Tribes Casebook released as companion to Tribes book

Today I downloaded a copy of the official Tribes Casebook that Seth Godin just released. It's a companion piece to his Tribes book which was shipped this week. The Casebook is an interesting read in that it contains case studies by many of the Triiibes members. It's 228 pages long; while the Tribes book is 151 pages. I couldn't help but notice that Ed Welch is quite prolific with many of his case studies being featured. Ed has an interesting blog entitled Tribe Building.

So, what about the collage of Triiibe member photos on the inside of the Tribes book cover? We must have been out of town when Seth blogged about submitting your picture in May 2008 to be included in the collage. Yes, I'm sure of it.

Well, this is the first cover of its kind that I can ever think of that you may want to seriously consider framing it. It'd even make an interesting mouse pad with proceeds benefitting the Acumen Fund!

If you look closely at the middle of the "S" you can find my dear Squidoo colleague and lensmaster ChefKeem! His lenses are some of the MOST amazingly touching and creative that I think I've seen in all of the >740,000 lenses. In addition to his tremendous creativity, he has the kindest soul. It is a pleasure to count him as a friend and colleague.

Learn more about the Tribes book from Seth on Squidoo. Or, better yet, go ahead and buy one for yourself. What are you waiting for?

Hearing more and more about Tribes

On October 7th I received my advance copy of Tribes by Seth Godin. At 151 pages, it is a relatively quick-read -- quick enough that you may want to go back and reread it before you opt to pass the book on to a friend or colleague. By the time you get to page 146, you'll realize that you have not found any checklist follow this type of instructions or the Tribes for Dummies how-to how-tos.

I'm really NOT sure what I expected to find in this little book, but it has got me thinking -- thinking more and more about what it is that matters.

What it is that matters.

You can choose to lead, or not. You can choose to have faith, or not. You can choose to contribute to the tribe, or not.

For me, I had a bit of an epiphany when I reached page 114 -- realizing that in one of my roles, our organization is a bit 'stuck on stupid.' No, my colleagues aren't stupid, don't get me wrong. But our organization works with an industry that is dramatically changing since the advent of digital. Trying to convince a former retiree, now partner, that fax-blasting may be a practice out of the past and not the best form of communication can be challenging indeed.

Tribes, the book has shipped this week from Amazon. As is usual with Seth's new-to-be-released books, the buzz has already generated a huge interest. Searching on Squidoo for 'tribe' produces some 386 lenses. Tribes yields 419 lenses while triiibes yields only 7 lenses for now. If you'd like to hear more about the buzz on Triiibes on Twitter, you can search on #triiibe.

On August 2nd, I joined Tribes, the community. As of this writing is up to 3,650 by-invitation-only members and will soon be open to the public.