Presentation to the London Museums Group's event on 'Resilience' looking at different things that have turned out to be resilient and what museums could learn from them.

1. Resilient things
An exploration of things that have turned out to be ‘resilient’
London Museums Group, September 2014

2. ‘Resilience’ is...
‘...an organisation’s capacity to
anticipate disruption, adapt to
events and create lasting
value.’

3. Resilient things
• What can we learn from different types of thing that have turned out to
be resilient?
• Resilient organisations
• Resilient creatures

4. Introducing the 60 longest continually- operating
enterprises in the world

6. 14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
60 organisations older than 700 years (by activity)

7. 60 organisations older than 700 years (by human need)
Booze Shelter Food Manufacture Religion
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Total 24 17 9 8 2
%of total 40 28 15 13 3

8. Kongo Gumi
• In continuous operation (now as a wholly
owned subsidiary) for 1,436 years
• Specialist woodworking & construction
firm with expertise in the planning &
construction of Buddhist temples
• Family-owned for 36 generations!

9. Gekkeikan
• One of the oldest & most successful sake
brewing companies
• In continuous operation for 370 years
• Attributes its resilience to its location –
the region of Kyoto where Gekkeikan is
based is protected on 3 sides by
mountains, which maintain the
temperature at 5⁰C

10. Characteristics
• All of these long-lasting companies share several characteristics:
• Value - they produce something people need & want
• Prudence - they don’t grow faster than the market demands
• Symbiosis – they exist in a balanced relationship with their community
• Geography – their activity is optimised to their location
• Pride – they take pride in their longevity
• Heritage – they have a sense of cumulative investment & value

11. Introducing the most resilient organisms in the world

13. All hail the tardigrade!
• Can survive cold at close to -273 degrees
centigrade and heat up to 150 degrees
• Can survive 1000 times greater radiation
exposure than humans
• Can withstand pressures up to 6 x the
deepest part of the ocean
• Can survive without water for over 100
years by losing 66% of their body mass &
entering a cryptobiotic state

15. Grass!
• Grass is among the most versatile and
resilient forms of life on the planet
• Forms of grass survive in every physical
environment on Earth
• Grass is incredibly diverse – representing
1000’s of species and mutations
• It has at least 3 different mechanisms for
dissemination/distribution
• It is optimised as a food source for a
huge variety of animals, which helps it
propagate

17. The common cold
• Adult humans typically catch 2-5 colds per
year (children between 6-10)
• The coronaviruses that cause the cold have
multiple paths for transmission (contact,
aerosol, water-borne)
• In the US, 22-189m schooldays and 150m
workdays are lost each year to the common
cold, accounting for 40% of absenteeism from
work (source: National Institute of Allergy &
Infections Diseases)
• It mutates different variations & structures to
achieve the same viral purpose

18. Characteristics
• Resilient organisms use a number of different strategies to achieve their
resilience:
• Toughness - they are over-engineered to optimise survival
• Diversity – they actively avoid homogeneity to maximise adaptability
• Pro-activity – they proactively propagate to survive
• Adaptability – they are in a constant process of adaptation
• Dormancy – they can survive drought by reducing activity

19. Resilient to what?

20. Resilient to what?
• If resilience is not about resisting disruption, but being optimised to adapt to
it, then it is essential to understand what the disruption actually is
• What is the disruption facing your museum (as opposed to museums in
general)?
– Changes in Local Authority funding model?
– Competition for external funding?
– Increased visitor numbers?
– Too much stuff?
– Lack of clarity/leadership?
• The biggest threats to a museum aren’t always external – they can be to do
with internal cultures, behaviours, habits and values

21. What are the characteristics of a resilient museum?

22. Resilience in museums
• Which elements of a museum need to be made ‘resilient’ to adapt to
changes in the political & financial climate?
• Buildings
• Collections
• People
• Services
• Trading activities
• Brand
• Reputation
• Values

23. RESILIENT

24. OPTIMISED
RESILIENT
Optimised to
location/
situation
Delivers value
Clear about
core role/
purpose
Has good
governance
Meets
standards

25. OPTIMISED
RESILIENT
Optimised to
location/
situation
Delivers value
NETWORKED
Clear about
core role/
purpose
Connected to
profession
Engaged with
audience
Has good
governance
Able to access
influence
Meets
standards

26. Clear about
core role/
purpose
OPTIMISED
RESILIENT
Optimised to
location/
situation
Delivers value
NETWORKED ADAPTABLE
Connected to
profession
Engaged with
audience
Can shrink
without dying
Has good
governance
Able to access
influence
Proactive not
passive
Meets
standards
Has a positive
working
culture

27. Conclusions
• There is (obviously) no single concept called ‘resilience’ and no single means
of achieving it
• Resilient organisations tend to operate on the principle of symbiosis – they
make things people need, stay close to the community with which they co-exist
and avoid over-exploitation of resources
• Being resilient does not mean resisting change – it means being optimised to
adapt to and benefit from change
• Nor is it just about surviving a crisis – it means both being able to see crises
coming and avert them & turn them to advantage when they do happen
• A key feature of being resilient, therefore, is recognising (i) that change is
happening and (ii) how things are changing

28. Thankyou!
• Find out more about the Collections Trust’s work on resilience and change at
http://www.collectionstrust.org.uk/blog
• Book now for our FREE Collections Management Skills Workshops, supported
by the Arts Council England
http://www.collectionstrust.org.uk/current-events
• Join our LinkedIn Collections Management group (9,600 members and
counting!) http://www.linkedin.com (search ‘Collections Management’)
• These slides online at http://www.slideshare.net/collectionstrust