Colleagues at the Museums Association have been doing a worthwhile job, kick-starting the advocacy effort that will surely be a feature of life in the sector over the next year or so. Clearly, it’s a reaction to current circumstances. But it’s also timely: a chance for everyone to re-evaluate and think creatively about how to play to strengths. I think this is the silver lining in the clouds overhead: while the forces at play will bring some change that is unwelcome, an aggressive questioning of culture will also make change possible, and some organisations will turn that to their strategic advantage… It’s important we don’t look at advocacy as simply talking about cultural activity in an engaging way. Alignment with local priorities is certainly a necessary first step, but there is also a developmental step to be taken, focusing on where the crossover is, and playing to strengths in those areas. It is more dynamic than simply ‘aligning’ and talking well. This MA roadshow seems to be covering a lot of ground – I mean in the geographical sense. From Glasgow to Woking! It’s good to see this part of the sector gearing up to communicate in the right way, with the right people. Even if we do feel that our hand is being forced…

For a small company with a new office to furnish, and an environmental conscience to consider, the availability of ‘pre-loved’ office essentials is a real find. We are now the proud owners of a stylish meeting table and chairs with a satisfyingly small carbon footprint. Thanks Re-Work!

Any of this sound familiar? A mania for quick profits sweeps the stock market, driven by investors in the City and smiled upon by Government. Confidence collapses, leading to a huge crash. Parliament makes a big show of shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted, and then ensures that those chiefly responsible get away scot free. There follows a decade of suspicion of the Establishment, fuelled by the Press, looking for corruption and greed in High Places. Not the present day, but the 1720s, which also saw a flourishing of art, and particularly satirical art: Beggar’s Opera, Gulliver’s Travels. So we’ve got that to look forward to.

The Local Government Association is urging Councils to avoid using “impenetrable jargon” to make sure their message gets through to residents. A list of 200 words to avoid are available here, which makes encouraging reading for champions of clear communication, particularly if you happen to be drafting a cultural strategy at the time, like I was. But everything depends on the audience, and that’s the only rule you really need. Who’s going to read it, and what do you want to happen? I love words, and I don’t want to start tearing them out of the dictionary, but I agree that you wouldn’t necessarily bring up “holistic governance” while standing in line for your lottery ticket. But if you are addressing colleagues, I think the rules change, and some of these 200 words are actually quite useful in getting ideas across. I’m not sure that “environmentally friendly” is an adequate synonym for “sustainable communities”, for instance. It’s horses for courses. Or is that “upstream course suitability for Stable communities”?

A new year - winter sun on frosty branches and 360 days of new possibilities. Forget doom and gloom and watch this wonderful piece with conductor Benjamin Zander talking about classical music, passion and resolving to be a better human being.

As part of recent piece of evaluation for Arts Council England, we had the chance to interview a wide range of Chief Executives of arts and cultural businesses about the organisational change process. We asked them to share from their own experience a ‘top tip’ for keeping change on track and for good management generally. Here are the Top 10 suggestions:
1. Draw yourself a map for change, taking different areas of management as starting points, so that you have something to hold onto. The road ahead may be slippery.
2. Be open to things you haven

I’ve seen two great films in the last fortnight, but where are the audiences? The first, Vantage Point, was in a little out of the way place on a rainy Tuesday, but Son of Rambow was at the biggest city centre screen, on Friday night. Is DVD by mail hurting cinema? (I hear Love Film is buying Amazon’s UK DVD hire list). Or was it Son of Rambow’s poor reviews, which criticised the film’s 1980’s setting for its artificiality: sorry, were they there in the ‘eighties?

As someone as intrigued by people as I am, it has been fascinating to find out more about Mass Observation. The beginning of the twentieth century had seen social anthropologists travelling far and wide to study the habits of ‘the natives’, but in 1937 three young men decided to study everyday behaviour in Britain, creating a ’science of ourselves.’ The study lasted until 1950 and thousands of volunteer writers and observers committed to keeping a record of their daily lives and charting a period of great change in British history. Simon Garfield’s book ‘Our Hidden Lives’ takes extracts from these diaries in the period immediately following the war and gives a precious insight into the daily trials and experiences of ordinary people. A new Mass Observation started in 1981 and they are currently recruiting for male writers aged 16 to 44 living in the North to take part. Your everyday could provide intriguing texture for tomorrow.Link to Mass Observation site

Legendary Polish foreign correspondent, Ryszard Kapuscinski, who died last year - obituary - wrote a final book about the legendary Greek foreign correspondent, Herodotus. It’s a great insight into the art of listening and understanding. Kapuscinski points out that in a world without books, or inscriptions of any kind (let alone emails or desktops loaded with pdfs) the only way to give or receive information was to find someone and make an exchange:

“And how much richer is this primeval, antique language of direct contact and Socratic give and take! Because it is not only words that matter in it. What is important, and frequently paramount, is what is communicated wordlessly, by facial expression, hand gesture, body movement. Herodotus understands this, and like every reporter or ethnologist he tries to be in the most direct contact with his interlocutors, not only listening to what they say, but also watching how they say it, how they act as they speak.”

Travels with Herodotus, Ryszard Kapuscinski, pub. Allen Lane.

Front Row, the Radio Four arts show, had an item last night on the British Army’s officer training programme: hear it on Listen Again. To help trainee officers develop their strategic sense, to encourage them to analyse situations and to step outside their own comfort zone, they are sent on a series of visits to arts venues.

It’s an interesting example of how cultural provision builds intellectual capital.