Thoughts on Daniel Patricio’s “How to Convert Crowds to Communities”

April 23rd, 2009 • Communities

Continuing the conversation from my piece yesterday, Daniel Patricio was inspired to put down some of his thoughts here. It’s a great piece that raises some cogent arguments, and I think the crux of it can be summed up by this:

What if instead of perpetrating attitudes of hopelessness, disdain for government and dire opportunity we could facilitate development of communities that encourage commerce, entrepreneurship, education, civic duty, personal branding and innovation?

Daniel also discusses what differentiates crowds from communities, but his value differs from mine. Daniel considers that communities have to be both brought together by common cause, value and goal, and ownership from leaders within that community to create a channel for communication and action. He discusses communities on the global scale, mentioning how oppressive nations such as Cuba, Zimbabwe and China prevent communities from being formed.

My thoughts on the piece? I think Daniel and I differ in two key areas:

1. Firstly, I think that leaders in the community aren’t necessarily the ones they appear to be. I’m a heavy believer in the concept of the unconscious leader – one who doesn’t necessarily seek the role, but whose actions and mannerisms cause them to be placed in that leadership position. One of the issues faced with trying to assist those who self-identify as leaders within communities is that they sometimes get caught up in the self-interest game, competing with each other. While this can lead to benefits for the community, it can also create factions or camps that end up driving a community apart.
2. Daniel’s country mentions are interesting. While I certainly can’t defend the community building efforts in a country like Zimbabwe (or, to a lesser extent, China), I think Cuba gets a bit of a bad rap here in North America. The primary voices we hear are dissent from the displaced Cubans in the US, but quietly, Cuba is a country with an excellent health care system, and full of communities that are vibrant. Yes, it may not be as developed as other countries, but that’s a testament to a lack of resources than many other things.

The really interesting point that Daniel brings up is the comparison between those of lower socioeconomic status here versus less developed countries and how similar the two may be. This is a point that I don’t really have a cogent answer to – what about you, any thoughts? Leave them in the comments below.

Great stuff. I have a few more thoughts left on the community realm, so expect those soon.

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