Element Tribes

Definition

A tribe is a group of people who share the same interests and passions. The tribe may be large or small, virtual or physical, same-generation or spanning time (including the legacies of those no longer living). What defines tribes are their shared passions. Part of being in your Element is not only knowing what you love and what you're good at, but also connecting with the world and the people you want to be in—what sort of culture you enjoy and who your tribes are.

In the Book

Robinson illustrates this through the "maker movement": people who love tinkering with technology, upgrading devices, creating new things. Dale Dougherty created Make magazine for these seemingly solitary tinkerers, assuming they preferred isolation. Instead, the magazine became a gathering point, spawning Maker Faires that draw tens of thousands of people who want to show off their inventions and immerse themselves in an atmosphere of "creativity without bounds." The lesson: even those you assume are solitary often crave connection with others who share their passion.

Robinson identifies four critical functions tribes serve:

Affirmation: Being part of a tribe validates your interests and passions. It relieves the sense of isolation people sometimes feel without such connection. If you grow with the wrong tribe, "the juice is being sucked out of you"; with the right one, you flourish like companion plants in gardening that help each other grow.

Guidance: Tribes serve as powerful sources of mentoring. When Robinson's son James developed a deep interest in Buddhism, the discovery of a local Buddhist temple near their rural English home provided not just a place to practice, but mentors and a community that deepened his engagement far beyond what solitary study could have achieved.

Collaboration: When people with shared passion work together, they "stimulate each other's creativity and sense of possibility." Kimberley Spire-Oh discovered this when she founded a specialized law practice in special education advocacy. She expected competitors to hoard information; instead, other special education attorneys were generous with guidance and referrals, driven by their shared passion to help people.

Inspiration: Seeing what others in your tribe achieve raises your own bar. The New Nordic Cuisine movement—a manifesto by Scandinavian chefs to create a kitchen "which in virtue of its good taste and special character compares favorably with the standards of the greatest kitchens of the world"—galvanized the region's chefs to push boundaries they might not have pushed alone.

Robinson also emphasizes that you must "try the tribe on for size." The culture and lifestyle that go with your passion matter as much as the passion itself. His brother John was a talented soccer player but didn't connect with the rhythm and rituals of professional soccer culture, even though he loved the sport. Robinson himself loved directing plays but never felt that life in professional theater resonated with him. Finding your tribe means finding not just people who share your passion, but people whose way of living with that passion suits you.

Why It Matters

The tribe concept reveals that the path to your Element is not a solitary achievement but a social one. Tribes provide four irreducible functions that individual effort cannot: they validate that your passion is legitimate and shared, they provide mentors who have walked the path, they create the collaborative context where your Element can flourish, and they set the standard that inspires you to excellence. Without a tribe, you're vulnerable to isolation, self-doubt, and the grinding friction of doing meaningful work alone. With one, the work becomes a shared endeavor with built-in feedback, encouragement, and meaning.