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June 1, 2016 at 12:54 pm #24120
Those of you who were just on our weekly Coaching Campfire (webinar) know that we are going to be creating tribes or teams for our June 27th group who are going up the mountain.
The idea is to create a group vibe and support system within the bigger community that exists here.
Tribes will:
- Do regular Mastermind calls together,
- Have their own campfires to chat, share and inspire,
- Have Tribe challenges to earn extra bajillion,
Questions for you as we plan these tribes:
- Do you like the idea of being in a Tribe?
- What would be important for your Tribe experience?
- What hesitations would you have about joining or being a part of a tribe?
- How often would you want your tribe mastermind to be?
- As we create a “tribe protocol,” what elements do you think we should consider?
Thanks for adding your voice to this conversation. Based on feedback on the Coaching Campfire, we know this version of the buddy system is going to be so much better and more supportive.
June 1, 2016 at 1:58 pm #24138Do you like the idea of being in a Tribe?
Yes! Love the thought of having that sub-group identity.
What would be important for your Tribe experience?
For me, the size of the tribe is crucial. This could make or break it for me. It needs to be small enough to foster the intimacy that I know you want to generate, but also big enough to be a decent sized group. Maybe around 8 people? What do you think?
What hesitations would you have about joining or being a part of a tribe?
If the group were too big, this would really put me off. Can’t think of much else except maybe that if there were group challenges and someone wasn’t that committed to the tribe – that could spoil the challenge fun for others.
How often would you want your tribe mastermind to be?
Personally, I wouldn’t want them to be that often as I’m pushed for time. I’d prefer to do ad hoc chat as and when, as if we could pop in to our Teepee whenever we were online and see who’s there on the tribe sofa…
As we create a “tribe protocol,” what elements do you think we should consider?
Identity. Having a badge or a flag to show what tribe someone is in and to have that be visible on people’s profiles. Encouraging tribe culture in the community. Can you explain more about what you mean by ‘protocol’ in the tribe context?
🙂
June 1, 2016 at 3:41 pm #24152I love this idea! I was kind of looking for it last night when I was looking at the members tagged “spiritual” and “intuitive” I thought there might be a way to post a message just for them but didn’t find it 🙁 sniff. It’s a lot easier to put yourself out there when the group already “Gets you” to a certain extent.
Most important for the experience . . . I think it’s important to give us some sort of power over our group. Something we come up with and agree on together, like our own guidelines, our own campfire song even!
I understand why Lisa would be put off by groups that are too big but I don’t like the idea of being assigned to a subgroup within a subgroup. I’d like to have access to everyone in my group. UNLESS there’s a way to make sure it doesn’t become cliquey. Like maybe subtopics within the subgroup instead of subgroups within subgroups. If I’m in subgroup B but there’s someone else really interested in dreams in subgroup D then we can’t be of much help to one another.
Masterminds . . . once a month?
I like the idea of a badge or a flag for group identity. Speaking of . . . maybe there’s a creative way to incorporate Capture The Flag into this gamification?? Or make a relay to the next module. The group with the most people in module 5 by X date wins, sort of thing.
June 2, 2016 at 12:48 am #24182I must admit, I’m torn on this one.
I’ve been in masterminds that started with the best of intentions and devolved into one-on-one accountability or disintegrate completely. I love the idea, just haven’t seen it play out well so far.
On the other hand, I’ve played games where the only reason I continued is because of the tribe I joined and the people I connected with there. So, I can see the value of having that aspect in play.
Depending on the recommended protocol for your mastermind meetings, it can get unweildy and/or ridiculously long (and therefore ridiculously hard to schedule) with more than a handful of people. In a group project I’ve been working on over the last few years, I’ve found it incredibly difficult getting even 3 of 8 people from across 4 continents on skype at once. And that is about once every 4-6 weeks…
I’m looking forward to channeling some of the competitiveness into group endeavors and seeing how this all plays out.
June 2, 2016 at 8:23 am #24190Awesome awesome AWESOME feedback so far.
I love the idea of each Tribe having their own flag and there will definitely be a Tribe theme song challenge. LOL not sure how that’ll be pulled off… but that’s part of the challenge I guess.
@waynebuckhanan, I share your concerns. That’s why we haven’t pulled the trigger on this yet and why I am still hesitant. I’m curious if any of you have insights into what kind of protocol COULD work? We are open to everyone’s thoughts.
We really feel the Tribes could extremely beneficial for the entire group (when done right).
June 2, 2016 at 11:26 am #24210I like the idea of creating ad-hoc teams in response to group challenges. I’m not sure if that accomplishes the things you want from the groups.
I wonder whether it is even something that needs to be formalized. I’m sure there will be groups that form and can leverage the same format as the buddy huddle. The primary advantage I see in having a slightly larger group is that there are more communal resources to tap into than just one-on-one. I believe we can get that without it being tied directly to tribes or teams.
June 2, 2016 at 1:14 pm #24229What about harnessing the idea of ‘clans’ from the gaming world?
See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan_(video_games)
What’s nice about this is that clans form organically, develop strong identities, establish their own rules and focus, and may disband and reform as different situations arise.
Just an idea…
June 2, 2016 at 2:30 pm #24236Ooooohh.. Awesome idea Lisa – I really like the more organic nature of a “Clan” – banding together because of chemistry rather than necessity.
Perhaps we could make establishing a Clan a challenge or bonus?? to create incentive for it to happen.
There is no doubt that we need to encourage and facilitate teams/tribes/clans.. We all need accountability and a sense of belonging, and IMO tribes are crucial for this. Without the GEA team, GEA wouldn’t exist.
I really do like the idea of each clan establishing their own unique rules and boundaries..
Some clans may just have a simple co-support system, and some clans may decide to actually create an entire course TOGETHER (and THIS is where huge magic can happen).
One thing that is a bit of a puzzle is this: We humans need personal/social accountability. Period. If we are avoiding accepting that, its because we don’t truly want to commit. It is super important to us as the creators of this wild world, that we have an accountability system set in place. The puzzle is figuring out what that looks like.
The one thing about the clan idea that seems like it could be an issue is that it has the potential to feel a bit elitist or clique-y. With teams, its a bit more of an assigned thing, so no one is left out.
Hmmmmmm…!?
Good convo!
June 2, 2016 at 2:39 pm #24240Okay what if..!
- Tribes are not assigned
- Tribes have a leader
- The leader of the tribe starts/invents the tribe, names it and creates the tribe manifesto
- We will design a tribe flag/symbol for you based on your preferences
- People can apply to join your tribe if they feel they are a match
- It is up to the tribe members and leader to decide if applicants are allowed in
- Tribe members can get kicked out if they dont follow the rules/guidelines/schedule of the tribe (whatever they may be)
- We may create a set of rules for tribes.. Like a limit to # of members, and perhaps a minimum # of members to stay active (otherwise we delete the tribe identity to keep things clean and tidy).. Or max # of members is decided by tribe leader(s), though i do think there should be a minimum of 3-5 members to keep tribe/clan status.
Thoughts? Ideas?
June 2, 2016 at 3:09 pm #24242I like where you’re going, Andy.
Tying the accountability within flexibility concepts from here back into another thread (the Gamification one?), I just saw today that one of Coursera’s “self paced” courses I signed up for had a 10-day deadline on the first unit. There is a button further down that lets you turn off the deadlines with a warning about how much better completion rates are with the deadlines.
It is interesting looking at some of these other platforms (games, MOOCs, social media) through the lens of retention and involvement! It is all about leveraging our human nature and individual traits to “trick” ourselves (and our clients) into engaging long enough for the transformations to happen.
June 3, 2016 at 11:47 am #24331I’ve been thinking about this a lot and I personally feel like there is a magic of randomness. To be assigned to a group within a couple hours of your time zone. Say each Tribe has up to a dozen people with a leader who sort of moderates the calls, etc… Once we get more people up the mountain those leaders will likely be people adventurers who have previously launched a course of their own.
I think leaving it up to others to form their groups will cause many of the introverts, shy or self conscious people on the side lines. I also see it getting cliquey.
Perhaps before the adventure begins we’d put out an announcement that IF there is someone you want to be in the same Tribe as to let us know, otherwise you leave it to fate.
This also feels like it will be easier to set up for Andy and I, as well as the participants. We’d just provide a simple 1-pager protocol for self organization and probably a Tribe Challenge to kick off the fun.
The first challenge would probably be something like: “Create your tribe name, slogan and meet-up date.”
Would love to know thoughts on this?
PS – I think with every accountability group there will be those who lead, those who fall off and those who observe. That’s why having a dozen feels like it could be a supportive number to keep the momentum going.
June 3, 2016 at 8:39 pm #24372Is there any reason those ideas are mutually exclusive? If we can belong to more than one tribe, the two approaches could go on together. Kind of your family versus your peer group. There are things to learn from both groups and different things to be done in each.
I can definitely see how the clans might work better for those who have been up the mountain at least once. Maybe it is *really* like family where you move out of the house, but stay in touch with the fam as well as building those peer networks.
So far, they all sound like good ideas! Which one/s are you going to test first?
June 5, 2016 at 10:01 pm #24432haha Love this
Maybe it is *really* like family where you move out of the house, but stay in touch with the fam as well as building those peer networks.
and you’re right, they are all good ideas..
I just personally haven’t had that moment of clarity where I’m like, “YES – there it is, that’s how we’ll do it!”
It’s coming though. Keep the ideas, thoughts and feedback coming everyone 🙂
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