare for future emergencies, then he will find success for his organization.
Former New Jersey Governor Thomas H. Kearn said, “Art is indeed an absolute necessity, an essential part of life.” Unfortunately, a large number of people with purchasing power, as well as those with the ability to distribute funds to arts organizations, have not held to this idea. Gov. Kearn went on to say, “The arts have been hard hit by shrinking audiences and rising debt. Cuts in government funding have become severe, and many sources of funding--especially government agencies and private foundations--have been earmarking grants for specific programs so that less is available for general operating budgets. Corporate, foundation, and business support is often provided on the condition that the arts organizations become leaner, more business oriented, and supportive of the donor’s marketing objectives. At the same time, arts organizations face a constant upward spiral of operating costs.”
Arts managers are faced with the task of making and keeping their organizations viable in a culture that is sometimes hostile, short sighted, and fickle. Past “transgressions”, such as the infamous Mapplethorpe exhibit, the “Piss Christ” and the controversial Brooklyn Museum “Sensations” exhibit, have left a lasting grudge against the arts in the minds of many critics and funding agencies. Due to events such as these, artists and arts organizations have been considered irresponsible, arrogant, and opportunistic elitists who waste money and time on pornographic material that passes as art. It would bode the arts community well to shed these misconceptions and show that they are financially and creatively responsible. This can be done through the adoption of certain key principles from Machiavelli’s philosophy.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Friday, September 14, 2007
Where Do We Get Machiavellian Arts Management?
Where do we get Machiavellian Arts Management?
As you read this, you may question the need for, or usefulness of, understanding Machiavelli’s management philosophy as presented in The Prince. Does Machiavelli’s philosophy really apply to arts management in the 21st Century? Can his theories, as presented to Prince Giuliano in 16th Century Italy, be applied to established arts organizations in America? Can an organization with entrenched board members really find advice in Machiavelli’s writings? Can a fledgling dance troupe that may not have enough funds for the remainder of its season find benefit from reading and applying
Machiavelli? I believe that the answer is yes.
The Prince applies to all of these situations because of one common trait held by all of these organizations, as well as all organizations in general. That common trait is transition. It is inevitable that all arts organizations, regardless of age, size, or location, will experience a time of change. That change can take several forms.
According to Carter McNamara, all organizations have at least four stages of life:
Birth- when an organization is conceived through the efforts of a person or group, the function and form not being fully developed;
Youth- when an organization has been in existence for a small amount of time, a direction has been established and efforts are geared towards reaching set goals;
Midlife- when an organization has been in existence for some time, gaining momentum and clientele;
Maturity- when an organization has reached its original goal(s), and has begun to set new ones.
The connection between the life cycles of most organizations and Machiavellian Arts Management is that the advice given in The Prince by Machiavelli was built on the experience of watching transition occur. Transition that occurred in the political culture of Italy, and transition in the life of Machiavelli.
Fifteenth Century Renaissance Italy was the volatile setting for the conception of The Prince. Composed mainly of city-states, Italy was being divided internally by warring families, empires, and religious leaders. These cities vacillated between being republics that were friendly to its countrymen and tyrannies ruled by power hungry monarchs.
During these transitions of power, Machiavelli became the target of political retribution. Machiavelli wrote The Prince, after being exiled to his family farm. He was sent there after being tortured by the Medici family and subsequently forbidden from holding any public office. During this exile, Machiavelli never faltered in his love for his country or his desire to help her regain her former splendor and freedom. He continued to conceive ideas and plans for doing this. He ultimately decided to write to the new prince, in order to advise him on how to return Italy to her former glory.
Artists and arts managers face a similar landscape of transition. Sales and funding sources have shrunk while overhead costs have increased at a steady pace. Public opinion about the arts may be improving, but its contribution to public school education and curriculum has diminished, if not disappeared. Artists and arts organizations have to change how they position their time honored crafts to the masses. Machiavellian Arts Management provides arts managers and their organizations with techniques to survive the present climate of transition.
As you read this, you may question the need for, or usefulness of, understanding Machiavelli’s management philosophy as presented in The Prince. Does Machiavelli’s philosophy really apply to arts management in the 21st Century? Can his theories, as presented to Prince Giuliano in 16th Century Italy, be applied to established arts organizations in America? Can an organization with entrenched board members really find advice in Machiavelli’s writings? Can a fledgling dance troupe that may not have enough funds for the remainder of its season find benefit from reading and applying
Machiavelli? I believe that the answer is yes.
The Prince applies to all of these situations because of one common trait held by all of these organizations, as well as all organizations in general. That common trait is transition. It is inevitable that all arts organizations, regardless of age, size, or location, will experience a time of change. That change can take several forms.
According to Carter McNamara, all organizations have at least four stages of life:
Birth- when an organization is conceived through the efforts of a person or group, the function and form not being fully developed;
Youth- when an organization has been in existence for a small amount of time, a direction has been established and efforts are geared towards reaching set goals;
Midlife- when an organization has been in existence for some time, gaining momentum and clientele;
Maturity- when an organization has reached its original goal(s), and has begun to set new ones.
The connection between the life cycles of most organizations and Machiavellian Arts Management is that the advice given in The Prince by Machiavelli was built on the experience of watching transition occur. Transition that occurred in the political culture of Italy, and transition in the life of Machiavelli.
Fifteenth Century Renaissance Italy was the volatile setting for the conception of The Prince. Composed mainly of city-states, Italy was being divided internally by warring families, empires, and religious leaders. These cities vacillated between being republics that were friendly to its countrymen and tyrannies ruled by power hungry monarchs.
During these transitions of power, Machiavelli became the target of political retribution. Machiavelli wrote The Prince, after being exiled to his family farm. He was sent there after being tortured by the Medici family and subsequently forbidden from holding any public office. During this exile, Machiavelli never faltered in his love for his country or his desire to help her regain her former splendor and freedom. He continued to conceive ideas and plans for doing this. He ultimately decided to write to the new prince, in order to advise him on how to return Italy to her former glory.
Artists and arts managers face a similar landscape of transition. Sales and funding sources have shrunk while overhead costs have increased at a steady pace. Public opinion about the arts may be improving, but its contribution to public school education and curriculum has diminished, if not disappeared. Artists and arts organizations have to change how they position their time honored crafts to the masses. Machiavellian Arts Management provides arts managers and their organizations with techniques to survive the present climate of transition.
Friday, September 7, 2007
What is Machiavellian Arts Management
What is Machiavellian Arts Management?
Niccolo Machiavelli was an Italian statesman who made his mark in history by writing books and plays that dealt with political and social philosophy. Many of his writings were geared towards instructing kings and princes on how to operate in hostile environments and rule their kingdoms effectively. Through various books, such as The Prince and The Art of War, Machiavelli introduced and advocated forms of management and leadership that were, and still are, controversial, self-centered, seemingly divisive, and manipulative.
Historically, the name Machiavelli has come to stand for a negative style of leadership and behavior. Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary defines Machiavellian as, “being or acting in accordance with the principles of government analyzed in Machiavelli’s The Prince, in which political expediency is placed above morality, and the use of craft and deceit to maintain the authority and carry out the policies of a ruler is described.”
As other definitions show, as well as in his own personal writings, Machiavelli told his readers how to gain and retain political power by any means necessary. In spite of this flawed moral leaning, I advocate that the arts world adopt some of the core philosophical principles of Machiavelli’s leadership philosophy. I believe that certain portions of Machiavelli’s thought can be positively adopted by the arts community today, in order to make us more competitive and relevant when compared to other organizations and businesses. Artists and arts leaders can find these principles timeless in their application.
I believe that it is not feasible for artists and arts managers to lead their careers and organizations in virtual vacuums. We must begin to manage our careers and organizations in the ‘is’ and not the ‘ought’. Machiavelli wrote, “But since my intention is to write something useful for the understanding reader, it seems to me more beneficial to go behind to the effectual truth of the matter, rather than focusing on the imagining of it. For many writers have depicted their own republics and principalities which have never been seen or known actually to exist. And since the distance between how one lives and how one should live is so great, he who discards what he does for what he should do, usually learns how to ruin rather than maintain himself.”
In light of this, what I am suggesting is that artists and arts managers effectively manage their careers and organizations in the reality of “what is” actually experienced on a daily basis, instead of directing their actions based upon ideas and techniques that are geared towards “what ought to be”. The task of the arts manager is to avoid the downfall of his career or the destruction of his organization and to be committed to strengthening his organization in order for it to continue the presentation of its artistic craft.
Arts managers must manage their troupes, artistic companies, and other agencies based on the realities that surround any business in the 21st Century. The arts are just one option out of many that consumers may choose from to gain enlightenment, education, or escape from the pressures of life. Arts managers and artists will benefit from adopting an educated and competitive style of organizational and career management that strives to attain a higher level of quality, productivity, and value. This is Machiavellian Arts Management.
Niccolo Machiavelli was an Italian statesman who made his mark in history by writing books and plays that dealt with political and social philosophy. Many of his writings were geared towards instructing kings and princes on how to operate in hostile environments and rule their kingdoms effectively. Through various books, such as The Prince and The Art of War, Machiavelli introduced and advocated forms of management and leadership that were, and still are, controversial, self-centered, seemingly divisive, and manipulative.
Historically, the name Machiavelli has come to stand for a negative style of leadership and behavior. Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary defines Machiavellian as, “being or acting in accordance with the principles of government analyzed in Machiavelli’s The Prince, in which political expediency is placed above morality, and the use of craft and deceit to maintain the authority and carry out the policies of a ruler is described.”
As other definitions show, as well as in his own personal writings, Machiavelli told his readers how to gain and retain political power by any means necessary. In spite of this flawed moral leaning, I advocate that the arts world adopt some of the core philosophical principles of Machiavelli’s leadership philosophy. I believe that certain portions of Machiavelli’s thought can be positively adopted by the arts community today, in order to make us more competitive and relevant when compared to other organizations and businesses. Artists and arts leaders can find these principles timeless in their application.
I believe that it is not feasible for artists and arts managers to lead their careers and organizations in virtual vacuums. We must begin to manage our careers and organizations in the ‘is’ and not the ‘ought’. Machiavelli wrote, “But since my intention is to write something useful for the understanding reader, it seems to me more beneficial to go behind to the effectual truth of the matter, rather than focusing on the imagining of it. For many writers have depicted their own republics and principalities which have never been seen or known actually to exist. And since the distance between how one lives and how one should live is so great, he who discards what he does for what he should do, usually learns how to ruin rather than maintain himself.”
In light of this, what I am suggesting is that artists and arts managers effectively manage their careers and organizations in the reality of “what is” actually experienced on a daily basis, instead of directing their actions based upon ideas and techniques that are geared towards “what ought to be”. The task of the arts manager is to avoid the downfall of his career or the destruction of his organization and to be committed to strengthening his organization in order for it to continue the presentation of its artistic craft.
Arts managers must manage their troupes, artistic companies, and other agencies based on the realities that surround any business in the 21st Century. The arts are just one option out of many that consumers may choose from to gain enlightenment, education, or escape from the pressures of life. Arts managers and artists will benefit from adopting an educated and competitive style of organizational and career management that strives to attain a higher level of quality, productivity, and value. This is Machiavellian Arts Management.
Introduction to the blog
This blog exists to discuss the ideas espoused in the book that I have written titled Machiavellian Arts Management: Timeless Advice for 21st Century Arts Managers. My hope is to post a regular column here for discussion and interaction with other arts managers, artists, and people who appreciate the arts and what they mean to our society. The book Machiavellian Arts Management is available for purchase at my website www.booksbycarter.com. It is available for $15 as a paperback book, or $7 as an ebook. Any purchases made through the website are secure, and through Paypal. The book is also available at Amazon.com. I am currently negotiating a distribution deal with a to be named distributor, in order to gain a larger audience of booksellers and purchasers. Thanks for visiting, reading, and responding.
Without further delay, welcome to Machiavellian Arts Management.
Terrell
Without further delay, welcome to Machiavellian Arts Management.
Terrell
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