(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.

The other urge I’m experiencing… is the urge to wait for someone to tell me what to do.

RESIST! RESIST!!

In the last few weeks I found myself accidentally managing a hyooooge project.

Oops! How’d that happen?

I was putting in the requisite effort and was pleased to serve any role I seemed to fit. But that morphed somehow, and now I’ve found myself making a lot of decisions I’m not used to making. I’m incredibly pleased with how everything’s going, and as much as I have on my plate I am still enjoying the work, still determined to move forward and make it awesome, still powering ahead at high speed. But this project is a completely new kind of challenging for me, and in the best, most growth-inducing way possible… It’s uncomfortable. The really good kind of uncomfortable, but far more of it than I’m accustomed to!

I’m experiencing a bizarre phenomenon that I figure readers might benefit from, and I’m going to tell you about it. Ready?

I constantly find myself just dying to tell someone…

...That I don’t know what I’m doing.

I want to say, I’ve never ever done this before. I want to say, I haven’t a clue how to deal with a project like this.

I want to make sure the listener understands—beyond any doubt whatsoever—that it’s all been a matter of luck, rather than intelligence or expertise. Maybe, despite our reasonable success so far, I’m afraid I might fail… or maybe I really do think it’s all an accident, and has nothing to do with perception or skill.

My constant urge is to vomit my insecurities into the nearest friendly ear.

Yes. Turns your stomach, doesn’t it? Well, it should!

The truth is, I can see that better decisions might have been made—here, there, everywhere. But the project is still going well, and it’s still moving forward. I have repressed all but one incidence of verbal vomiting, which was private and probably not all that gross. I haven’t told another single person how magnificently unprepared I am for the job I am doing, until now. And now you know what’s going through my head.

But. Here’s the thing. Like any kind of performance, I’m not convinced it’s visible. I can tell you I was shakin’ in my boots when I gave my Toastmasters speech, but you might not have known until that moment that I was nervous at all. And I think I might be giving myself a bum rap. If I pause and give myself a little credit, I’m not so sure after all that I really don’t know what I’m doing.

I mean, I’m doing it. Whatever it is.

That’s something, right?

You know, I meant to write up one post about the new links in my sidebar, and look what happened! You see, the problem here is just that they’re all too awesome. I can’t fit any of them into the paragraphs I wrote, much less a few sentences that would have allowed me to make one freaking list. Man. The perils of knowing amazing people…

This is the last post, anyway.

It’s about Triiibes, as you may already have surmised. And I can’t link you to the Triiibe—but I can tell you about it.

The reason I can’t link you is because unless you’re already a member, you can’t get in. It hasn’t (to my knowledge) been decided yet whether it will become visible to the public eventually, and I’m leaving that up to the folks in the know. Membership sounds like it will continue to be closed except for limited invites, so that’s right out. But man, the things that happen in there are so awesome. I can’t keep them quiet.

Well. Most of them. Well. Some of them. ;}

Seth Godin started the whole shebang with a barrier to entry: Pre-order Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us, sight unseen. Thousands of us did so, leaping in with both feet and shrieking new marketing battle cries. (At least, that’s what I did…) The result is one of the most amazing communities I’ve ever belonged to.

Pace and Kyeli are both members. Cricket is a member now, too, and Marty shouldn’t be far behind (if we’re lucky!). Havi’s a member—and I wouldn’t know about her at all if it wasn’t for Triiibes. For some vast cosmic reason, everything is falling into place for me… and a large part of it is this group of people.

What does Triiibes do? Well, we wrote an ebook. (It’s great.)

We talk a lot—about business, people, the concept of tribes, Seth’s book, marketing, changing the world, making a difference, making something amazing. Triiibes is what Zaadz / Gaia should have been, but couldn’t possibly have managed. It took a closed social network and a readership the quality of Seth’s to accomplish that! Not to mention the quality of leadership Seth exhibits himself, and his ability to bring out the leader in everyone else… that’s something amazing. (Read this book if you have any doubt.)

We’re working on something new, but my lips are zipped—for now. ;}

There’s still more. Being a member of the Triiibe has taught me a ton about tribes in general (and often, in specific). It’s teaching me about community projects and the organic nature of what can be mundanely called “teamwork” but takes on a huger, more significant stature when considered in all of its complexity and variety and spontaneity. It’s teaching me about people, and how many of us are insanely brilliant, full of incredible possibility and potential. I’m talking about the members of Triiibes, but I’m talking about you, too. Triiibes is showing me what the world is capable of, and it is really something.

Triiibes isn’t just a social network. Maybe it started out that way, but it mutated fast. It’s a real tribe now, with people who are truly connected to one another. Joe and I and at least a dozen other people were discussing the question of whether there is a spiritual aspect to the Triiibes community, and I found myself saying this:

I think that the Triiibe IS spiritual, in many ways. It’s the spirit of connection and working together. It’s the spirit of being many parts of a whole, organic and astonishing in millions of different ways. It’s the passion that we feel about the ideas we share, and the willingness (the yearning, even) to help others before thinking of ourselves. Take a look at how we interact, all together, without ever having met, how we already know one another and love one another and care about every person in here. The intensity of this varies across the Triiibe, but it’s there in spades. And it’s amazing. And it’s much more powerful than any church I ever belonged to. This vibration is its own animal, and I would hesitate to say that it lacks spirituality.

It grows and learns and becomes bigger. Not the number of members—the energy and the soul of the connected community. It’s… really spiritual!

It’s all in how you look at the thing. In this case, the thing is great. Not like “this cereal is great!” but instead, This vibration we’ve created, this awe-inspiring bit of a vast connected universe, we are tapping into something truly great. We’re learning more about it all the time.

You know what it is?

It’s just people.

It’s people doing what people can do, which is connect with and raise up and help each other. We are doing it with plans and projects and ideas, but it’s the same. It’s such a joy to be a part of. You should do it too.

You can start any time you want!

You’re a leader.

We need you.

I am properly ensconced in my warm blanket with fresh ginger tea, and (appropriately) I will share with you my soul-swelling experience with Seth Godin’s book, which is all about Tribes.

Sometimes you find your path, and discover that the universe is leading you. It starts out by dropping hints. If you pick up the right hints, move in the right direction (and listen to the gentle, whispered suggestions of your unconscious), it starts to drop resources. And people. And whole, perfectly-conducted experiences designed to propel you forward faster. Like bombs, but full of AWESOME.

Sure, sounds loopy. And it’s happening to me.

The Story of B was one of these bombs. So was Shiva Nata—an answer in a freaking dream, so clear that I couldn’t ignore it. And Tribes is one of them, too. By the time I finished the book, I was 200% certain that this is where I’m going, and the right place for me to be.

I’ve been reading a lot of great books lately, but Tribes is the one that made me cry. So I’m going to tell you what I learned. And then you can go read it, too.

But it’s going to take me awhile. I have a LOT of notes.

You might want to just pick it up and read it cover to cover while you’re waiting for my next post.

Yes. That’s what you want to do.

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!