Note: I stole the title from Being John Malcovich
I also, apparently and with a heavy sense of eerie-ness, stole my tribe idea from yesterday from Seth Godin. One of my tribe members pointed Seth’s Tribes post out to me and wondered if I had slipped up by not mentioning it in my post yesterday.
I did slip up. Seth coined the phrase before me. But I didn’t concsiously slip up. When someone affects what you know and believe about something so profoundly, as Seth has done for me on the topic of marketing, you never know when they are going to seep into your work.
This morning as I was checking on my comments, and Kenny pointed Seth’s post out to me, I thought about how weird it is that someone can affect “who you are” is such ways. Seth always talks about how marketing, done properly, sets the stage for how people act and how they turn “wants” into “needs.”
It Gets Weirder
So I do my post on tribes yesterday and, after Kenny pointed out the genius overlap, 
I check Seth’s blog and he’s released a free book on tribes!
Now there’s probably no way to convince anyone that this isn’t some sort of elaborate scheme set up between me and Seth. You just have to trust me. The alternative explanation is much more fun anyway. It’s kind of creepy.
This is a blogging version of the time when you and a friend say the same thing at the same time in a conversation. And then you look at each other and go “whoa.”
Now, before you go off thinking I put myself on the same plane as Seth Godin, or that I think I am capable of the same kind of genius, think again.
I am merely one of Seth’s many fans. I’ll leave it up to the blogging pundits to argue over the motivation here.
Read Seth’s Tribes Q&A book. It freakin’ rocks.
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Seth Godin 11.17.08 at 4:51 am
Thanks for reading! I hope you don’t end up in a ditch off the NJ Turnpike, though…
(movie reference)
Seth Godins last blog post..Do you know enough?
Jack Humphrey 11.17.08 at 5:09 am
What I’m REALLY worried about is one of your tribe members spotting me on the road in Indiana! “So long and thanks for all the fish!” -Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
Kenny 11.17.08 at 7:20 am
Great post Jack, and thanks for the namecheck. I’m a staunch member of both you and Seth’s tribes
While I’m here, I should say that your Authority Black Book and Bending the Web are two of the best internet publications I’ve ever read, and I’ve read a lot.
Jack Humphrey 11.17.08 at 8:00 am
@kenny - Thanks man. See what you created here? You even got Seth Himself over here commenting! I love that the tribes talk has lead to real life proof of the concept!
Cath Lawson 11.17.08 at 11:10 am
Hi Jack - I love when this happens - two people thinking or writing the same thing at the same time. Is it telepathy, or are we all getting our ideas sent from some planet we’ve never heard of?
Jack Humphrey 11.17.08 at 11:25 am
@Cath - I don’t know, but it sure beats email!
Gary McElwain 11.17.08 at 6:13 pm
Coincidence? I think not!
How cool is that Jack, you write a post possibly from your subconcious
And the creator of that thought shows up to comment on your creativity
that he subliminally instilled in your thinking.
Lost track of my thinking (the Browns just intercepted the ball again)
Now if they could just score big. Kind of like getting Seth Godin to
comment on your blog!
Gary McElwain
Gary McElwains last blog post..Two Guy’s, 10 Steps, and 1 Reason to Color Your Way to Success
Jack Humphrey 11.17.08 at 6:57 pm
Gary - I think what you’re saying is its all Seth’s fault! I like the way you think. If he’d kept quiet about this whole tribe thing there wouldn’t have been this overlap making me look like a punk by appearing to ride his coat tails!
Yep, Seth Godin is making me look bad!
Jack Humphrey 11.17.08 at 6:58 pm
By the way, how come you’re the only one who noticed Seth was the first one to comment on this post?
Kyle Stich 11.18.08 at 9:48 am
Oh, man! My gut just sunk. Sorry that this will be a negative comment, but I was hoping that people would be able to see Seth’s “Tribes” book for what it is - an articulation of Seth’s observations regarding the leadership roles that bloggers assume.
Seth did NOT coin the term “tribes.” He appropriated it. The term and the ideas existed well before Seth wrote about them in a book. Along with his smarmy “Nobody Cares About You” clip from an interview, his attempt to act like the originator of the idea of tribes caused me to leave Seth’s “tribe.
Once again, I’m sorry for the negativity of this post, but I can’t stand seeing this guy get more credit than he deserves. He has clout and knows how to take full advantage of his clout. For that I applaud him. BTW, I enjoyed YOUR tribes post.
Jack Humphrey 11.18.08 at 12:04 pm
Maybe then what he coined is the use of Tribes and leadership as they relate to blogs? I have to confess I didn’t do much, or any, digging really to find out who first developed the tribes concept related to marketing and leadership.
I just know what a hot button the word “coined” can be and I’m sorry to have used it in the past because there’s always someone who can come up with examples of how others have used language, concepts and ideas before us.
Kind of like how everyone sneers when they say “Al Gore invented the internet.”
I don’t, and I know Seth sure doesn’t want to be associated in that way, and so maybe I did him a disservice there.
What I am fairly sure about is that Seth’s tribes stuff in relation to bloggers is one of the more important recent works on the theme.
I don’t have any other examples because I didn’t do my homework. I really did my post out of my own head in one take and had been meaning to do a tribe post for awhile. And I had gotten behind on my Seth blog reading in the last few weeks.
Tim Judge 11.18.08 at 8:02 pm
Jack
Back when I was in college for those 11 years :0 I wrote a piece for an English class about the Gen Xers. That very morning as luck would have it a small column in the Wall Street Journal came out with an article 85% like mine. Thank God the “school” papers didn’t get delivered until 9am and my paper was due at 830!
I gave a copy of the article to my English professor (not a daily reader), he said I could use my finance degree and go write for the WSJ! HA
So what happens when 2 tribes collide?? And their fearless leaders are preaching the same message?
Tim Judges last blog post..Make Money With Continuity
Jack Humphrey 11.19.08 at 9:24 am
@Tim - I HOPE what happens is people listen to the message! I didn’t write that up to make me look smart. I really know first-hand what a solid tribe can do for your business.
One of the biggest tribes on the web centered on a personal blog is at Dooce.com.
Heather sure knows what it means to have more than casual followers of your work. My hope is that the message is taken seriously and acted upon by as many people as possible.
Caleb 11.20.08 at 3:54 pm
Anytime we step into a similar mind-frame/set as somone else, we will definitely begin to pull from the same thought sphere. I know this may sound a bit esoteric,but it’s true. Notice how ppl in the same fields(who are serious about it of course) seem to stumble upon the same ideas at almost the same time?
This is the phenomena of socializing with like minds…you truly build.
This happens all the time. For example musicians will often create a piece that someone else already created or was about to create without the two even knowing each other! Just look at how many post topics are similar in the blogosphere…surely they all can’t be copycatting.
Calebs last blog post..ClickBank TopSites Review