Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Building The Tribe And Identifying Core Values

This started as a page I wanted to add to the website, I eventually realized it was more suitably a blog post. Looks like there is much work to be done before I can add this page. :)

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The MilTownKlan is an experimental, although very real, phase of a three phase plan to "change the world." Phase one involves creating a pool of people at tribal stage three who are ready to move into or create a stage four tribe. Phase two is the creation of Stage Four tribes, that's where the MilTownKlan scientifically fits in. Phase three is the creation of Stage Five tribes whose soul purpose is helping individuals and groups create more stage four and five tribes (with a portion of these stage five tribes being focused on creating tribes that create tribes so change grows exponentially).

Here is a brief description of the 5 tribal stages, Mood / Theme:

  1. Despairing Hostility / "Life sucks"
  2. Apathetic Victim / "My life sucks"
  3. Lone Warrior / "I'm great (and you're not)"
  4. Tribal Pride / "We're great (and they're not)"
  5. Innocent Wonderment / "Life is great"
Here is an excerpt from Chapter 8 of "Tribal Leadership" [Amazon | Free Audio] which explains how I am/we are forming the MilTownKlan:
The third path [a person takes to create a Stage Four tribe] is that the person forges out on her own, developing what we call tribal antennae-an intuitive ability to find people who can contribute to success on a larger scale than one person working alone, and who value her help in return. From the outside, her actions look like networking gone wild-she's constantly reaching out to more and more people, with others around her saying she needs to learn to focus. In fact, her actions are systematic: she is shopping for tribal members. As she finds people who fit, she networks them into the group, and a tribe slowly takes shape. Unlike the first approach, where the tribal seed determines the nature of the business from the start, this third path produces rapidly changing tribes and business models. The key to this third path is not "my tribe" but "our tribe." The person who cobbled it together is recognized as the Tribal Leader, not the single visionary who calls the shots. In this system, anyone is welcome to play-and tribal members all have a hand in recruiting, provided they have something to offer and obey the rules.
While the MilTownKlan technically may not be ready for Stage Four, I'm going through to motions anyway to help us all understand the process better. One part of the process is creating a core set of values. This part of the process is a little strange to do where we currently are because it seems as though we need a tribe to create the core-values, but at the same time it's hard to create a tribe without a set of core values... the old chicken and the egg catch-22. While there currently exists a group of people loosely connected (through me), we are a few steps a way from being an actual "tribe" (again?)

For the core value conundrum I offer two things:

MilTownKlan Alliance Official Trailer


This is a video that came together naturally during one of the higher points of the klan. I think there's a core value or two that can be drawn from it.

My List of Core Values

This is a rough list I came up with a last week. They will get refined through reflection, commentary and discussion. Note that these are also probably a bit looser than if I were to create core values with AN IRON FIST! lol

  • Digital Budo - seeing the web and technology through the eyes of a martial artist
  • Blogging / Vlogging (transparency)
  • Financial Independence
  • Kaizen
  • Martial Arts - Everyone should (and I could argue does) practice a martial art.
  • Personal Development (Pwning Life)
  • Elegant Simplicity
  • Tribal Leadership
  • Ubuntu/Guanxi
  • Spirituality [Unencumbered Spirit (Eastern Phylosphy)] - I've spent the bulk of my life studying Zen/Daoism. I look forward to studying other practices (Sufism, Islam, Hinduism, etc.)

Next Up Story Time

The authors of "Tribal Leadership" say one of the best ways to figure out core values is to tell a story about how you learned one. I have no idea which core value I'll bring up first, perhaps it's not even listed above, but I think it'll be the next step for now.

What do you think? Comment below!


Just B cuz






4 comments:

  1. It does seem a little overwhelming (taking it all in) but 'core values' are important to any group. I like the direction of the MTK so far and I think when we get more members who can dedicate a small portion of time each week then we'll see the group take more of a shape. I have several other projects that I'm currently juggling now but I will try to find some time to help the group in some capacity. Keep up the good work!

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    1. That's perfect feedback. Thanks! Don't feel like you have to do anything! Shortly after posting it I even thought to myself "Man... that was a lot." lol What I'm thinking would be best (at this point) is to have like 3-5 values everyone can really get behind. Simple and clear ones.

      I know everyone has these things called "lives" and they take up this stuff called "time." :) There's actually one member of the group that has been actively asking me for things to do and what I come up with is to continue focusing on personal business. That's probably the best thing for most of us (including myself!) at this point. Look at everything else as "casual discussion" (even if I get a little intense with it from time to time. :) )

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  2. I like the core values! I think fleshing each of them out with examples of how the MTK embodies them would be a good next step. I can help get on that too :).

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    1. Fresh. I'm thinking I should maybe go at them like a "base set" and "extended set." The base set being general ones that everyone can agree with. The extended set being the ones that come from the IRON FIRST OF MILTOWNKID! lol ;) I know I want to go much deeper and get a lot more serious than this, but I think a set of core values based on the current tag-line of "Changing the world. One blogger/vlogger at a time," might be a good idea.

      Then the focus is just on helping people get their online identities setup, getting subscribers/followers, creating content, collaborating, etc. you know fun stuff. We'll see. Want to shoot some ideas back and forth about the next blog post? I think I added you as a contributor, did you accept the invite? Should have went to your email I thinking.

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