Investigating How the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Has Grown as a Learning Organization

Impact-Driven Strategy
Written By Cathy Sigmond

Client: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History | Location: Washington, DC

 
 

We explored how the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History grew as a learning organization after opening an interactive and experimental new science-learning space for the public.

OVERVIEW

Q?rius (pronounced “Curious”) opened at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) in December 2013. The new science-learning space was a major investment for NMNH and represented a substantial shift in its use of public space. 

Staff sensed that creating and opening Q?rius was a turning point for NMNH toward becoming a learning organization–that is, an organization that cultivates continuous learning and knowledge-sharing. We worked with NMNH to explore the extent to which it did grow as a learning organization by measuring six key values of learning organizations: collaboration, experimentation, knowledge-sharing, feedback, reflection, and aspirational thinking. 

APPROACH

 We conducted a mixed-methods evaluation, that included three discrete parts:

  • A planning workshop with 20 NMNH staff to clearly define what makes a learning organization 

  • One-on-one and group interviews with 60 NMNH staff across a broad cross-section of departments and levels of interaction with Q?rius to get a rich and nuanced understanding of staff’s experiences and perspectives on NMNH as a learning organization

  • An online questionnaire sent to a large pool of NMNH staff, informed by the interview findings, to understand experiences and perceptions on a large scale across the whole organization

CLIENT TAKEAWAYS

Overall, we found that NMNH possessed some, but not all of the values of a learning organization, and that Q?rius had positively influenced the museum toward this end. In particular, Q?rius and the related evolution of NMNH’s Education Department strengthened collaboration across all staff. However, there were still deeply embedded structural barriers (e.g., silo culture, bureaucracy, competing staff priorities) to overcome.  

Based on our evaluation results, NMNH began revising staff performance plans to integrate learning organization values (e.g., experimentation) so that staff time spent in pursuit of learning organization values is recognized and prioritized, rather than lost among other responsibilities.

The results of this study were published in a co-authored article in Curator: The Museum Journal.

Cathy Sigmond

Cathy brings many years of experience in education and experience design to her role as Head of Strategy at Kera Collective. 

Having previously worked in a variety of educational settings, Cathy is driven by her constant fascination and delight at how people make discoveries about the familiar and the unfamiliar. 

Cathy loves helping to shape experiences that spark curiosity and make a difference in people’s lives. She particularly enjoys the rapid, iterative nature of design-based research and the deep insights that come from qualitative research, especially on projects exploring interactions with the digital and built environments. 

Cathy shares her passion for experience design research widely and regularly guest lectures for graduate programs, including the Fashion Institute of Technology’s Exhibition and Experience Design Program and the Pratt Institute’s School of Information. Cathy served as the co-chair of the Museum Computer Network’s Human-Centered Design special interest group from 2018-2021.

Outside of work, you can usually find Cathy playing soccer, thrifting, or making her way through her large cookbook collection. 

Cathy’s favorite museum experiences are immersive; she will always vividly remember walking through the giant heart at the Franklin Institute, being surrounded by birds at the Peabody Essex Museum, and hearing centuries-old instruments come to life at the Museum of Musical Instruments. 

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