Modern technology has created easier ways to find and connect with your tribe. It is an obligation on everyone to start to lead. The world is constantly changing the those organisations that continue to do yesterdays work and think that it will provide value in tomorrows world are going to die.
Two Key Take Away
- The status quo is slowly (sometimes quickly) killing organisations.
- There is no better time to be a heretic and lead a new tribe.
Chapter 1 – Intro
Main Point
A tribe is a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, connected to an idea – pg 1
Summary
Joel Spolsky is Changing the World – Joel runs a small software company but what he loves doing is teaching people how to run a small software company. People want connect and growth.
Long, Strange Trip – The Grateful Dead only had one top 40 album but they have been very successful creating a tribe. We want to be part of more than one tribe.
Tribes Used to be Local – The internet has allowed for the creation of tribes all over the world. Geography is no longer a limit in creating or finding your own tribe.
In Search of a Movement – Some tribes are stuck in the status quo. Change is terrifying for them. They just need some leadership to create a movement. A movement is a bunch of connected people, all working together, for something better.
Tribes aren’t so Squishy anymore – The internet is a tool to help connect with more people. But it is still just a tool. Tribes are about people.
How was the Syrah? – Gary V uses his enthusiasm and joy of wine to lead. The Tribe Inside – Mich Matthews leads Microsoft’s marketing. She leads internally. Your tribe doesn’t have to be an outside group.
The Opportunity – There are tribes everyone. Public/Private/Internal/External.
Chapter 2 – Why
Main Point
Creating tribes is about creating a vision of the future.
Summary
Something to Believe in – Tribes function with faith in an idea and a community. People want to work at place they believe in. Consumers now want to spend money on things they believe in. Status quo should be challenged.
Why Should you Lead? And Why Now? – The market rewards people that change and grow things and add value. Now is the time to lead new ideas, visions, of what the world can be.
Leadership is not Management – Managers oversee a process they understand. Leaders describe an idea of the unknown. Managers have employees, Leaders have followers. Managers want the status quo, Leaders understand change. Change is frightening to the status quo, it feels more like a threat than a promise.
It’s Good to be King – Kings want stability. They have all the power and surround themselves with people that benefit from them being king. Corporations mimic this dynamic with the CEO replacing the King. Marketing has disrupted this, it is about telling stories and engaging with tribes.
Stability is an Illusion – Humans want stability but the world is constant shifting and moving.
Partisans – Leaders take a position, when they connect with their tribe, and they help their tribe connect with an idea.
Making a Ruckus – It used to be that organisation grew by being reliable and trusted. Slow and steady won the race. Speed and change felt uncertain, that lead to the fear of failure. Now change and innovation is championed.
Leading from the Bottom – Thomas Barnett changed the Pentagon with no authority. You need skill and attitude to lead a tribe, not authority.
The Grateful Dead… and Jack – Marketer’s had to earn the right to suggest a sale. Now that message doesn’t go just down from the leader to the tribe, but sideways inside the tribe.
The Market Requires Change and that Requires Leadership – You listen to your manager or you might get fired. Managers aren’t good at change because its not their job. Leaders need to understand the organisation but can generate change with passion and ideas.
What does it Take to Create a Movement? – A movement happens when people talk to one another. Great leaders empower the tribe to communicate and create connections. They don’t command people to follow them.
Key Quotes
The fear (of change) that used to protect us at work, is now our enemy – pg 9
Chapter 3 – Communication
Main Point
A great tribe communicates with the leader, with each other, and with others.
Summary
Improving a Tribe – A bigger tribe doesn’t mean a better tribe. You can make a better tribe by turning the shared interest into a passionate goal and a desire for change, and provide tools for tighter communication.
What Tribes Leave Behind – Tribes aren’t about stuff, they are about connections. Connections lead to connections. Anatomy of a Movement – Senator Bill Bradley says a movement needs three things
- A narrative about who we are and the future we are trying to build
- A connection between the leader and the tribe
- Something to do – the fewer limits the better
Wikipedia – Wikipedia has very few staff but it one of the top websites in the world. How did this happen? Jimmy Wales (cofounder) didn’t tell people what to do, he didn’t manage the effort, he led it – Motivate, connect, and leverage pg 24.
Leading from the Bottom (with a newsletter) – Godin was 24 and was given a task he couldn’t complete with the staff he was given. He wrote a newsletter twice a week, talking about the team and what they were doing. Eventually everyone in the department joined his team officially or unofficially and they completed their work in time. He didn’t manage, he led.
Crowds and Tribes – A crowd is a tribe without a leader and without communication.
Marketing Changes Everything, but it mostly changes the Market – The market has spoken, it was novelty, and style, and stuff that is great.
The difference between Average and Mediocre – There isn’t really one. Average stuff is not talked about, taken for granted, and certainly not looked for.
How Many Fans do you have? – You just need a thousand true fans. They spread your message. There is a difference between having more eyeballs and a fan. A true leader isn’t looking for more eyeballs, they are working on turning a casual fan into a true fan. But it requires generosity and bravery.
Twitter and Trust and Tribes and True Fans – Technology will change, not it’s twitter and blogs. What matters isn’t the platform but building connections and trust.
Chapter 4 – Innovation
Main Point
Leaders create the innovation through their tribes, they fight the status quo which slows kills your organisation.
Summary
The Status Quo – Is like dying a slow death. How can you do things differently? Anyone can lead the change. Changing the status quo gives you an opportunity.
Initiative = Happiness – Fresh, new, remarkable products require innovation. You can’t manage your way to innovation. A nice side effect is making remarkable things is fun, fun work is engaging, so making successful things is a great way to spend your time.
Crowbars – With enough leverage you can move anything. The tools at your fingertips can you give that leverage if you would use them.
Scott Beale’s Party – Tribes are just waiting to be turned into movements. Scott used twitter to spread the message but he wouldn’t have gotten any response if he didn’t have the respect of his followers. The party didn’t take 4 minutes to organise, it took 4 years.
A Brief History of the Factory, Part 1 (The Beginning) – A factory is a place where the boss tells you what to do. It also helps that that means you aren’t responsible and it was safe and steady. The trouble is no one is motivated to make a difference, and you won’t find a tribe of customers excited to see what is coming out of there.
A Brief History of the Factory, Part 2 (The End) – The appeal of the factory died when 20000 Ford workers were layed off in one day. There is no stability any more. Working in a factory doesn’t let you have control over your time. So is it really a “Free Agent Nation”? – A term coined by Dan Pink for people leaving organisation. Organisations are important, it’s the factory mindset that needs to leave.
Key Quotes
In unstable times, growth comes from leaders who create change and engage their organisations, instead of from managers who push their employees to do less with more – pg 35
Chapter 5 – Fear
Main Point
The status quo stays with the status quo out of fear, you need to lead the tribe with hope not out of fear.
Summary
The F Word – Fear. There is not a shortage of ideas, but the best idea doesn’t always win. It is the one that gets action and has passion behind it.
Thinking your way out of Fear – The media show stories of people that challenged the status quo and failed, this builds fear. Be clear on what you are doing and your game plan to overcome the fear. What is the world going to look like when you succeed?
The Peter Principle Revisited – Not that you rise to the level of your incompetence, but you rise to the level at which you are paralyzed by your fear.
Worth Criticizing – A purple cow is memorable. Ideas the spread, win. Boring ideas don’t spread. Boring organizations don’t grow. Static work is no fun. Launch your purple cow into the market.
Fear of Failure is Overrated – It is not fear of failure, it is fear of criticism. Constructive Criticism is a great tool but most people don’t give the why they think it doesn’t work, just that it doesn’t work. It doesn’t open up the conversation to explore solutions.
The Cult of the Heretic – Challenging the status quo requires commitment. It involves reaching out to others and sharing your ideas, privately and publicly. The heretic must believe.
Chapter 6 – Coaching
Main Point
Create the space for the tribe then get out of the way. Your job is to lead not to do.
Summary
Should they Build a Statue of You? – Great leaders use their influence for the benefit of the tribe. The abuse the attention, nor do they take from the tribe, they deflect praise onto the tribe, they give.
The World’s Best Coach – Coach of Team Rock, Megan McDonald, connect and inspires, she doesn’t manage. She speaks to who needs to hear the information. No one cries, no shouting. The members of the team eventually start coaching each other.
Tighter – Rather than building your tribe bigger, build it tighter. Better more effective communication. Get them all on the same page then get out of their way.
Tactics and Tools for Tightness – The internet and social media has made it easier than ever to spread the word.
Discomfort – Few people want to lead because they are uncomfortable with what it requires from them. In that discomfort there is opportunity.
Followers – You don’t want people who just follow. You want engaged followers who can also lead. Leaning in,
Backing off, Doing Nothing – You want to set the scene for the tribe, then back off and let the tribe go. You don’t want to do nothing. Doing nothing feels very similar to backing off but its different. Backing off requires that you have set up the space for interaction and communication to happen.
Participating isn’t Leading – Joining a group and showing up isn’t leading.
Case Study – Crossfit – Cross fit has created a tribe where they can and want to share news and ideas, contribute with comradery. The tribe grows because members proudly talk about the tribe and for the tribe.
Case Study – Patientslikeme.com – Patients with life threating challenges are discussing their journey, their treatments, how they feel. There is no leader guiding it. The leaders set up the site and are now getting out of the way.
Three Hungry Men and a Tribe – Tribes have outsides and insiders. There is a blog about restaurant reviews within a 16 block radius in Seattle. Some people will like the reviews, some people won’t.
Curiosity – Be curious. It is risky to not be curious even though challenging the status quo feels like it a risk, it is actually less risky. Ask questions, talk to people, make connections, be curious.
Chapter 7 – Who is in your tribe?
Main Point
You need to figure out who should and shouldn’t be in your tribe, bigger sometimes isn’t better.
Summary
The Plurality Myth – You don’t need half the votes to win in your tribe. You don’t need any votes. You want to state your position and people will find you.
The School Teacher Experiment – Don’t try to please everyone. People choose to be in the tribe. Don’t spread your message wider, make it tighter. Make the tribe tighter.
The Virtuous Cycle versus the Exclusive Tribe – Some tribes work better when they are bigger. Some work better when they are smaller. This is your choice for your tribe.
Most People Don’t Matter So Much – Most people like the status quo, you are not most people. Don’t worry about most people, focus on the right people for you.
Does the Status Quo ruin your day? (Every Day) – Being a leader feels scary. You need to do things differently, you need to have a plan. Why bother?
They Burn Heretics at the Stake – Well they used to, now they celebrate them.
The Wrong Question – The question isn’t how do you do this. No one gives you permission to lead. You need belief in yourself and you ask for forgiveness later.
All You Need to Know is Two Things – Individuals have more power than ever in history. Individual people are changing the world and the course of history. The second this is that you are lacking faith. You need to have faith that stepping out to lead won’t destroy you.
The Balloon Factory and the Unicorn – A balloon factory is all about the status quo. They are afraid of everything. It is safe and consistent. Leaders challenge the status quo.
Leaders are Generous – What can you do for the tribe, not what can the tribe do for you. Leaders don’t have to be ego maniacs. Intent, authenticity, and integrity matter. Tribes can sniff out disingenuous leaders. Don’t Forget the
Big Mac and the Microwave Oven – The Big Mac wasn’t invented at head office, it was invented by Jim Delligiatti, a third tier franchise owner in 1967. He tried something and within a year the Big Mac was on every menu. The Microwave oven was created by Perry Spencer in 1947, He was a low ranking engineer. Change doesn’t have to come from the top. Ideas are generated at the coal face. The industries and factories that are afraid of change are the places best suited for growth and success when you break the rules.
Chapter 8 – Faith
Main Point
As a leader, you will need to have faith that your tribe is there, that your ideas work, that you can lead.
Summary
Climbing Rocks – Chris Sharma popularized the Dyno. A dynamic jumping movement in rock climbing. Before this, climbers stayed safe, always having two points of contact. Chris solved the problem of unpassable areas by jumping past them. At first people don’t like it, but they slowly came round to it. You have to risk something.
Who Settles – Managers do, you shouldn’t.
Fear, Faith, and Religion – You are trying to overcome the resistance of the status quo. This is very difficult. You need to have faith, faith then leads to hope. You need to overcome the religion of the institutional thought. IBM has a religion, how they think, how they talk, what you should wear. You have to have faith you can overcome this religion.
Religion Works Great when it amplifies Faith – Religion (social, financial, professional, spiritual etc.) works great when it helps give your faith a little boost when it needs it. The trouble is that many religions reinforce the status quo. This inability to adapt, change, and grow, leads to the death of the institution.
Challenge Religion and People Wonder if you are Challenging their Faith – Faith is the cornerstone of humanity, but faith is different from religion. Religion is a set of rules to live by. You need to create your own religion.
Switching Religions Without Giving Up Your Faith – People don’t give up their faith, they just switch their religion for reinforcing their faith.
Faith is what you do – Religion is the rules you follow, faith is the actions you take. The sacrifices you make. Leaders will tell you its worth it.
A Word for it – Religion and Faith are often confused, there is a word for someone who lacks faith, and atheist, but no word for someone who opposes a religion, we use Heretic.
Key Quotes
Leaning into the problem, made the problem go away – pg 67
The art of leadership is understanding what you can’t compromise on – pg 67
When you fall in love with the system, you lose your ability to grow – 71
Chapter 9 – Initiate
Main Point
A leader is proactive, they make the change to create the world they want.
Summary
Over-the-Top Underdog Bravery – Leaders work to change things. Winners never do. They keep do what is working and play it safe.
The Easiest Thing – Is to react, then respond, the hardest thing is to initiate. Reacting is instinctual, responding takes some thought, Initiating takes action to do something that no one else sees.
Take the Follow – The idea of leadership is to ‘take the lead’, but if you don’t know where you are going, you don’t have any ideas, sometimes its better to get out of the way and take the follow.
The Difference Between the Things that Happen to you and the Things you do – An employee has things happen to them, hired, fired, promoted. A leader does things. They see opportunities.
Permeability – It used to be that corporate culture was slow, unresponsive. Everyone knows the stories of people who made noise and got fired. Now that is all changing.
Leaders go First – The status quo is difficult for people to overcome. It is persistent and it feels safe. But if you look around you, it has all been changed by people who thought differently. Different ideas and business models have been upending old businesses.
Chapter 10 – Business Model
Main Point
Leadership means that you might need to change the business model, this creates the innovators dilemma of killing off someone that is successfully working now for something better in the future.
Summary
Watching the Music Business Die – What succeeded yesterday won’t necessarily work tomorrow. The new thing probably won’t be as good as the old thing at the start, but it will be better soon and the old thing won’t have time to adapt.
Don’t Panic When the New Business Model isn’t as Clean as the Old One – Changing a business model is never going to be easy or painless. However, it will hurt more if you don’t do it. The people that jump first will go through the growing pains and still be here. It is not about having a great idea, there are many great ideas. It is about taking the initiative, and leading.
Sheepwalking – A person who is raised to be obedient, do a brain dead job, and works under fear that if they do anything different they will lose their job. Don’t be one, don’t hire them.
How Was Your Day – Have you set your life up to be driven by your passion. Why would you want to escape your life if it’s one that you fully enjoy?
The Thermometer and the Thermostat – The thermometer tells you when something is broken. The thermostat manages to change the inside world to align with the outside world.
Your Micromovement – Your movement doesn’t have to be huge, it can be as big or as small as it needs to be.
The Key Elements to creating a micro movement
- Publish a manifesto
- Make it easy for your followers to connect with you
- Make it easy for your followers to connect with one another
- Realise that money is not the power of the movement
- Track your progress
Principles
- Transparency is really your only option
- Your movement needs to be bigger than you
- Movements that grow, thrive
- Movements are made most clear when compared to the status quo or a movement that works to push the opposite direction
- Exclude outsiders
- Tearing others down is never as helpful as building your followers up
Chapter 11 – Lead
Main Point
You have to start it. You have to be the energy to lead the tribe.
Summary
That Building Down the Street – All over the world, the status quo is slowly killing organisations. They do the same thing as last week and get the same results. The ritual makes sure the same thing happens. Status quo is the aim. Leadership is the antidote.
Every Tribe is Media Channel – Traditional media is pay for play. You pay them, you get air time. Tribes don’t work that way. They don’t say what you want, they say what they want. It’s why leading a tribe is so powerful.
How to Be Wrong – Realize is it not fatal. Many people have failed that have gone on to be ‘successes’. Do what you believe in, tell the story of the world you want to live in, and lead the people.
The Timing of Leadership – There is no perfect time. Sometimes there are very obvious moments, but often it is the non-obvious moment that requires leadership. Like now.
The Reactionary Tribe – Sooner or later the fast agile tribe becomes the big status quo seeking organisation. It is ok to leave the tribe and and have the people that still want change to follow you.
Possibility of Risk – There is always risk. But there is also always change. If you try to de-risk by expecting the world to be the same in the future you have added risk, not reduced it.
When Tribes Replace What You’re Used To – The market works as a way to reduce costs of creating something relative to what the tribe can make. That is why big business has worked. Now, the internet has made it easier and cheaper to make tribes so business tries to get bigger.
Initiative – It is a powerful tool, best it is so rare. People are afraid and want to keep the status quo. The irony is that the organisaitons that need initiative the most are the ones that shut it down. Stuck on Stupid – When the world changes, rules change – pg 97. If you don’t adapt to the new rules and are using old strategies for todays problems then you might be stuck on stupid.
Mark Rovner, Non-Profit Heretic – Mark thinks the old model of direct mail for donation is going to die. You need to turn these people into patrons, supporters, volunteers. Get them to spread the message. Get involved. Feel the movement.
The Posture of a Leader – If people don’t buy your stuff, get bored at your presentation, don’t learn what you are telling them, it’s on you. It is up to you to change and improve your message, your product, your delivery. Design your product to be easy to use. Speak where your audience will listen. Write your speech so the audience will understand.
Switching Tribes – People don’t like switching sides because switching is admitting you made a mistake. Don’t try to persuade the most loyal followers of another tribe, they will rarely switch. Find the passionate people who haven’t joined a tribe yet.
Not Now, Not Yet – With innovation, being too late is worse than being too early. Not yet helps the status quo keep status quo then you lose your first mover advantage. By the time you know you are ready for change it’s too late.
Understanding the Trick – Just because you understand how the trick is done doesn’t mean you can do it. Everyone understands the tactics of leadership, the challenge is in the art.
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised – You seldom see leadership in action, you only notice it after it has happened. The Market Leader isn’t the one that develops the innovation that turns the industry on it’s head.
Criticizing Hope Is Easy – Without hope there is no future. Leadership requires hope and passion but also how that can create a new vision of the world.
The Naked Violinist – Violin prodigy, Tasmin Little has continued her career where others have given up. Her latest music is given away for free. People thought this was crazy. But she saw where the world was going and decided to lead.
Writing Songs the Spread – Unicef created posters to encourage women in Uganda to vaccinate their children, they were beautiful posters, well written, but Uganda is 70% illiterate. They communicate by song. Your tribe might not communicate like you would like but they do communicate. The leaders job is to help them sing.
The X Prize – Peter Diamandis created the $10 million prize for the first team to successfully put a rocket 100ks into space twice in 2 weeks. The winning team spent $20 mil to do it. It wasn’t the idea that got teams to try it, it was the leadership.
Who Cares? – If no one cares then you have no tribe. Caring is the central emotion that holds the tribe together.
The Elements of Leadership – pg 107
- Leaders challenge the status quo
- Leaders create a culture around their vision and involve others in their culture
- Leaders are curious about the world they are trying to change
- Leaders use charisma (in its variety of forms) to attract and motivate followers
- Leaders communicate their vision of the future
- Leaders commit to a vision and make decisions based on that commitment
- Leaders connect their followers to one another
Understanding Charisma – There are people with charisma from all walks of life. Having charisma doesn’t make you a leader, being a leader makes you charismatic.
Ronald Reagan’s Secret – People want to be heard, they care less about if you did or did not do what they said.
Key Quotes
Rules get in the way of the principle – pg 90
Chapter 12 – Future Work
Main Point
Work is going to always adapt and change, you need to lead that change. Change is normal, everything changes.
Summary
The Forces of Mediocrity – There will always be resistance to your ideas. Every failure thrown in your face. If it were any other way everyone would do it. Don’t give in to the resistance.
How to Sell a Book (or Any New Idea) – Sell it to one person. Have them tell their friends because it adds value to them, not because it helps you. Tribes recruit other people, that is how they go. Give them a platform to spread the message.
Hard Just Got Easy – Things that used to be hard can now be ticked off a to-do list. What is hard is breaking the rules. Los Angeles Philharmonic hired 26 year old Gustavo Dudamel to be their new conductor. He didn’t have the resume of to do the hard work of yesterday, but he has the leadership to take the philharmonic to the future. You can always find people to do yesterdays hard work.
Which Would You Prefer : Trial or Error? – Things don’t change over night. They gradually change one bit at a time. You have to stick with your dream for a long time.
Positive Deviants – Management doesn’t want deviance, they think it will ruin their targets. But Leaders understand that change is always happening and should be looking for the deviants who do things differently. Jerry Sternin approached helping starving children in Vietnam differently. He didn’t impose outside ideas onto the village, he searched for the mothers that we thriving and gave them a spotlight to teach the others.
The Obligation – There are people close to you that don’t have the same chance as you. It is not an opportunity, it is an obligation to change the world for the better. To do things differently. To play a different game and play it better than anyone has every done.
Where Credit is Due – Real Leaders don’t care. They spread the credit to others. You are not trying to get credit, you are trying to create change.
The BIG YES – in contrast to the little no. The little no’s are easy to find and feel safe. The BIG YES is about risk and change and leadership. Imagination – You can’t lead without it. Leaders create things that haven’t been created yet.
Fierce Protection – Compromise might speed things up, but it also kills things.
Belief – People don’t believe what you show or tell them. Leaders give people stories they can tell themselves. People believe what they tell themselves.
Why Not You, Why Not Now? – There is nothing stopping you from leading right now. Waiting doesn’t pay, saying yes does.
The Perfect Fallacy – Quality is not necessary for everything. Perfect is an idea that protects the status quo. It hides from change because change is never perfect.
Yahoo and the Peanut Butter Memo – Brad Garlinghouse wrote a memo to management that got leaked. It was every heretics worst nightmare, he got in trouble. But the memo made big changes and Brad got a bigger job.
What Do You Have to Lose? – Brad didn’t leak the memo, but he did share a very honest appraisal with his boss. The worst that would happen is he would get fired and go work for someone else. What are you waiting for?
Case Study : No Kill – Nathan Winograd changed the way the many towns deal with their animals. Traditionally they kill animals that don’t get adopted. Winograd following his mentor, Richard Avonzino’s method. He set a vision for the future and people left the team. They didn’t want to join the tribe. Then he went around and told his message to anyone he could, building the tribe. He would get 80% adoption rates where the national average was between 10 – 20%.
The Look of a Leader – There is no physical trait of a leader, no gene, just a decision to lead.
What, Exactly, Should You Do Now? – Go out and lead. The status quo will tell you to stop. It will put up road blocks. Make you question yourself. Every leader that is asked whether they are happy with their choice to lead always says yes.
One Last Thing – Spread the word of leadership.
Key Quotes
If your organisation requires success before commitment, it will have neither – pg 112
Interested in supporting my page by purchasing this book, click here
Luke McMeeken-Ruscoe 
2 thoughts on “Tribes by Seth Godin”