Everyday I'm afforded the opportunity to speak with people who are creating movements. Whether it’s bringing clean water to Africa [1]; expanding the volunteer service movement [2]so that all Americans who want to, have an opportunity to serve; helping the 80 million members of the Millennial Generation find meaningful jobs [3]– you name it and it seems there’s a movement afoot.
Earlier this week, Seth Godin’s talk from this year’s TED Conference [4]in Long Beach, CA was released online. What Godin shares is that everyone is capable of starting a movement, but you must put aside things like money and politics as the tools for success. The 17 minute talk is a good introduction to his book Tribes [5]. In both the talk and book Godin argues that lasting and substantive change can be best effected by a group of people connected to each other, to a leader, and to an idea.
- Who exactly are you upsetting? Because if you’re not upsetting anyone then you’re not changing the status quo.
- Who are you connecting? Godin argues that it is about the "idea of finding and connecting like-minded people and leading them to a place they want to go."
- Who are you leading? Tribes are about leading and connecting people and ideas. Founded on shared ideas and values, tribes give ordinary people the power to lead and make big change.
Even more so, I wonder if this whole idea is less a matter of starting movements at all and more about finding like-minded people to connect with and share ideas...
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