Seth Godin: Tribes 📙

Meine Notizen

Was ist ein tribe?

“A group needs only two things to be a tribe: a shared interest and a way to communicate.” (S. 1)

• Das River-Forum ist das perfekte Beispiel für so einen Tribe.
• Allerdings: Wer hat diesen Tribe angeführt? Ein River-Member, z.B. die heavy poster wie Peter? Die Forum-Hosts? Oder Bruce Springsteen, quasi virtuell?

„The communication can be one of four kinds:

• Leader to tribe
• Tribe to leader
• Tribe member to tribe member
• Tribe member to outsider“ (S. 21)

“You can’t have a tribe without a leader — and you can’t be a leader without a tribe.” (S. 2)

“That’s what makes it a tribe, of course. There are insiders and outsiders.” (S. 54)

• Tribes haben immer auch andere tribes, gegen die sie sich richten.
• Wenn es “die anderen” nicht gibt, dann gibt es auch “wir” nicht.

Was tribes mit uns machen

“Human beings can’t help it: we need to belong. One of the most powerful of our survival mechanisms is to be part of a tribe, to contribute (and take from) a group of likeminded people.” (S. 2)

“We are drawn to leaders and their ideas, and we can’t resist the rush of belonging and the thrill of the new.” (S. 2-3)

• The thrill of the new… Ein tribe will von seinem Leader immer wieder was Neues hören. Sie sind neugierig drauf!

🔥 “Tribes are about faith — about belief in an idea and in a community.” (S. 8)

• Genau darum geht es ja auch in religiösen Glaubensgemeinschaften wie dem Christentum: Menschen, die an das Gleiche glauben und die sich um diesen Glauben an einem Ort (”Kirche”; ecclesia) versammeln.

Leading a tribe

“Tribes make our lives better. And leading a tribe is the best life of all.” (S. 3)

• Das erfreut mein ❤️!

“[…] an opportunity to find and assemble a tribe and lead it. The question isn’t, Is it possible to do that? Now, the question is, Will I choose to do it?” (S. 7)

• vgl. Pick yourself / Choose yourself: Du brauchst niemanden um Erlaubnis fragen. Du wirst auch keinen Auftrag erhalten. Es geht bei der ganzen Chose nur um dich.

„Everything I did was for us, not for me. I didn’t manage; I led.“ (S. 26)

• Vgl. Leaders eat last

“If you want us to follow you, don’t be boring. “Good enough” stopped being enough a long time ago. So why not be great?” (S. 27)

• “Not boring” heißt nicht, dass man sich zum Kasperl machen muss, um Aufmerksamkeit zu bekommen.
• “Not boring” heißt, maximal relevant zu sein. Über die Dinge zu reden, die wirklich zählen. Auf eine Art, wo man merkt, dass es einem wirklich am Herzen liegt. Sowas ist niemals langweilig!
• vgl. Cluetrain Manifesto

“How was your day? If your answer is “fine”, then I don’t think you are leading.” (S. 41)

• Weil das ein langweiliger Tag gewesen sein muss. Oder weil du langweilige Antworten gibst.
• Wer wirklich führt, bei dem ist immer was los.
• Und: Führung ist unbequem. Nicht fine.

“Pema Chodron is a Buddhist nun working in a monastery in Nova Scotia. Millions of people across the world revere her work, read her books, listen to her recordings, and visit her if they can. Is she a raging egomaniac? Of course not.Listen to her for three minutes and you’ll know that she’s not doing what she does for glory; she’s doing it to help.” (S. 42)

• Die Intention ist enorm wichtig. Die Intention muss righteous sein.
• Idealerweise ist der Leader eine Doula: Er/Sie hilft dabei, etwas in die Welt zu bringen — und stellt sich in den Dienst der Sache und sein Ego vollkommen zurück.

“Leadership is scarce because few people are willing to go through the discomfort required to lead. This scarcity makes leadership valuable. […] It’s uncomfortable to stand up in front of strangers. It’s uncomfortable to propose an idea that might fail. […] If you’re not uncomfortable in your work as a leader, it’s almost certain you’re not reaching your potential as a leader.” (S. 47)

• Unangenehm!

“All you need to do is motivate people who choose to follow you. The rest of the population is free to ignore you or disagree with you or move on.” (S. 55)

• vgl. Almost nobody 

“So great leaders don’t try to please everyone. Great leaders don’t water down their message in order to make the tribe a bit bigger.” (S. 57)

• vgl. Strategisches Messaging: Resonanz kann nur entstehen, wenn die Message klar und compelling ist.
• vgl. Micromovement (S. 87) → passend zu Micro-Entrepreneurship

“[…] the intent of the leader matters. The tribes can sniff out why someone is asking for their attention.” (S. 62)

• vgl. Intention: Die Intention macht den entscheidenden Unterschied. Und wenn die Intention nicht passt, kann auch keine Resonanz entstehen.

“This isn’t about having a great idea (it almost never is). The great ideas are out there, for free, on your neighborhood blog. Nope, this is about taking initiative and making things happen.” (S. 82)

• vgl. Ideen sind nichts wert. Execution is everything.

“Hope without a strategy doesn’t generate leadership. Leadership comes when your hope and your optimism are matched with a concrete vision of the future and a way to get there. People won’t follow you if they don’t believe you can get to where you say you’re going.” (S. 104)

• Deswegen ist ein “Manifest” so wertvoll: Es zeichnet ein erstrebenswertes Bild von der Zukunft und belegt, dass ich einen Plan habe, wie wir dorthin kommen können.

“Once you choose to lead, you’ll be under huge pressure to reconsider your choice, to compromise, to dumb it down, or to give up. Of course you will. That’s the world’s job: to get you to be quiet and follow. The status quo is the status quo for a reason.” (S. 124)

• Du kannst nicht erwarten, dass du nirgends aneckst. Wenn es wirklich wichtig ist, wirst du auch auf Widerstand stoßen. Genauso, wie bei einigen Menschen Resonanz entsteht, entsteht — mit den gleichen Tönen — bei anderen Menschen Dissonanz.
• Und dann ist da ja auch noch die Resistance — der innere Widerstand, der auch gerne den Status Quo beibehalten würde — weil es bequemer oder sicherer oder was auch immer ist.

Wo tribes sich sammeln

“Please note: Throughout this book, I’m pretty quick to use examples based on the Internet and some of the astonishing new tools that are showing up to enable tribes to be more effective. But the Internet is just a tool, and an easy way to enable some tactics. The real power of tribes has nothing to do with the Internet and everything to do with people.You don’t need a keyboard to lead… you only need the desire to make something happen.” (S. 5)

• Es geht immer um die Menschen. Vgl. Ein Forum (eine “Community”) ohne Menschen, ohne Moderator, ohne Impulsgeber… tot!
• Oder, anders formuliert: Nur, weil du Skool hast, hast du noch keine Community. Skool erledigt nicht die Arbeit für dich. Es braucht dein Engagement und dein Leadership!

Mitglieder eines tribe reden miteinander

“[…] there is a difference between telling people what to do and inciting a movement. The movement happens when people talk to one another, when ideas spread within the community, and most of all, when peer support leads people to do what they always knew was the right thing.” (S. 20)

“An organization, any organization, needs people who aren’t just willing to follow, but are eager to follow.” (S. 47)

• Ein tribe braucht nicht (nur) passive lurkers.
• Damit ein tribe lebt und wächst, braucht er engagierte Mitglieder, die micro-leadership-Aufgaben erledigen. Die selbst initiativ werden, sich kümmern, selbst Dinge anstoßen und vorantreiben. Die neue Mitglieder zum tribebringen.
• Manchmal reicht es, die Voraussetzungen dafür zu schaffen, dass dieses micro leadership möglich wird — und sich dann bewusst raus nehmen (vgl. Jim Wales bei Wikipedia).

“Caring is the key emotion at the center of the tribe. Tribe members care what happens […]. If no one cares, then you have no tribe. If you don’t care — really and deeply care #PP: then you can’t possibly lead.” (S. 106f)

“Tribes grow when people recruit other people. […] The tribe doesn’t do it for you, of course. They do it for each other.” (S. 110)

• Wenn du weiterempfohlen wirst, tun sie das nicht (in erster Linie) deswegen, um dir einen Gefallen zu tun. Sie tun es, weil der Empfänger der Empfehlung etwas davon hat — und der Empfehlungsgeber hat etwas davon, wenn er eine wirklich leiwande Empfehlung geben kann. Aber nur dann.

Angst. Die Angst ist das Problem

Die “erfolgreichen” Leader “have actively talked themselves out of the fear. I mean, the fear is still there, but it’s drowned out by a different story. It’s the story of success, of drive, of doing something that matters. It’s an intellectual story about what the world (or your industry or your project) needs and how your insight can help make a difference. I believe you can talk over the fear, laying out a game plan that makes the fear obsolete.” (S. 36f)

“The levers are here. The proof is here. The power is here. The only thing holding you back is your own fear.” (S. 37)

“When you are leading a tribe, a tribe that you belong to, the benefits increase, the work gets easier, and the results are more obvious. That’s the best reason to overcome the fear.”

• Sich in einem tribe zu organisieren, bringt Solopreneure wirklich weiter.
• Die echten praktischen Fortschritte entstehen eher im persönlichen Austausch mit Gleichgesinnten, nicht in der Aufnahme und Diskussion von Wissen.

🔥 “Fear of failure is actually overrated as an excuse. Why? […] What people are afraid of isn’t failure. It’s blame. Criticism. We choose not to be remarkable because we’re worried about criticism. […] we’re worried, deep down, that someone will hate it and call us on it.” (S. 39)

• Und, noch dazu: “Fear of failure is a powerful deterrent because the criticism doesn’t actually have to occur for the fear to set in.” (S. 40)

“No one gives you permission or approval or a permit to lead. You can just do it. The only one who can say no is you.” (S. 117)

• vgl. Pick yourself / Choose yourself: Es liegt nur an dir!

Faith and religion

“[…] the only thing holding you back from becoming the kind of person who changes things is this: lack of faith. Faith that you can do it. Faith that it’s worth doing. Faith that failure won’t destroy you.” (S. 60)

• Faith = Gottvertrauen = Selbstvertrauen

“Faith is the unstated component in the work of a leader and I think faith is underrated. Paradoxically, religion is vastly overrated.” (S. 68)

• “Faith leads to hope, and it overcomes fear.” (S. 68)
• “Faith is critical to all innovation. Without faith, it’s suicidal to be a leader […].” (S. 68)
• “Religion at its best is a sort of mantra, a subtle but consistent reminder that belief is okay, and that faith is the way to get where you’re going.” (S. 69)
• “Of course, religion and faith go together.” (S. 70)

“You can do this on purpose. You can recognize the need for faith in your idea, you can find the tribe you need to support you, and yes, you can create a new religion around your faith. Steve Jobs did it on purpose at Apple and Phil Knight is famous for doing it at Nike.” (S. 71)

• “So successful heretics create their own religion.” (S. 70)

“[…] faith is demonstrated by the actions you take. When you lead without compensation, when you sacrifice without guarantees, when you take risks because you believe, then you are demonstrating your faith in the tribe and its mission. Of course it’s difficult. But leaders will tell you that it’s worth it.” (S. 71)

“[…] the new thing is rarely as good as the old thing was. If you need the alternative to be better than the status quo from the very start, you’ll never begin.” (S. 79)

• Das Neue hat am Anfang einen schweren Stand. Es gibt nicht viele Argumente, die das Neue gegenüber dem Alten ins Treffen führen kann.
• Daher: Freunde des Neuen: Das Neue braucht Freunde.

Es ist nicht dein Tribe!

“That tribe has a worldview that matches the message you’re sending.” (S. 56)

• Es geht also um Resonanz: Ich sende etwas aus, und Menschen sammeln sich um diese Botschaft. Diese Menschen bilden einen tribe. Aber:
• “Ultimately, people are most easily led where they wanted to go all along.” (S. 56)
• Das heißt also: Die Leute waren ohnehin schon in die Richtung unterwegs. Auch vor mir, auch ohne mich. Aber gemeinsam zu gehen hat natürlich viele Vorteile.

Hinweise von Seth Godin zum Tribe der Lifestyle Entrepreneure

“Many people are starting to realize that they work a lot and that working on stuff they believe in (and making things happen) is much more satisfying than just getting a paycheck and waiting to get fired (or die).” (S. 8)

• vgl. Aaron Hurst: The Purpose Economy, dessen Grundidee Seth Godin hier schon vorweg nimmt.
• Lifestyle Business are all about purpose.

“It’s common, but it doesn’t really have a name. I’m talking about the people who struggle for years but never seem to get anywhere. The lack of traction is often most noticeable in small businesses […].” (S. 38)

• Es stimmt: Diese Solopreneure bräuchten tatsächlich einen Namen.
• Ich habe sie “Laissez-faire Unternehmer” genannt. Aber das trifft den Kern von Seth Godins Hinweis längst nicht.

“Think for a second about the people you know who are engaged, satisfied, eager to go to work. Most of them, I’ll bet, make a change.” (S. 86)

Zum Thema Marketing

🔥 “Marketing is the art of telling stories about the things we make — stories that sell and stories that spread.” (S. 13)

• vgl. Strategisches Messaging: Es geht um die Storys, die wir über das erzählen, was wir tun.

“Today, marketing is about engaging with the tribe and delivering products and services with stories that spread.” (S. 13)

• vgl. Storytelling und Strategisches Messaging: Wie ich mein Gesicht der Welt zuwende, ist entscheidend.

„Did engineers switch because of the newsletter? Of course not. They switched for the journey. They wanted to be part of something that mattered.“ (S. 25)

“Tribes don’t do what you want, they do what they want. Which is why joining and leading a tribe is such a powerful marketing investment.” (S. 91)

• Bei einem Tribe geht es nicht um deine Selbstverwirklichung!
• Es geht darum, Menschen zu helfen dort hinzukommen, wo sie — von selbst, von sich aus — hinwollen.
• 🔥 vgl. Doppelte Positionierung // Double Product Fit: Der Tribe ist deine Dialog-Gruppe.
  • Hypothese: Seth Godins Konzept des Tribe und mein Konzept der Dialog-Gruppe sind im Grunde die gleiche Idee.
• vgl. Marketing = doing something for them, nicht: doing something to them.

Weitere Gedanken

“We can take responsibility and we can give the benefit of the doubt to others. Both are more useful than demanding authority.”

“The organizations that need innovations the most are the ones that do the most to stop it from happening. It’s a bit of a paradox, but once you see it, it’s a tremendous opportunity.” (S. 96)

• ⇒ In sehr verstaubten, verkrusteten Branchen kann man, wenn man mutig ist, sehr viel disruption rein bringen.

Zusammenfassung: Wie man ein micromovement aufbaut

→ five things to do and six principles (S. 88 – 90)

Five things

1. Publish a manifesto. Give it away and make it easy for the manifesto to spread far and wide. It doesn’t have to be printed or even written. But it’s a mantra and a motto and a way of looking at the world. It unites your tribe and members and gives them structure.
2. Make it easy for your followers to connect with you. It could be as simple as visiting you or e-mailing you or watching you on television. Or it could be as rich and complex as interacting with you on Facebook or joining your social network on Ning.
3. Make it easy for your followers to connect with one another. There’s that little nod that one restaurant regular gives to another recognized regular. Or the shared drink in an airport lounge. Even better is the camaraderie developed by volunteers on a political campaign or insiders involved in a new product launch. Great leaders figure out how to make these interactions happen.
4. Realize that money is not the point of the movement. Money exists merely to enable it. The moment you try to cash out is the moment you stunt the growth of your movement.
5. Track your progress. Do it publicly and create pathways for your followers to contribute to the progress.

vgl. Seth Godins Akimbo-Podcast. Da sind diese five things praktisch umgesetzt.

Six principles

1. Transparency really is your only option. Every failed televangelist has learned this the hard way. The people who follow you aren’t stupid. You might go down in scandal or, more likely, in ennui. People can smell subterfuge from a mile away.
2. Your movement needs to be bigger than you. An author and his book, for example, don’t constitute a movement. Changing the way people apply to colleges does.
3. Movements that grow, thrive. Every day they get bigger and more powerful. You’ll get there soon enough. Don’t mortgage today just because you’re in a hurry.
4. Movements are made most clear when compared to the status quo or to movements that work to push the other direction. Movements do less well when compared to movements with similar goals. Instead of beating them, join them. (vgl. Kontrast)
5. Exclude outsiders. Exclusion is an extremely powerful force for loyalty and attention. Who isn’t part of your movement matters almost as much as who is.
6. Tearing others down is never as helpful to a movement as building your followers up.