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A Context for Then and Now
As I watched the arts and culture scene throughout 2020 and 2021, I found myself frequently saying “smaller is better than gone.” This was actioned even within TRG Arts, where we had to furlough or lay off 40% of our team in 2020 as our industry reeled from mandatory shutdowns and the resulting monetary pressures. It was a challenging time in my leadership tenure at TRG, a journey that started 10 years ago after our late CEO (Chief Executive Officer) Rick Lester passed away. In those 10 years, that challenging time for me professionally has only been surpassed by one other decision, and that decision was implemented last week. It is this decision that I want to share with other leaders in our sector, and to offer a transparent look into how TRG Arts is proceeding as the need for change became apparent.
As venues slowly started to reopen, and even before they did so, TRG was already focused on reemerging stronger and leading the sector back to recovery with new tools, new talent, and a renewed commitment to helping our client organizations thrive. Toward this aim we moved to an entirely remote operation, relinquishing our offices in Colorado Springs. We brought in outside investment from Blue Cypress, forged a partnership and came together with UK (United Kingdom) arts analytics firm Purple Seven, and retooled our team. Recovery proved to be varied in 2022 and slower than we expected in 2023 as the economic effects of the pandemic and its countermeasures lingered.
The Monster of Change
By 2023, this revamped team was capable of a great many things, but it was built to serve a sector that was further into recovery. As we looked at the data from the field and listened to leaders across the UK, US (United States) and Canada where we serve, we knew TRG had to undergo a transformation once again to be effective for the industry in the long-term. Change feels like a dreadful thing when it is forced upon us as leaders. We hear it bellowing like an unseen monster up ahead, and we have a choice to look away, or to gaze upon it, and see just exactly what it is that we are up against. Learning agility and adaptive leadership is something I had studied with colleagues and clients; I began to look at the material again with fresh eyes.
When we look, as I’ve had to do again this year, we often find that the required change means leaving something behind that we don’t want to, or perhaps taking something on that we had hoped to avoid. It’s all the same – dreadful, chaotic – and it’s required. Over time I have found the same truth: staring the monster down helps define and put limits on it. Change put into action enables the chaos to peel away. You begin to find the way past it and find ordered progress again. This is what all arts leaders have been trying to do who have led through these difficult pandemic and post-pandemic years.
Here’s what I want to remind us: these times of apparent chaotic change also produce the greatest opportunities.
Decisions and Clarity
To speak plainly about our situation, the change I had to face was the reality that our fully remote consulting firm was arrayed and running like a much larger, centralized consulting firm. Changing in the ways we needed to would mean I would need to force change on others as well, because TRG would no longer have opportunities for some of my treasured and talented colleagues and friends. These are professionals of the highest quality, some of whom have served TRG Arts for more than a decade. The decision was wrenching; this is the last thing I wanted to do as a leader.
You may have seen or personally know some of the departing team members of TRG. I want to make it absolutely clear: none of the departures are a reflection of waning dedication or contribution. To a person, they all have my lasting gratitude for their positive and unmistakable imprint on TRG Arts, our services, our results, and our culture. The structural changes have been made to ensure that we can continue to serve our clients in the most optimal and high impact ways possible.
In practical terms we have adopted an adaptive leadership model, one that empowers and harnesses the creative talent within our team and enables us to repeatedly deliver higher value to the field we serve. This change will give every member of our team more agency to leverage data-driven insights and help clients achieve goals effectively and efficiently. We no longer have line managers; rather, employee accountability will be to our clients and to each of the members of their respective specialized focus teams that we call “hives.” Departmental management has been replaced with decentralized leadership, that helps enable and support our team, connects externally with the field and our clients, and reports to me and TRG’s board.
What it Means
I and we believe that these changes will make us more resilient, able to meet the needs of our clients at speed while reducing barriers. Our commitment to delivering personalized and innovative solutions remains unwavering. This change also helps drive TRG’s financial resiliency, which has been built on our nearly 30-year legacy of service excellence. We are steadfastly committed to building a thriving arts and cultural sector by enhancing our counsel, products, and services to better support every challenge and opportunity.
I hope that this transparency will help clarify any questions that may be circulating in our network. I hope it builds on the trust that we always hope to maintain with the sector, with whom our fortunes rise and fall. I also hope that other leaders in our industry who may be hearing the frightful call to change will be encouraged to look at it in full, and to remember that in the chaos of change there is also opportunity. You can and will become better through it.
Jill S. Robinson
CEO and Owner, TRG Arts
