How’d i get here ? — Chapter 4
The National Railway Museum
The National Railway Museum in York, UK, had dramatic plans to rebuild half its site, and create about 8,000 sqm of exhibition space. I joined in 2009 to be the Project Director. My three years there were not fully happy but i did take away a lot of great knowledge.
It was amazing to work with social history, and there were great teams in place. We procured great designers and architects, who each blended skill with humility. The project would have been brilliant, but the change of UK government pulled the funding and it died half-formed.
The Museum is part of the Science Museum Group, and the organizational structure, culture and unique nature of each portfolio museum did not blend well. Significant changes in leadership set the ship on the right course, but it was not soon enough to enable a climate i could thrive in. As an example, as the Project Director, it was weird that my project manager worked for another division. The split inherent in the structure, which made me responsible for quality but my PM’s line manager responsible for delivery and budget, was not structurally enabling. We had workarounds of course to make it good; but they cost effort and political capital that would’ve been better served focused on the project.
I’ve had bosses of varying degrees from good to great. All of those had a broad congruence with my, and the organisation’s, values; which meant that despite management skills or personalities, there was always a core that was aligned and my boss and I were always on the same side. But here i encountered a boss whose values had nothing in common with mine. The dominant feeling when I departed was that alignment of values is absolutely central to relationships with a manager, and it is more important the further up the hierarchy one goes. If core values aren’t congruent, it will never work.
The other thing is that this is the first time i line managed people whose job i couldn’t do myself. I found that it is oddly easier — less temptation to interfere! —if based upon honesty and mutual respect. I lost my fear of dependence on domain expertise.
So i’d shed a longing for subject expertise, now for domain expertise. I was out in the world, unemployed. What next?
