Rules for success for museum professionals whilst in the pub

Let's begin with the idea that no-one gets what they want in life. Well boo-hoo! I don't have an Aston Martin car in my driveway (I don't even have a driveway). The closest most of you will ever get to a luxury car is in a museum. So if you can't get what you want then do the next best thing and have a career in museums. The logic is inescapable. Can't afford a big house? Volunteer for the National Trust etc. etc.

So the first and only definition of success is to work or volunteer at a museum or heritage site. This may not be what a successful businessman or entrepreneur defines as success and not everyone can volunteer (if not why not?).

So what else may help you? For the rest of this blog I am inspired by James Caan (he of Dragon's Den fame) and his, 'The Eight Rules of Success To Think About Every Morning'.  So what does James Caan think (link below).

1. Application
Work hard? I agree there is nothing wrong with hard work. The trick is to work effectively and strategically. The paying public can't help your career, so why bother working hard on customer service. Invite your trustees to the pub get them drunk and have them agree to a pay rise (have a pen and beer mat handy). That is working effectively. So if you are reading this in the pub, look at the people you are with. Can you exploit them? If not, at least get a drink out of them (and maybe a kebab later).

2. Believe in yourself
If you do not believe in yourself, who else will? Wise words. There are many brilliant people in the museum world, but they seem to believe that saving artefacts and buildings and (may the god's preserve us) interpreting it for the audience are more important. I realised many years ago that I am the most important person in the museum and the artefacts and resources of the museum are there for me and my use. Future generations will thank me for it. So if you are in the pub with your friends just tell them how good you are and how much better than them you are. They will instantly recognise your greatness and grant you personal space to realise your dreams by moving to a separate table on the other side of the pub (make sure you have got a drink out of them first as per #1).

3. Be creative
Stand out from the crowd. Creativity is one of the most valuable qualities any person can have. I cannot agree more, the annual accounts are a magnificent work of fiction.

4. Be there first
This applies in all forms of life, from the avoiding queues to the gents at a football match by limping to the disabled toilet, to elbowing the octogenarian volunteer out of the way at the Friends of Unreason annual party buffet to get the last cucumber sandwich.

5. Build a Brand
No-one who has ever been to the Museum of Unreason (for directions see my What's in a name blog Feb 2013) will ever forget it. Think creative interpretation and labelling - but most of all make sure that when the public leave they know who is responsible for it. I have a life-size cutout welcoming them OUT of the door telling them to spend more money next time they visit or not bother to come back. It's safe to say our visitors do at least one of these.

6. Seek advice
Speak to people who have years of experience. What? And make the same old mistakes. We want museums for the 21st Century not 19th Century. Unless of course they are influential people (see #1) in which case hang on their every word, agree with everything they say - then do the opposite but reference them in your literature.

7. Get organised
In particular I like Caan's, 'make sure you are not wasting precious time on tasks that can always be delegated to someone else'. Do this and that is why you are in the pub and the staff are still in the office.

8. Don't run before you can walk
Don't take on too much and only do work with a decent profit. More wise words. Then spend it in the pub so that by the end of the day you can't even walk never mind run.

Here is the link: http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130813104917-32175171-the-eight-rules-of-success-to-think-about-every-morning?trk=mp-details-rc