Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts is about to turn 150. But hitting that big round anniversary doesn’t mean it’s a fossilized cultural organization. Just the opposite. The MFA attitude is young, vital, experimental. We learned this when we partnered with this storied institution to redesign their membership program. In this episode of The Resonance Test, Brandon Tirrell, our Associate Director of Innovation Consulting, talks about the project with Katie Getchell, Chief Brand Officer and Deputy Director at the MFA, and Julia Propp, Director of Membership. What happened when we showed up slinging human-centered design? Getchell says she and Propp were surprised in that “everybody around the table kind of lit up at the idea. It wasn’t as hard as maybe we might have feared.” Listen to Getchell and Propp talk about how the MFA did some bold, improvisational prototyping all on their own! This story proves than a venerable-yet-open-minded org can learn new kinds of flexibility. Or as Propp puts it: “Being comfortable with ambiguity was a muscle that we had to learn how to flex.”
Hosts: Brandon Tirrell and Pete Chapin
Editor: Kyp Pilalas
Producer: Ken Gordon
About the Author
Brandon TirrellSenior Business StrategistBrandon has a passion for working at the nexus of creative and analytical thought. He loves designing spreadsheets just as much as designing furniture and believes that the right constraints produce the best ideas.
At Continuum, Brandon uses financial models and business reasoning to support innovation and help clients say “yes” to new ideas. He’s worked across industries, including construction, education, retail, and financial services.
Brandon earned an MBA with Distinction at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and a BS with Honors in physics from Dickinson College.More from Brandon Tirrell
Ken GordonChief Communications SpecialistKen makes EPAM Continuum’s work visible to the necessary people. He creates superlative content, works with colleagues to do the same, and employs social networks to share it widely.
A card-carrying humanist, Ken co-founded QuickMuse, the improvisational writing website, and JEDLAB, the Jewish education community. He has written for TheAtlantic.com, the New York Times, and many other pubs.
Ken has an English degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and an MA in English from the State University of New York at Albany. He framed both diplomas long ago, but can’t seem to find them now—a fact he considers all-too-human.
More from Ken Gordon
