(This was originally posted at Social Work prn, where I write on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If you get a chance, check them out. They’re nice folks!)

I’m starting to build a Rules of the Road document (in my head, at least) while reading a book by the excellent Clay Shirky called Here Comes Everybody. Some of these things I knew, but some of them are recently-cemented concepts for me and that’s very exciting. I am madly obsessed with people projects—where many people come together over the internet and accomplish something previously unlikely or impossible. Shirky is talking about this very thing in his book, and it’s making my whole life awesome. Downright thrilling, I should say.

My Rules of the Road so far:

1. The relationship between you and the people you lead is a bargain. You give them what they want (assistance, entertainment, meaning) and they give you what you want (they spread your ideas, give you authority, help your project succeed). If you forget about the bargain—or strike the wrong bargain—you lose that essential relationship. It’s imperative that you find out what the bargain really is before you assume, crash and burn.
   
2. There will always be a cost to the organization of a large number of people. If you lead, you know that a B.I.G. part of that cost for you is time and energy—not necessarily money. But anyone who has been in a leadership position knows that time and energy is often a bigger, more interesting challenge than money. Thinking you can organize a big group of people without dealing with some cost in these terms is unrealistic, but if you can walk into it knowing what effort will be necessary to expend, you’re a step up.
   
3. Our circumstances have changed on a spectacular scale (one word: internet) and they’re not going to stop changing. Get with the change game now and start to expect things to shift—you’ll be ahead of everyone who’s still fighting it. Things may look the same in a lot of ways… but they are not.
   
4. We can have anything we want, if we are only willing to reach out and create it. This is truer now than it has ever been in the past. Our limits, as suspected, are in our heads—not on our capabilities.
   
5. It is less efficient to try to build something you want, and more efficient to wait and watch, keep your eyes and brain open, and seize an opportunity when you see it. A great book I talked about awhile back, Made to Stick, made this point often. A struggle to make something out of nothing is often not as efficient as an ability to see opportunities and leap on them.
   
6. Give them tools instead of instructions. If you can give a group of people the means to self-organize their passion, it’s more effective than trying to tell them how to do it. Self-organized efforts on the internet are often more effective and successful than similar initiatives by large companies with many resources (and many managers). Don’t worry so much about oversight. Give them systems. Give them tools. And then let them do their thing.
   

We’re capable of self-assembling now in ways we never were before, and it’s changing the entire landscape of “people projects”—or PR, or business, or community initiatives, or anything else you can name that has to do with how groups of people interact and make things happen.

I can’t wait to finish this book. Wow.

Here are some questions and speculations for a Thursday evening.

Has anyone gone around to talk to the homeless in Austin, and published their stories in blog format? Even a limited site or an ebook would be amazing. I’ve looked for this project, certain that someone must have done it before I thought of it, but I’m not finding anything. Pictures, comments, yes—extended interactions and stories, no. How can we help more people without resources communicate with a larger portion of the world? What would they say, if we gave them a stage?

What about the people who aren’t homeless, but still spend time at intersections asking for change? I wonder what stories they’d tell. (Somebody should ask!)

Who are the men who wait outside places like Home Depot for people to come and offer them work for the day? What kind of work are they looking for? Why are they there—and what series of events brought them to that pursuit? What do they do every day? What do they need? What would their perfect job be? What are they best at? What work makes them feel good, and proud?

How can we connect these seekers with work that needs to be done in such a way that all parties benefit? How can we find a solution that serves the community, too?

Why is it that those without the resources to pay for what they need are often so disorganized, or so confused about what they want, that I can’t actually help them? How can I posse up with someone whose primary pastime is helping others to identify the elements of their situation and clarify the next steps that would have the biggest impact on their ability to succeed?

This person should be someone who thinks outside of the box—and someone who often suggests next steps that I am particularly clever with.

How many people could we help then!?

The Tribes Casebook PDF

The low-down: Email it, post it, print it! Please don’t sell it or change it. If you’d like to take a look at it, you can download it for free here.

The Casebook is a companion ebook to Seth’s release of his book, Tribes, this month. It was birthed from the collaborative genius of several thousand Triiibes members suggesting, creating, editing, and cheering on more than a hundred and fifty selected case studies (and many more brilliant riffs that didn’t make the final cut) over the last two months. Every one of us feels overwhelmingly lucky to have met and have the opportunity to encourage and inspirit one another in such a powerful space. Triiibes is likely the most intelligent, driven, creative, innovative group I’ve ever been a part of. I am constantly, consistently impressed by the quality of membership and the sheer brilliance of those involved.

For fellow Triiibers: If you’re reading this now, every single one of you is amazing. Thank you so much for being a part of my experience.

For everyone else: This group has proven to me that you—yes, YOU!—and everyone you know (I’m serious) is capable of absolutely astonishing things. You underestimate yourself. It’s time to realize how huge your potential is, how far your reach, the kind of growth you have available to you. Every freaking one of you.

So take a look at the Casebook. It has many different styles and personalities, but that’s what makes it wonderful—diversity again. It’s at points thrilling, heart-wrenching, and altogether intensely inspiring. These are good people who deserve support and praise for all their hard work. Enjoy their stories, visit their links, and give them mad props.

For my part, I’m looking forward to linking to their launch posts, too! ;}

The Tribes Q&A ebook was released to the world on November 16th, 2008 and is the second companion ebook to Seth’s Tribes. Please go take a look!

Pace Smith of Usual Error Project fame is also a member of the Triiibe, with a case study in the Casebook! It’s fantastic, you should read it. :}

Squidoo: The Tribes Casebook (by Triiibes). I started to list all the Tribes Casebook links I could find right here, and then I realized that Squidoo has a perfect function for just this purpose! If you’re a Triiibes member, please visit this page to add your link and vote. And whether you’re a Triiibes member or not, please take a look at the link list, visit them and say hi!

My favorite Tribes Casebook posts and link fu so far:

Pace Smith’s “I co-authored an e-book with Seth Godin’s Triiibe!” @ Pace & Kyeli
Seth Godin’s “Free Tribes ebook” @ Seth’s Blog
Jodi Kaplan’s “Tribes!” @ Fix Your Broken Marketing
Joe Noonan’s “Seth Godin’s free online book” @ Everyday Ecstasy
Barry Adams’ “The Tribes Casebook” @ Adamus.nl
“Seth Godin’s free ‘Tribes Casebook’ — including Trish Lambert!” @ SWIMBERT
Ed Welch’s “Seth Godin and Triiibes – Free Ebook” @ Tribe Building

There’s also a crazy Twitterstream developing about the Casebook, and two more if you watch “Triiibe” and “Triiibes” on Twitter Search. Huge amount of fun!