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Reviewlet: Tribes - Maybe I Just Don’t Get It

November 29th, 2008 Posted in Reviewlet

My first experience with Seth Godin leaves me a little confused

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I just finished Tribes by Seth Godin and it leaves me a little puzzled. Almost every review of the book that I have seen and read has been extremely positive. This includes the standard Internet luminaries and Michael Hyatt, a blogger from the publishing world that I have recently began reading and who has very thoughtful insights and posts.

Seth’s key message, that new Internet tools provide limitless possibilities to create and lead powerful movements, resonates with me. However his style and his analogies were often a distraction. I know that Seth has not been an active member of the Twitter community (which is perfectly fine) but I had the impression that the book was a series of semi-related Tweets strung together (and not always in the right order).

As for the analogies, the one that really made me shake my head was about the havoc that can be caused by a unicorn in a balloon factory.

It’s amazingly easy for a unicorn to completely disrupt a balloon factory. That’s because the factory is organized around a single idea, the idea of soft, quiet stability. The unicorn changes all that.

Seth uses some very good real world examples throughout the book but this analogy did have any meaning for me at all. I got it, I just didn’t think it added anything to the narrative. That being said, I know that some people (including the well-respected C.C. Chapman thought that this analogy was fantastic).

So, where does that leave me? I don’t know. I am open to trying another one of Seth’s books but I have a pretty long list of other books and authors that have my attention first. Next up is Here Comes Everybody - we’ll see how it stacks up

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  1. 3 Responses to “Reviewlet: Tribes - Maybe I Just Don’t Get It”

  2. By Jenny on Nov 30, 2008

    I’m interested in reading this. We talked a little bit about it in my grassroots communication class. And I’ve read about half of Here Comes Everybody - I like and I think you will too. Not a lot of groundbreaking, new info, but still a good read.

  3. By C.C. Chapman on Dec 1, 2008

    Is this the first of his books you’ve read? If so then you might not like the others because this is certainly his writing style and I can understand some people not liking it.

    For me I like the style because it is a quick read and there is very little fluff in there for no reason. I find that it forces me to think about the points in more detail since he doesn’t give a deep dive into anything and instead leaves it to the reader to dive on the ones that interest them.

    I also think the style is good because anyone could pick up the book and read it. It’s not a thick business book that requires a lot of vocabulary to understand.

    But, all that said it is certainly a style that plenty of people don’t like at all so you wouldn’t be alone.

  4. By Anonymous on Dec 2, 2008

    C.C.,

    Thanks so much for taking the time to comment - much appreciated.

    This is my first experience with Seth’s books. You are right about being easy to read and getting to the point. I think my biggest problem with this is that sometimes the lack of smooth transitions throws me. I do plan on making another attempt at one of his books though.

    Thanks again and look forward to the next podcast!

    Andrew

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