I just finished reading Seth Godin's book "Tribes" and have just been fired-up with its message of radically changing the rules of the game through the fluid, cause-based, leadership of communities that he aptly terms "Tribes". Anybody who is involved in influencing the market of ideas, would do well to take this book's central themes to heart. By the way, YOU are that person, involved in influencing the market of ideas. If you care about stuff, if you want to get things done, if you want to change things, if you use the power of words to bring about change...... then this message os for you.

If you are passionate about an idea, or a message, then there is a tribe out there waiting for you to take the initiative and lead. Your message needs you - your tribe needs you..... welcome to the new world.

Technorati Tags: Tribes, Seth Godin, Books, Viral, Marketing

Movements have a cause. Their message behaves very much like a virus. I was intrigued about the guidelines released by Governments for containing the H1N1 virus, the virus also know as 'Swine Flu'. These same principles that will stop viruses form spreading are the principles that will cause a movement to die out. Viruses are stopped firstly by there being a mechanism in place to 'catch' or 'contain' the delivery of the message. If you want to quench the power of a movement, start to dictate how, when and in what way the viral message is to be delivered. Start to issue guidelines on what is appropriate and what is not, on who should be involved, and what the right 'qualifications' for the task at hand are. Secondly you 'bin' it. You try and keep control over your message - keep it 'contained' in a secure and safe place. Thirdly you 'kill' it by using a chemical agent that works anti-virally. When a counter-message is evoked, an anti-message, if you will, is spread, that has the power to totally undermine your movement and leave it dead on the water. In many circles, churches have almost killed-off the raw power of the message of Christianity by doing just that. The 'virus' is 'caught' by insisting on qualifications for the job. Thus a whole clerical hierarchy has evolved and it ensures that only appropriate channels are used to deliver the message. Secondly, special 'bins' called 'churches' and 'cathedrals' are the only places authorised to house this message. Thirdly, an anti-virus is applied - a positive message (virus) of hope, love, and peace has been replaced by one of end-of-the-age-doom, of judgement and of performance against standards of behaviour. This tragedy has seen the people of God transition from being the light of the world, to a community that shies-away from the world in order to avoid being contaminated with impurity. God is now raising an end-time army of surrendered ones who have totally been infected with the virus of LOVE, and who are actively engaging with society in order to get as many infected with the same virus as possible.

Recently a bunch of dudes and dudettes from Living Waters Church invaded the Ipanema restaurant in Gibraltar. I am amazed at how important it is, for your movement to eat together! There is something about shared meals that is at the centre of life together. In our culture, a lot of important business is conducted over a shared meal (Of course, we call them " business lunches", just to give it that sense of importance, or maybe even a sense of grown-up-ness) - In other cultures, shared meals form the backbone of much of civic life, commerce and polity. If you want to foster common bonds, a shared sense of purpose, and a sense of belonging, then eat out.... a lot. Please tell me that you heard this. It is so simple that it runs the risk of seeming trivial. Simple stuff is usually overlooked. Simple stuff is often powerful. Mankind has a innate craving for belonging, especially for belonging to a mission that has a cause. When people feel that they truly belong, and form an important part of, something greater than themselves, then watch-out, you have in your hands the genesis of a world-changing and paradigm-destroying phenomenon. In other words, you have in your hands the basic ingredients that can change the rules of the game. Your movement needs that fellow-ship. It all begins happens around some good food and a healthy appetite for your mission. Ribs anyone? For the record: The obligatory evidence: [flickr-gallery mode="photoset" photoset="72157622763171440"]