Q: How many museum-making people does it take to screw in a light bulb? A: Check the responsibility matrix. A responsibility matrix — a chart of which team will do what — is a must for any complex project. Especially when it’s both new construction and a new exhibition. …

Creative contracts call for “three options”. But complex organizations need more than the usual three options to make good decisions. They need plenty of choices to not like. And when you need to hit a balloon in a dark room with a dart, you throw a handful of darts.

What if chaos in cultural projects is something to embrace, not fear?Can chaos theory give us new insights about how to manage complex work? What are the three things upon which the success of a project depends? Are we owner’s advocates — or project advocates? …

Richard Saul Wurman, co-founder of TED, popularized LATCH in the 90s. Essentially, you can organize any information by Location, Alphabet, Time, Category, or Hierarchy. You can find LATCH everywhere. In fact, exceptions are rare. …

What words do we all use to refer to the individual parts of an exhibition space? Let’s say we have a large exhibit. Within that overall space, there are individual discreet experiences. What do we call them? Zones? Areas? Modules? … Exhibits? …

[NEW PODCAST] What’s the secret to success, when a project lasts years longer than planned? How does the subject matter of a project relate to its form? Which is more important: patience, or pushing? (Hint: it’s a trick question.) Give it a listen! …

When we plan our exhibitions and experiences, it’s critical that we take into account the aging speeds of the elements of a project: Elephant, Dog, Gerbil. But things just got faster. AI tech is now in our exhibitions too. What aging speed is that? …

MONIQUE: [Chewing] This free cheese isn’t bad. Museums should give out more free cheese. PHIL: [Stops chewing] What? MONIQUE: Metaphorically. PHIL: Uh oh. [Chews] MONIQUE: See, usually we consider marketing for exhibitions as separate …

My new acquaintance K.C. and I were watching a conference talk. She runs a museum. When a slide defined “TL;DR” for the audience (“Too Long, Didn’t Read”) she whispered to me, “That’s what all our exhibits are.” Heh. She’s right. And our visitors don’t come to read. …

Concerts have silences between songs. Book chapters have blank spaces at the end. In this email, there is an empty line after each idea. But in our exhibitions, sometimes we let stuff fill up every surface, like we gotta hose down the place with content …

Almost all museums are nonprofit businesses. But “nonprofit” is a tax status, not a financial goal. Museums make money. They have to. And when our work helps them to do that, we can have a bigger impact. So how do museums make money? Here’s the list …

“Black box” — which definition of the term do you use? The general public might say “flight data recorder” or “a computer thing that works mysteriously”. But museum folks and exhibition planners mean something else. I’m asking: what’s your definition? …

Yes, apparently it’s French word week here at MtM. In our MtM podcast on “How to Build a Museum”, architect David Greenbaum called “esprit de corps” a must-have for every project team. But what is it? It literally means “group spirit”, and it’s as powerful a tool as anything we use …

What’s “enfilade”? When you arrange rooms without a common hallway, you have to go through each room to get to the next. Architects call that “enfilade” circulation. The rooms are the hallway. But caution: some museums take enfilade to the extreme. …

This idea came up again at the MAAM Building Museums Symposium last week. Which is sometimes a sign that I should finally write it down. When we simultaneously design a museum and the core exhibitions in it, it’s like making a peanut butter cup. …

In exhibitions, black box refers to a gallery space that doesn’t matter. It is all black. We take the term from black box theater. Black box is a term in engineering and airplane safety too. In all three cases, the container is irrelevant. The content is what we care about. …

You’re done making the documents that you’ll use to get bids. But what will happen if all the bids you get are over budget? Maybe you got estimates along the way. Maybe you could drum up more funding if need be. Maybe you have strict procurement rules. …

Museums today appear in countless panicky essays in the press. But that doesn’t mean museums are doomed. It does mean it’s time to fight for hearts and minds. Possibilities abound. For now, let’s talk about sneakers. …

What does collaboration look like, in exhibition projects? Ten people putting up post-its, drawing on floor plans, and listening? That happens. And it’s fun. But there are at least three more common modes: Ping-Pong, Relay Race, and Crew Team. …

Keepers of important collections and facts want to show as many as possible to the public. Which means never repeating things. But you can repeat a digital image, a word, or an idea as often as you like. Why would you? Because visitors need it. …