Biggest Challenges Faced By a Head of Exhibitions at UC Santa Cruz Institute of the Arts and Sciences
Louise's biggest challenge as Head of Exhibitions is the fast-paced environment with "multiple projects, multiple people, a lot of different time constraints," requiring constant flexibility and creative problem-solving to adapt to unforeseen challenges and shifting priorities, even if it means scrapping plans and starting over. This demanding but stimulating role necessitates a capacity for rapid adaptation and resilience in the face of unexpected setbacks.
Project Management, Problem-Solving, Teamwork, Resilience, Fast-Paced Environments
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Louise Leong
Head of Exhibitions
UC Santa Cruz Institute of the Arts and Sciences
University of California Santa Cruz, 2012
N/A
Fine Arts, Music
Arts, Entertainment & Media, Education
Operations and Project Management
LGBTQ, First Generation College Student
Video Highlights
1. Fast-paced work environment: The role demands adaptability and flexibility due to rapidly changing priorities and multiple projects with various constraints.
2. Creative problem-solving: Unexpected challenges and the need for creative solutions are inherent to the job, requiring resourcefulness and innovative thinking.
3. Importance of teamwork and collaboration: Successfully navigating the fast-paced environment and overcoming unforeseen challenges necessitates effective teamwork, collaboration, and open communication among team members.
Transcript
What is your biggest challenge in your current role?
My biggest challenge in my current role is that things move very fast here. I think I do a good job keeping up, but sometimes it can be overwhelming.
There can be multiple projects, multiple people, and a lot of different time constraints. It's easy to get into a spiral of thinking, "How are we going to pull this off?" Being flexible helps with that.
I've had to redo this installation schedule three times in the last couple of weeks. Each time, I think I've got it and we're going to follow it. But being flexible allows me not to get too attached to any one plan.
It does get frustrating when there are best practices we want to follow, and we want to ensure we're doing everything better. However, there are ideals where, ideally, we would do something a certain way and have a specific amount of time to do it, and that's just not always possible.
Sometimes it's challenging when it feels like there aren't enough hours in the day to accomplish everything. Or when it seems like everyone is working as hard as they can, yet a new, unforeseen challenge arises.
It is a bummer to get things wrong, where something we spent a lot of time on turns out not to be the right way to go for an installation. We have to scrap that whole idea and try something else.
There might be a delay on something, or we can't get something to work. There's troubleshooting involved. But in general, the ongoing challenging thing is that work is really fast-paced with many different moving pieces.
That's the challenging part, but it's also the stimulating part. It drives creative problem-solving. So, it's both of those things.
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