Leading tribes, cultivating movements, part II

Julia Kirby of Harvard Business Publishing has just written a lovely post about the Stanford d.school CIA team behind the push to turn part of downtown Palo Alto in to a pedestrian zone.  It's titled Starting a Movement, Learning to Lead.  Here's an excerpt:

So you tell me: is Creating Infectious Action a course in leadership? To be sure, it doesn't focus on individuals' leadership journeys. There's no competency model at its heart. But what is leadership all about if not creating a vision of something different and better, getting people excited about it, and mobilizing everyone to cooperate in accomplishing it? If you can go out there and create infectious action, I'm inclined to call you a leader. And if you can't, you probably shouldn't call yourself one.

I asked Captain Hughes what he'd do next with the toolkit he gained in Creating Infectious Action. Beyond Palo Alto and pedestrians, would the course have a lasting impact? "I've always said that if I ever get to be a General, I would definitely change a few things," he mused. Like anyone down in an organization, there were some procedures and policies--like aspects of the Army Physical Fitness Test--he thought were downright silly. "But now I think maybe you don't need to be a General," he said. "You just have to get a little movement going. Then you start getting people on board."

As I wrote in my post about Seth Godin's recent talk at TED, you can't manage a movement, but you can lead one, even cultivate one.  So yes, Creating Infectious Action is a course about leadership, where leading looks a lot like cultivating a garden. 

Man, what a great team.  This makes me so happy.

Comments

[Tyler Stalder]

I saw this video and thought it was an interesting example of creating infectious action a small scale. A little bit of weird from one person inspired the masses.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GA8z7f7a2Pk