Tribes — Us vs. Them and What You Can Do About It
Apr 6th, 2009 by David Svet
Marketing guru Seth Godin has us all abuzz about creating and empowering our tribes — our group of like-minded individuals who choose to better the world by following their chosen leader. This is a wonderful idea and I’m happy to participate. Tribes are cool. They empower people to make good things happen and we accomplish great things as a result. But the creation of so many tribes also generates a dilemma.
We are not alone. What about that other tribe? Our tribe is us, but their tribe is them. So, there you have it — us and them. The biggest question a tribe faces does not come from within. The biggest question your tribe faces is how it will get along with all the other tribes.
It’s a competitive world. Your organization competes for dollars, recognition, and resources. Your tribe competes with other tribes. It’s always been this way. Since this isn’t a new problem what does it mean now that we are all creating tribes? It means there will be turf wars. It is inevitable. What remains is to know how your tribe will react in the face of aggression.
For that answer I looked to one of America’s brightest minds, no, not Seth Godin, but Andrew Bard Schmookler. While he may not be as much of a household name as Seth Godin, I think you should check out his work at www.nonesoblind.org.
For the answer to the question about how tribes get along, I turned to Schmookler’s first book, “The Parable of the Tribes.” (No, Seth Godin did not invent tribes.) The book centers around this question and then goes to great length and depth to provide the answer.
“Imagine a group of tribes living within reach of one another. What are the possible outcomes for those tribes threatened by a potent and ambitious neighbor?”
Since this is a blog post and I don’t really expect you to read the book, I’ll summarize the answer. But you may not like it. You have four options, and only four options. I swear that’s it. Don’t believe me? Okay, maybe you should read the book. Your options are:
Withdrawl
Destruction
Transformation
Imitation
There you have it. Now you are probably pondering this in a manner that reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from another mind of distinction:
“So?” — Dick Cheney
So, indeed. Let’s break down the options available to your tribe as it tries to deal with the other tribe.
Withdrawl — You can choose to isolate your organization like some undiscovered tribe in a distant rainforest. You’ll be free to carry on unmolested. However you will also not be able to accomplish your mission.
Destruction — This town’s not big enough for two of us. Kill ’em or die trying. This isn’t a pleasant scenario. But in a time of scarce resources some would consider it an option. It may be a good idea to keep an eye on them.
Transformation — Change is desirable. But it does mean that things will never be the same. This is often the hardest option to accept from within the tribe, but is almost always the best choice.
Imitation — Hey, it worked for them. Or how about, well they started it? There’s nothing keeping your tribe from imitating your competitor. You may get ahead, but more than likely, you will simply dilute both brands or start down a path leading to destruction (see Option 2).
So there you have it, with apologies to Andrew Bard Schmookler. As you form your tribe to take on your cause, you can charge out into the world knowing that you will likely confront a competing tribe. When this happens, and it will, you now have a little more information that can help you figure out how we can all get along.
I agree you have to be aware of changes or else your tribe can not grow. There has to be a certain level of trust and authenticity. Transparency is hard to comprehend when you are just learning and in the Social space.
People used to talk about things around the water cooler and now this is transformed into blogs and community boards connecting people instead of by distance but by ideas and thoughts.
Whether or not you jump on and lead is hard. Good leadership is hard to find. To become a leader is NOT comfortable and I think this could be one of the reasons why their are so many followers. It is easier to follow and to let the world control you.
Very insightful and provacative. I’ve worked at several organizations that each took a different response to other tribes. One decided to withdrawal and within three years realized they were going to self-destruct so they tried destroying the other tribe only to be forced to transform instead. Unfortunately, that transformation was and continues to be very difficult as they are riddled with bureacratic red tape. It’s tough for them to make mid-course corrections as they are similar to the titanic instead of NASA’s Apollo 11. Their future remains uncertain as their decision to change may have been to late.