Outsourcing expertise
Sometimes, it's smart to hire outsiders. Sometimes, it's not.
“No expert knows everything about every place, not even everything about any place. If one’s knowledge of one’s whereabouts is insufficient, if one’s judgment is unsound, then expert advice is of little use.”
—Wendell Berry, from What Are People For? (2010)
Arts Management demands a healthy balance between efficiency (doing things right) and effectiveness (doing the right things). Sometimes it helps to get some outside help on one, the other, or both. Outsiders can bring fresh perspective and technical, tactical, or topical expertise. But when is it worth the effort and money to hire them?
In part, the answer depends on the kind of expertise you’re looking for. David Maister (2003) describes four categories of consulting practice, each providing different types of service – distinguished by the level of customization and the level of client contact.
Low customization services are “off the shelf,” and run the same no matter the client. High customization services are uniquely adapted and applied for each client.
Low contact services happen in the “back room,” out of the client’s view. High contact services happen in the “front room” in direct relationship with the client.
Maister sorts these four services into a two-by-two matrix (the darling of consultants around the globe).
The Pharmacist provides relatively familiar and well-defined services without much counseling, consultation, or contact. “The client wants the service performed to strict technical standards at a minimal cost.”
The Nurse also provides relatively familiar and well-defined services, but does so in close consultation with the client. The emphasis is “not only on the ability to dispense the pill (which still may be required), but also on the ability to counsel and guide the client through the process.”
The Brain Surgeon “combines high levels of customization, creativity, and innovation with a low degree of client interaction.” They offer leading-edge diagnoses and action strategies, but with little to no consultation or coaching.
The Therapist also provides leading-edge diagnoses of vexing problems, but they do so in full consultation and collaboration with the client.
But when does it make sense to outsource your strategy or execution rather than keeping it in-house? A key question is whether the strategy or task is core to your organization’s unique success, or plays a more supporting or specialized/temporary role.
Core competencies are best kept and developed in house – even though the investment in people and systems can be costly in the short term. For arts organizations, think here about creative or curatorial work, or audience-facing activities like front-of-house or hospitality.
Supporting or specialized tasks can be outsourced to experts without sacrificing the main mojo of the enterprise, and often at a lower cost and higher quality than can be accomplished in-house. For arts organizations, think about accounting systems or services, catering or security services, and the like.
Of course, not all arts organizations have the luxury of choice about who does the work. With little cash, limited staff, and business models that require subsidy, many organizations do everything in-house. But it’s worth a conversation with the board, donors, supportive corporations, or foundations to explore ways to reimagine how and by whom the work gets done.
From the ArtsManaged Field Guide
Function of the Week: People Operations
People Operations involves designing and driving systems and practices that attract, engage, retain, and develop people within the enterprise (also called human resources).
Framework of the Week: Requisite Variety
The Law of Requisite Variety, formulated by cybernetician W. Ross Ashby, states that for a system to effectively manage its environment, it must have a range of responses that is at least as varied as the range of disturbances it might encounter. In other words, the complexity of a system's control mechanisms must match the complexity of the environment in which it operates.
Photo by Brendan Church on Unsplash
Sources
Maister, David H. 2003. “The Anatomy of a Consulting Firm.” In The Advice Business: Essential Tools and Models for Management Consulting, edited by Charles Fombrun and Mark Nevins, 1st edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.