Finding Your Tribe Level 3
Getting a tribe going
What does it take to start a movement? A movement is when you create energy in a different direction. If you decide to raise your arms, it requires a movement. It requires neurons from your brain to send to your arm to move it. If anything is incomplete in your process you will spasm or the movement will not happen. Usually when we are trying to assemble tribes, we have goals and common interests with our fellow members of our tribe. The more support that you have in your tribe from many different members will dictate how fast and how successful your movement will be.
In many corporations, there is a controlling person that sends memos and orders that tell his subordinates what to do. An effective tribe leader will be able to compel or incite a movement from his people’s hearts. You may have heard that someone was arrested for inciting a riot. They sent out notes, directions, and battle plans about where, when, and what to do for the riot. What the leader of the tribe does is find current passions, emotions, and ideas that the tribal members already have, and direct these feelings toward a common goal.
In Derek Sivers's video “How to Start a Movement” which is about a group of people at a rock concert. Everyone at the rock concert has an interest in the band or music. Everyone at the rock concert also has a community. If they didn’t have a community, they would stay at home and listen to records. Everyone at the rock concert wants to dance. The problem that they all face is that shame, blame, and fear. They are ashamed because they think that they do not dance very well. They are afraid that other people will make fun of them. They are afraid that they will appear foolish and lose friendship because of their stupidity for dancing.
When a movement is starting, all it takes is one person who is lacking shame. This person has the same love of music, community, and dancing that other people have. His passion for this supersedes the shame, blame, and fear that is keeping other people from dancing.
In order to elicit dancing, the leader has to set an example, get two or three first followers, and show them one or two very simple dance moves that are easily repeatable. They in turn will find two or three people who are empowered by their courage to dream. Once the movement reaches a critical mass, then everyone rushes to join, fearful of being left out.
Depending on what you want to do, this critical mass could vary. If this is a local movement it may only require ten to fifteen people to achieve critical mass. If this is a regional movement it could take fifty to one hundred people to achieve critical mass. If it is a national movement it could take a thousand people. If it is a global movement it could take upward of ten to thousand.
In virology they found that it requires 18 people to become infected by a virus before the disease is contagious. Every person who becomes infected has to infect 18 more people before the infection is passed onto the next person. If it is less than eighteen people are infected, then the disease will die out and will no longer be contagious.
A tribe has a mind virus or meme that is shared by the tribal members. This meme or mind virus needs to be passed on to other people in order to create a movement. The word meme signifies a general idea or direction that a person’s mind has. Another word that is more familiar to other people is a theme that is a common idea in a story or speech. If you include the word thesis and meme this makes the word theme.
In order for the mind virus to pass from one person to the next, we will need to infect more than 18 people. The original ones will fight off the idea, drop it, and forget about it. This doesn’t mean that talking to 18 people will get you one new permanent follower. What it entails is that eventually finding 18 people that think that your idea is great and wonderful, that you will find one more person in your tribe that your idea will stick with.
Critical mass is achieved if you infect enough people that your current five or ten members are infecting other members to make up for the ones that may have dropped out. In order to create a meme that we can spread, we create a story that will carry it. Several examples are “The Little Boy That Cried Wolf” “The Emperor with No Clothes” and “The Little Boy with the Thumb in the Dam”. These stories are simple and easy to understand, and people can repeat the story to their friends as they are easy to remember.
In order to get your tribe going, you need to create a story that others can repeat. You will also need to create a space whether this is a building, a park, or the internet for people to come to. The most important part of the movement is not the leader, it is the second and third followers. Leaders are rebels and usually know nothing better than the way they are acting. It takes little courage for them to act this way because this is what they are. Leaders are generally people without shame “personas sin verguenza”. The second and third followers demonstrate the real courage and enthusiasm that it takes for the movement to become infectious.
Once you have achieved your tribe, you feel more comfortable, because other tribe members understand what you are doing, and why you are doing it. If you went out into the public wearing a Batman suit, or Wonder Woman costume. But if you go to Comic Con, wearing such outfits, people will flock around you.
One mark of a True Fan is that they will always bring three of their friends. They will pay more for the first edition, or a more advanced class. They will showcase the vision of the tribe in their mannerisms, their work, and in their lives. A corporation will need millions of people in order to succeed, whereas a tribe will only need about 100.
Write down who is in your tribe. Examine how much time you are spending with each of the members of your tribe, and how much time you would ideally spend with each of them. Do you consider yourself the leader of the tribe or the second or third follower? What roles do each of the people play in your tribe?