Adaptive change in the arts

On April 23, 2014, the Edmonton Arts Council hosted a free presentation at the Art Gallery of Alberta by Richard Evans, President of  EmcArts. Evans spoke about embracing adaptive change through innovative strategies to create public value, including recognizing adaptive challenges versus technical ones, how to shift underlying assumptions, and addressing new organizational capacities that emphasize innovation and adaptive change. Watch the full presentation here:

ArtsFwd, an initiative of EmcArts, offers both an Adaptive Change Toolkit  and Adaptive Change Case Studies for organizations interested in the adaptive change model.

The five proposed principles to guide adaptive change are:

1. We value the interdependence of the ecosystem over our own organizational or individual self-interest.
2. We integrate the voices of our citizens into our work as a means of culture-making.
3. We see reciprocal rather than transactional relationships as a path to enduring capacity for change.
4. Our organizations authentically value inquiry and use questions as a way to drive adaptive change.
5. Our organizational cultures value the creative potential inherent in ambiguity and complexity.