Patricia Mou

In this post, we outline our current models for modern-day tribe building. We hope to initiate an exchange on the topic, motivate others to look into this, too, and achieve more together.

4. High Tolerance for Failure. You will fail. Embrace it. Learn to fail smart and fast.

Sometimes, learning what you don’t want might be as important as discovering what you do. That’s growing, too.

The apparent happiness of Africans, against all horror, seems to derive from a sense of connectedness, or as the Zulu put it, "ubunto." This word is often translated to mean community, but one of them gave me what I think is a more accurate definition: "I am because we are; we are because I am."

Finding flow has largely to do with performing tasks that match your skill level. When a task is far beyond your skill level, you will feel defeated. When a task is too easy, you'll be bored. Only when a task is challenging but achievable will you feel good about doing it.

We don’t have a good sense for what the maximal “carrying capacity” of a tribe is. If you are interested in growing your tribe, you probably want to adopt a slow and careful approach, one that allows you to slow down further or take a step back if it looks like you have been moving too fast.  

More often, money showed up implicitly. It was the quicksand on which other desires seemed to rest. Money would provide freedom and security. Money would allow me to travel and pursue whatever work I found rewarding. Money was the wall behind which I could shield myself from the world’s pressures and do as I please.

If your goal does not have a schedule, it is a dream.

True belonging is always the product of co-construction. This requires mechanisms that: create buy-in, ensure people are and feel heard, facilitate collective decision making and error-correction.