Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us

Part 5 covers sections: “How Was Your Day?,” “The Thermometer and the Thermostat,” “Your Micromovement,” “That Building Down the Street,” “Every Tribe Is a Media Channel,” “How to Be Wrong,” “The Timing of Leadership,” “The Reactionary Tribe,” “Possibility of Risk,” “When Tribes Replace What You’re Used To,” “Initiative,” “Stuck on Stupid,” “Mark Rovner, Nonprofit Heretic,” “The Posture of a Leader,” “Switching Tribes,” “Not Now, Not Yet,” “Understanding the Trick,” “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” “Criticizing Hope Is Easy,” The Naked Violinist,” “Writing Songs That Spread Love,” and “The X Prize.”

Godin spotlights passion as the purest motivator for work. Since he is passionate about his career, he does not mind checking emails at 4am while on vacation. He believes being happy makes change easier. Moreover, pure negativity is useless; it’s unhelpful to point out problems without taking action to fix them. To explain this idea, the author creates an analogy: When someone complains but doesn’t act, they’re like a thermometer; when a leader is engaged and does act, they’re like a thermostat. Thermometers only read the environment, while thermostats change the environment.

Godin asserts that every organization needs at least one thermostat. Movements come in all shapes and sizes; he gives credit to high-stakes humanistic movements like Tiananmen square and lower-stake and hobby movements like hand-roasted coffee in Brooklyn.