Delivering Change Conversations: Learnings, challenges and leadership

This programme requires building in time, time to think, time to reflect, time to sit with new learnings and time to hold ourselves. This is key to how Delivering Change was designed, and how it differs from other trainings that exist and it’s essential to its success. Many people are already struggling with increasing pressure and workloads and our sector is notorious for its short-term contracts so building in time for long term change is a serious challenge. Capacity is an issue for the sector, but also for us at MGS and for the Delivering Change team. 

If you’re already at a stage where your emotional capacity is maxed out, then to start to undergo deep personal and organisational change, to reframe how you view structures and systems within your organisation and the world at large… it can be really tricky for people. The broader systems and forces are acting as a barrier to enable us to find those opportunities to build solidarity and build momentum together. This is the most poignant barrier we are facing. 

One thing that we witnessed through this process is the importance of having what we’re calling sufficient container building. Organisations are not all ready to do this kind of training because there is work needed from an organisational development point of view for people working there to feel safe enough to go into training sessions asking them to unpick, unlearn, question and rethink the systems of power around them. Engaging with the training is intense, it is difficult and emotionally loaded. If that container building at an organisational level isn’t done appropriately, and people are not sufficiently protected by their organisation, they can become distressed or harmed through this process.  

Some examples of transformation and change following the anti-racist training we delivered that we’re most proud of and that have seemed most efficient, come from organisations where all levels of the hierarchy took part in the training.  We’ve seen this with some of our Museum Transformers. When there are challenges it makes a big difference in people’s ability to feel more confident in difficult conversations and then to weather the storm if they have a strong sense of support from leadership and across their organisation.  

As Delivering Change continues to evolve, we of course want to expand it further and widen its reach, but we’re also focusing on building depth in organisations already taking part. We’re really pleased that this involves organisations across Scotland. We hope that many might become champions in their area and feel able to share their experiences and vision to support other organisations around them to feel empowered to do the work in years to come.  

This is also why we have been developing the leadership strand of Delivering Change, which is very exciting. Our journey so far has taught us the importance of leaders being brought in and feeling steadfast in anti-oppression work. We’re facilitating a reciprocal mentoring programme for senior leaders from Museum Transformer organisations, and people with lived experience of systemic exclusion who are working in the heritage sector and have future ambitions to become leaders. It’s a two-pronged approach to looking at how we can embed our learnings for generations to come in the sector. People who are already in senior leadership roles have a certain power and control over what anti-oppression looks like in their organisation. This is an opportunity for them to develop their understanding but also to test out what anti-oppressive leadership is like in practice. At the same time, it’s a way to prepare the next generation of leaders in heritage by equipping them with all the tools, networks and strategies to embed anti-oppression in their practice.

There are currently eleven people with lived experience of systemic exclusion who work in the heritage sector mentoring Museum Transformer leaders. To support the mentors becoming leaders in the future, they are also being equipped to better understand the role and responsibilities of leadership positions. We look forward to sharing more information about how this part of our programme is going soon!