Ignite 2024: Joe Hobson

Last year at MCN, I organized a panel called Lessons from the Life Cycle. But in preparing for that panel, I started a fight with someone on my team about a certain feature in our platform we were launching. In Museable, you create digital exhibitions. You craft stories around museum's items. And it takes quite a bit of time and thought.

We all know what that's worth. I was insisting that we prioritize features that respect the customers, or to put it another way, that we don't intentionally make it difficult for them to leave. It's right there in our company values. Leave when you want. No one is locked in. But the other guy, well, the best way I could sum up what he wanted, was to tell them, as Miss Badu says, "They better call Tyrone."

For those of you that are familiar with the song, it's not the best analogy. She's throwing him out, and he deserves it. I think it's safe to say that her mate is a he, right? Well, let's look at what you know about the characters in this story. Miss Badu has obviously had just about enough. And he's either oblivious or possibly a terrible person.

I And then you add in Jim, John, Paul, and Tyrone, and things get worse. They're just incompatible. They, not a good fit. The fight that instigated all this, uh, what was it really about though? On the surface, it was about a software feature. But I was starting to question the type of relationship that we were seeking.

We were positioning usable as software as a service, or SaaS. It's all the rage with startups. But this represents a huge shift in the way we interact with our customers. To me, it feels more like dating apps, and as a serial monogamist, the idea was exciting, but a bit uncomfortable. Now, monogamy has its advantages and its disadvantages.

Even with the right match, you may start out just fine, and then you fall into that seven year itch, and it's devastating when it goes poorly. Of course, the trend right now is all about the poly, and maybe that's the real reason he was trying to bring around Jim and John and Paul and Tyrone. If we're going to reject that establishment, though, as well as the new trends, why not consider a throwback to a different era.

There's something very appealing about a small group of people that are shared values and coming together with clearly articulated vision. But much like the hippie communes, you have to be careful who you get into bed with in open source. As you can see, there's more than one way to frame your relationship. Along those lines, if you haven't heard of the local first software movement, it definitely fits the ethos of the cultural heritage sector.

Now, these may not apply to everyone, with Musetech, there are some very real differences between the large and small organizations that don't get mentioned very often. But regardless of the type of relationship, we all need a better way to define what makes a good match. This quote from Dan Savage is one of my favorites, about an overall measure relationship.

Good, giving, and gain, the three G's. What we should all be for our partners, and what we should have a right to expect from our partners. Now, your first instinct may be to consider people in your life and where they fall in each section of that gauge. But what if you look at yourself? As they say, be the change you wish to see in the world.

Plenty of people will tell you that they're good, but it takes work. It requires self reflection, being open to criticism, always looking for ways to improve. Fighting for one little feature doesn't make you good. And to be giving, there should be no expectation of immediate return. We should be doing it for goodness sake, not because we want to sell some more widgets.

Now through this lens, my fight over calling Tyrone was indicative of a big, a bigger issue. We weren't just ignoring one feature or looking for the wrong type of relationship. We weren't being a good partner. And considering GGG, the one we needed most was to be game. To be open, to open ourselves up to the possibilities.

To explore, to say yes. I didn't know it at first, but that fight was a much needed start on a year of self reflection. We've come a long way since that fight, and we have MCN to thank for that. This started a pivot for our organization to be a better partner. After 20 years as Navigation North, we're shifting to Musable.

Restructuring as a benefit corp, embracing open source, focusing on the needs of small museums. Regardless of the analogies though, I challenge you to be more intentional and self reflective, to be good, giving, and game. Thank you.