Strategic Planning – American Alliance of Museums

An Example of Strategic Foresight in Museum Planning

By Ann Fortescue

In March, the Alliance released my major pandemic project: The AAM Strategic Foresight Toolkit, a comprehensive guide to applying the skills of futures thinking to museum practice. Over 300 people have purchased the Toolkit, and I have …
Introducing Your Do-It-Yourself Toolkit for Strategic Foresight

By Elizabeth Merritt

Check it out. I made something for you ↑ I’ve been teaching strategic foresight to museum people for fourteen years now, travelling around the country to give talks and lead workshops, brainstorming, and team-building exercises at museums …
The Long-awaited Tail

By Elizabeth Merritt

“With our imagination, the future is a place where anything, or one hundred things, or everything, can be different—even things that seem impossible to change today.” –Dr. Jane McGonigal, futurist and games designer I want to start …
Forecasting 2022, Part 1: Waves Ahead

By Elizabeth Merritt

I’d hoped to be forecasting the post-COVID future by this point, but that apparently wasn’t in the cards. (Forgive me a little futurist Tarot humor.) Instead, it’s entirely possible that 2022 will become Year Three of the COVID-19 …
How a Disturbing Historical Discovery Inspired a New Mission at Old North Foundation

By Nikki Stewart

The enduring fame of the Old North Church in Boston began on the evening of April 18, 1775, when church sexton Robert Newman and vestryman Capt. John Pulling Jr. climbed the steeple and raised two lanterns as a signal that the British were …
How the Museum of Science and History in Memphis Used the Pandemic to Springboard Its Strategic Plan

By Kevin Thompson

By the time the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, the Pink Palace Museum in Memphis had already started a radical reshaping of its image, structure, and programming. When I began as Executive Director in January 2020, we were armed with an …
A Futures Approach to Museum Planning

By Elizabeth Merritt

Nothing gives me greater joy than learning how the futurist materials created by CFM have helped museums and museum people in their work. Today on the blog, Ty Smith and Jeremy Taylor tell us how the California State Railroad Museum used …
Mapping Uncertainty in 2021

By Elizabeth Merritt

I have been wishing everyone HAPPY NEW YEAR (in all caps) because I am so relieved to see the backside of 2020. But “better than last year” is a very low bar indeed, and we face many very hard months ahead. That being so, my focus this …
Reinventing Museums: Pandemic Disruption as an Opportunity for Change

By Elizabeth Merritt

Looking for some good things in a terrible time, people have pointed out that air pollution plummeted as the world locked down, sea turtles are nesting undisturbed, managers are realizing telecommuting actually increases productivity, and …
Crowdsourcing the Peabody Museum’s Future

By Jaan Elias

I’m often asked which topics featured in CFM’s TrendsWatch report proved to be of enduring importance, and which fizzle. I’m happy to say that so far, all the trends we’ve identified have continued to be significant for our field. Case in …