The Cycle of Intentional Practice requires that museums clarify the impact they would like to achieve on their publics and realign all practices and resources to achieve that impact.  Clarifying impact, though, requires a knowledge of the museum’s organizational self and the public.  Given that most museum work is mission driven, achieving impact may require that a museum shift how it thinks about and does its work so energies and attention are towards achieving intended results among audiences.  Achieving impact necessitates purposeful and intentional actions, including:

• Clarifying impact and identifying supporting measurable outcomes,
• Aligning resources (e.g., staff and dollars) to support achieving impact,
• Studying results among audiences through research and evaluation, and
• Reflecting on one’s practice and evidence from visitor studies with the goal of organizational learning and improving practice.

Museums that are intentional promote inclusivity and internal and external collaboration; they value only doing work that will achieve intended results, study the effect of the museum on people’s lives, and are passionate about continuous professional and organizational learning.

Randi Korn is the founding director of Randi Korn & Associates, an organization with specialized knowledge and expertise to assist professionals in cultural organizations and the cultural sector at large.  Randi founded RK&A in 1989 after working in a variety of cultural organizations including art, history, science, botanical gardens, and natural history museums.  She has held positions such as executive director, exhibit designer, interpretive planner, and evaluator. With a passion for learning and desire to strengthen the relationship between cultural organizations and people, Randi is dedicated to using evaluation as a learning tool to improve personal and organizational practice.  Over the last several years, she has focused on creating new services to help museums and other cultural organizations excel so they can achieve impact for the public good.  RK&A maintains a commitment to helping cultural organizations, and museums in particular, become more intentional and purposeful in their planning and daily work.  Ultimately the firm strives to use impact-driven planning and rigorous evaluation to help cultural organizations demonstrate, with evidence, the ways in which they contribute to the public good and make a difference in people’s lives and communities.

Korn lecture announcement