In conversations about why people are not attending arts and cultural events and experiences the concept of the work being too complicated for people to understand or perhaps, more complicated than they are willing to make an effort to understand, is often raised.
Seth Godin addressed this idea in a post where he broke things down challenging readers to consider who are the people, what constitutes “complicated,” and what degree of understanding is necessary.
He suggests complicated “just might mean, “we don’t understand it yet.”
And that people don’t need a deep understand the workings of things like iPhones or appliances like refrigerators to see the value in those items.
The people who were moved by The Rite of Spring or Miles Davis or Esperanza Spalding might not have understood the music but it still succeeded.
People walk away when it’s not worth the effort to pay attention. People ignore innovation when the network effect is insufficient to overcome their fear. People rarely understand something the same way the creator does, but that’s okay.
Our first job is to do work that matters for people who care. It helps to follow that up with the scaffolding needed to cause cultural change, so the idea spreads.
Many arts organizations have recognized that people often have an anxiety about not being able to understand what they are experiencing or grasp the arcane rules of behavior and dress. There will be attempts to communicate to people not to worry and come as they are, but as I referenced in my post yesterday, sometimes the other attendees aren’t on board with that messaging and demand stricter rules of behavior.
Sometimes the network effect of peers and others showing interest and investment in the experience can overcome those concerns, as Godin notes. But it is more likely, as he suggests, you will need to create a framework in which not understanding is not viewed as a detriment.
That may include creating a different context or lens through which the experience is viewed. Which could also involve the way it is marketed or positioned in relation to other events or physical settings.
It may also require communicating a change of perspective to more experienced attendees to encourage them to be your partner in encouraging the participation of newer folks.
Though it could require recruiting a new audience.
One thing Godin is adamant about is not dumbing content “down to reach people who don’t want to be reached in the first place.”
It is more a matter of what folks like Nina Simon have been advocating for over a decade – providing new doors through which people can enter and have an experience.
Thanks. Your explanation provides a lot of clarity on the concept that I was missing. Even as I wrote it,…