TIME names MuSo one of the World's 100 Greatest Places for 2024

TIME Magazine has named MuSo, the Museum of Solutions, one of the World's 100 Greatest Places for 2024.

Congratulations to my beloved (brave, visionary, foolhardy, loving, stubborn :) MuSo colleagues — and the kids and community who keep it real there, every day.

MuSo is in good company here. Fifty-one cultural and nature/heritage destinations in 31 countries are named in TIME's list, among them are the Putep ‘t-awt nature trail and whale observatory in Quebec, Canada; the Ivomo Tea Cooperative in Gisakura, Rwanda; and the Bab Al Salam Mosque in Muscat, Oman.

These are marvelous destinations indeed! But for my own part, as I've said before, I'm a little uncomfortable with these kinds of honors. They can feel arbitrary and superficial, and there are always hundreds of other extraordinary places, projects, and communities, all over the world, that will never get the recognition and support they deserve.

Also, as part of MuSo's founding team, I know our blind spots and skeletons-in-the-closet all too well: If only the reviewers knew too…LOL! My lips are sealed!

That being said, little winks of recognition like TIME's Greatest Places list provide a kind of validation that is incredibly useful to the teams and founders/funders who leap into the void, almost literally*, to start and sustain risky projects like MuSo.

It's scary — a vulnerable feeling — to create a startup venture of any kind, let alone one that seeks to reach so deeply, and so publicly, into the "now" and futures of young people. A billion decisions must be made, often quickly and in a vacuum of expertise and evidence, and it can be hard to tell which decisions are consequential or costly, right or wrong, until long after the moment has passed. Successes often feel quiet and fleeting, while mistakes can be public and harsh.

And a new concept like MuSo is an uncertain proposition for visitors and community too: What is this strange, new place? What will be expected of me? What will I do there? How will it make me feel?

So the editorial imprimatur of TIME — really every sliver of evidence that something new is heading in a good direction — really does help to give founders, funders, teams and communities some confidence that the bold new thing they're creating together makes sense at some level.

That's half the battle, as far as I'm concerned: to gain the confidence and resilience to keep working on hard things together ("Work that matters", as Tim O'Reilly once said), whether in the schoolyard, at the family dinner table, or on a global scale.

In a way, there's some symmetry in this equation. Some poetry too. Finding confidence and resilience is in the meta-purpose of MuSo: to help everyone keep working together — joyfully, purposefully, and playfully — until we get the good stuff right.

//

This post on LinkedIn (link)
TIME's 100 Greatest Places, 2024, MuSo: https://time.com/6992399/museum-of-solutions/
The whole list: https://time.com/collection/worlds-greatest-places-2024/

* During MuSo’s construction I almost stepped off a scaffolding into an open 9-story stairwell.

Leaving Mumbai

After 4 years on the project and a year as Director I’ve packed my bags and said goodbye, for now, to my fabulous friends, colleagues and community at the Museum of Solutions (MuSo), Mumbai. Thank you! I am overwhelmed by your kindness and generosity and I’ve learned more from you than you’ll ever know!

It was a privilege to help nurture this new museum and its library (LiSo, the Library of Solutions) from concept to reality; to help build and lead the founding team; and to welcome tens of thousands of visitors to our new state-of-the-art building — “a world-class space to champion the art of finding solutions,” as a reviewer at Condé Nast Traveler recently put it — unique in Mumbai and India, if not the world.

Four years ago Tanvi Jindal, MuSo’s founder, asked if I would help her think about a new “museum of solutions” she was envisioning for the site of an old industrial building in the middle of Mumbai.

How could we create a new kind of museum in one of the world’s largest and most challenging cities to catalyze action for the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, foster new approaches to education, and help young people make meaningful change in the world together?

…And could we also make it fun?

Though Mumbai and India were new to me, this question of museums, play, and civic impact was not. Through years of work with the Smithsonian Institution, the U.N., and other cultural and civil-society conveners around the world I’ve been part of a decades-long movement to *flip the script* on traditional museum practice and help people use their own cultural institutions as platforms for the public good.

And this moment demands nothing less.

With a population of 22 million, Mumbai is indicative of the world’s 40+ megacities (cities with over 10 million inhabitants). Along with megacities like Shanghai, Jakarta, Paris, and L.A., Mumbai is home to daunting social and environmental problems — as well as astonishing creativity and drive. But the problems and the vitality often seem to live in different worlds.

Mumbai is India’s financial capital but over half of its residents live in slums. It is India’s innovation and creative hub (Bollywood! The city of dreams!) but many of its neighborhoods will be underwater by midcentury, drowned by rising seas due to climate change. Education is highly valued, but it is predominantly structured around rote memorization and test achievement, not the world as we see it today.

Young people are often caught in the middle of this dynamic, squeezed between a daily fight for survival, antiquated educational and social systems, and their own profound abilities to see and create a future filled with beautiful change.

Furthermore, young people — all people — have a fundamental human right to be involved in the decisions that will affect their futures, but too few conveners will help them find their way.

If we can learn to solve problems in places like Mumbai we stand a good chance of surviving and thriving in the 21st century. Museums like MuSo can be a kind of civic infrastructure in this regard. By being bold, inclusive, and action-oriented — rooted in reality but also participatory and fun — we can bring people together to build social capital and elevate everyone’s ability to imagine and build a future that is joyous, sustainable, and just.

What’s next for me? I don’t know — I’m still catching up on sleep and processing what I’ve learned! But with any luck, I’ll keep working in this direction: young people and their grownups in vital civic spaces, enthralled by the chance to play and explore together — making life better one small solution at a time.

//

This text is a slightly expanded version of this post on LinkedIn.

Group selfie, Codeavor India National Event. 6 April 2023. CC-BY

I was lucky enough to be the “guest of honor” and keynote speaker at the 2024 Codeavor India National Event in Delhi. Codeavor is a kind of international hackathon and science fair with over 300,000 kids from 70+ countries using robotics, AI, and design thinking to develop their own solutions to the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals.

I was there representing the Museum of Solutions and there was a line of kids wanting my autograph [!!] and/or a selfie, so we decided to try a group selfie to save some time. :) :)

To the right of the frame with a big smile on his face is Dr. Sreejit Chakrabarty, Director of AI at GEMS Education in Dubai — a brilliant guy and fun to be with!

Announced today: Director of the Museum of Solutions, Mumbai (MuSo)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Museum of Solutions, Mumbai
May 10, 2023

Today we are proud to announce the appointment of Michael Peter Edson as the Chief Museum Officer (museum director) of the Museum of Solutions. Edson, an internationally renowned museum professional, will be responsible for leading the museum’s mission to inspire and empower young people to solve the world’s most pressing problems.

“Mike has been a long-time friend and supporter of MuSo,” said Tanvi Jindal the museum’s Founder. “He is a visionary and empathetic leader with a passion for the social impact of museums. Mike’s creative drive and his deep commitment to the rights and capabilities of young people make him an ideal leader for our organization.”

With over 30 years of experience in museums, Edson has long been at the forefront of transformational change in the cultural sector. Edson was formerly the Director of Web and New Media Strategy for the Smithsonian Institution, the world’s largest museum and research complex in Washington, D.C., and he was the co-founder of the Museum for the United Nations - UN Live, where he forged a new vision to catalyze global effort towards the sustainable development goals of the U.N.. Edson is a frequent speaker on the topic of technology, culture, and social change, and he has been active as a consultant and collaborator in over 20 countries.

“MuSo is a groundbreaking initiative: full of global significance, but founded on a true love for the people and future of Mumbai,” said Edson. “The world is changing quickly and museums are changing too. Traditionally, museums have looked backward at the past through the eyes of a few experts — today, museums are looking toward the future, inspired to make a better world with and for the communities they serve. I am honored to be joining the Museum of Solutions at this important time.”

Mike will join the team full-time in August.

About MuSo

The Museum of Solutions (MuSo) is a new, state-of-the-art museum in Mumbai, India, dedicated to inspiring and empowering people to solve the world’s most pressing problems. MuSo’s exhibits and programs will explore a variety of topics, including climate change, poverty, and inequality through hands-on exploration and playful learning. The museum will open its new, purpose-built 100,000 square foot facility in the heart of Mumbai's Upper Parel district in 2023.
Press release, Museum of Solutions, May 10, 2023 (via LinkedIn)
A small picture gallery about the museum is here (my photos).

Sustainable Business Strategy

Professor Rebecca Henderson, delivering the final remarks for Sustainable Business Strategy

Professor Rebecca Henderson, delivering the final remarks for Sustainable Business Strategy

I just completed a 4-week class on Sustainable Business Strategy from Harvard Business School / HBS Online as part of a cohort of 398 people from 74 countries — by far the most diverse and international learning environment I’ve ever been a part of.

Case studies and other avenues of investigation included,

  • Unilever (supply chains, multi-sector coalitions, the business case for human/environmental sustainability {"Business can't succeed in a world that's failing" - Paul Polman"})

  • Walmart (human resources; "pre-competitive" collaboration; purpose)

  • Norsk Gjenvinning (a Norwegian waste management company, "jumping the S-curve" to a new strategy and standard of practice — very badass)

  • King Arthur Flour (employee-owned, B corps, stakeholder value); The business value of "ESG" (Environment, Society, Governance) reporting

  • Universal Investors (super-scale investors, and their pragmatic need to address systemic environmental/social problems to ensure future success)

  • Inclusive vs. Extractive Institutions ("extractive" being those that concentrate wealth/power in few/elites)

  • Barrick Gold in Papua New Guinea: a case study on corporate responsibility and the UN @globalcompact (And I am ashamed/amazed to say that I knew almost nothing about the Global Compact before this course, despite 4 years of work w UN in almost exactly that same problem space — sheesh! Lifelong learning FTW!)

  • Some inputs and perspectives from various members of the Harvard Business School / Kennedy School faculty, including, poignantly, Marshall Ganz

  • And, hah, frequent guest appearances from The Tragedy of the Commons and the Prisoner's Dilemma, who were ever present as an explanation for why cooperation is both necessary, and (sometimes) challenging.

in the online context and with such a large/diverse international cohort, I wished the cases and voices were less about US and European firms, laws, and institutions and more about the thinking and methods of actors in different contexts. Though understanding the potential leverage of companies like Unilever and Walmart is essential, I feel that we missed an opportunity to train ourselves to learn from the 6 billion people and millions of firms and initiatives that exist outside the Western Establishment Business and Academic Bubble (WEBAB?!).

LOL this is starting to sound like a book review, which is not my intention. I’m really just processing here…

I'm left with a much deeper appreciation for the business value — the absolute necessity — of "doing good", and for the profound importance of multi-stakeholder efforts (gov, biz, civil society, culture, "the people") for driving change.

Kudos to Rebecca Henderson, the professor, architect, and soul of the course. I didn’t expect to cry at the end of a business strategy class, but I did. Here are Rebecca Henderson’s final remarks.

This is in some ways a terrifying moment to be alive. But it is also profoundly exciting. In the great scheme of things, we're all dust in the wind, and no single one of us can change the world alone. But we can be absolutely sure that if we decide to do nothing, nothing will happen. People sometimes ask me why they should think about sustainability when the world of business is hard enough on its own. You will not be surprised to hear that I tell them that thinking about sustainability will make them a great deal of money. But when I've known them for a while, I also tell them that the answer is that giving one's life to the hard problems creates a sense of joy and meaning that money cannot buy and gives you great companions for the journey.