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The half-naked, probably intoxicated, delight of a dancing man in this video teaches some valuable lessons on starting a movement.
1. Be different – When everybody else is sitting, stand up and start shaking what your mother gave you.
2. Avoid crowded spaces – If people don’t see room to creatively participate, they probably won’t.
3. Embrace your core community – Reach out to early adopters and delight in their participation. These are the people who give your movement legs. Celebrate them.
When you saw this video, what lessons did you draw from it?
Teach me.
What a great video, what I noticed was that guy #1 never actually asked anybody to join in, rather than waste time recruiting people he just did his thing.
Thank you for your insights!
There's a lot of talk among bloggers to the effect that “you should do something you love enough to continue if you were your only reader” and this video makes a perfect case for just that.
Is it nice to get the feedback and affirmation of many readers and lots of comments? Yes. Is the money pretty sweet? Sure. But money and comments from strangers don't keep anybody's bed warm at night. Well, I suppose you could buy a bed-warmer? =)
Thanks Dave!
I can only wish you'd left some of your own. =)
Thanks, Seth.
What a great way to start my day!
I love that he never looked at the crowd while he was dancing. It wasn't about them. It was about his expression. It was pure.
It's possible that he was blazed/trashed out of his mind. =)
Would that more of us got past our inhibitions and just started dancing, eh?
This was an interesting way to show how to start a movement. The humor can be taken and applied in a more serious way. As in this video one person stood up and began doing something. Other people around the person followed and before you know it a movement had begun. This is how it is in life. You can apply this to any situation. Excellent Post. Number one article that I have read today and I read a lot of articles, probably around 200+ each day.
Thanks Allen. I'm curious though…why do you read so many articles each day? Is it a fascination or just something you have time to do?
I've given up on trying to read everything and go with a sort of social media triage system instead to find the important stuff.
Okay, initially, I was wondering what was up with only the men dancing. Since I'm married to a musician in recovery, when only the guys get up on the dance floor, it sometimes prohibits women or couples from joining in — kind of like in business or any other sphere that lacks diversity. So, I was happy to see that eventually EVERYONE joined in.
I think the 4th lesson I would add: don't keep anyone out. What I saw in this video — or rather didn't see — was anyone putting up ropes to cordon people off; there was no VIP access.
Thanks for sharing — and it did make me laugh!
The lesson I drew was that some people just will not shake and dance and change, like the guy in the green shirt still sitting, almost alone, at the end of the video.
What lessons did I learn? Do your own thing, and don't worry about what everyone else might think. In the beginning people were kind of looking at him a bit funny. There was even a point where a girl walked over near to where the guy(s?) were dancing and sat down. Later she got up and joined in.
The other thing was the person or people near the camera started singing along as more and more people joined in. The enthusiasm spread.
I think it is awesome it was caught on video, and I imagine that person was also strangely following their own bliss, and caught onto something amazing and then shared it. Which makes their role pretty important as well.
Awesome – and it comes at such an historic time. I immediately thought of Iran. Thanks for sharing this. Hope it goes viral.
It's just a great view on how things get started in so many ways. How many times have we looked back after some great movement, Idea, product, etc and asked how did that happen. Well we just saw it. Even the idea of possible rejection. Guy 1 tried to dance with Guy 2, but it didn't look like he wanted to get that involved. Your right guy 3 looked like the catalysts. What was interesting to me was how the speed picked up as more people continued to get involved. At first they kind of walked, by the end the were running and couldn't wait to get involved.
I like point #2. But regarding the 'where' to set up your movement, I have to think that context is pretty important here. I mean, he started a dance movement at a music concert. And not just any music. The type of music that attracts counter culture, right? “I've got to be unstoppable” doesn't exactly speak to conformity. Not at the Pentagon. The movement he started fit the audience. That's a takeaway for me, too.
As far as Mr. Godin's desire for more #3's, interesting, but I'm wondering how many more he wants, right? Isn't the whole magic to #3 the fact that there is only one of him? If 20 people joined when he did, hence “more” #3's, he becomes part of the mob, the insignificant, according to Godin. It is the sparse numbers that creates the risk, which creates the value of the choice to be #3. Early adopters lose their value, and their title of “early,” as the ranks grow. There's got to be a flow chart in here, right?
Last point, I dig the song. I put Shazam on it and came back with Unstoppable (prolly obvious as the title) by Santogold, if anyone wants it.
Thanks, Seth. Cool post.
Jen
It's just a great view on how things get started in so many ways. How many times have we looked back after some great movement, Idea, product, etc and asked how did that happen. Well we just saw it. Even the idea of possible rejection. Guy 1 tried to dance with Guy 2, but it didn't look like he wanted to get that involved. Your right guy 3 looked like the catalysts. What was interesting to me was how the speed picked up as more people continued to get involved. At first they kind of walked, by the end the were running and couldn't wait to get involved.
Yeah, but I alway respect that one that remains sitting more than the herd. And at that point, when he's the only one left, he replaces the position of Guy #1. The tension swings.
There's always one green shirt in the crowd.
Not joining in the fun doesn't mean the green shirt-wearer is enlightened or innovative or even right. It simply means he didn't join in.
Many slow or non-adopters take the position of “I'm here because I want to be different” when in fact they haven't done anything at all.
I hadn't noticed the added singing. Nice!
I think the first guy's role is very important. However, it's a role most people leave to others. Certain personality types and situational desperation tend to land people in the #1 role most often.
Thanks Kelly!
There are political upheavals all the time. The one in Iran just happened to be in a country there's been talking of bombing and Twitter was around to catch a lot of the chatter. We'll see what happens! I'm hoping for the best.
Yeah, that's a great takeaway. Being among “your own people” is definitely the make-or-break to the start of many causes. Timing is everything, eh?
Seth was saying “we need more #3's” because they are the type of people who will turn craziness into a workable movement. If you had 50 of them in the same room? Wow! Ideas could take off!
Yes, it picked up very, very quickly.
Guy 2 looked more like he was making fun of guy 1 at first. Now he's at home bragging about how he helped start a dance party that became popular on Youtube. =)
Ahh, VIP access…where the people without the nerve to call each other can rub elbows and drink watery coffee. We need to fix VIP's. Perhaps by getting rid of them entirely?
Thanks Anne!
Ever hear how a party doesn't get started till something breaks?
The audience seemed to be set up for a “picnic” concert…until the picnic pretense was broken. A solo dance created, promoted and allowed others to move into enjoying the concert so much more!
I might suggest you are doing a similar solo dance on Twitter (fueled by tea and Boston baked beans no doubt). Many are watching – some joining in.
Do tell more about this move —> “I've given up on trying to read everything and go with a sort of social media triage system instead to find the important stuff.”
It made my day! My lessons …
#1 Be yourself – follow your heart!
#2 Don't strategize too much, rather go. There is lethal planning!
#3 Deeply enjoy what you do.
So true, a year from now guy 1 will be cut out if all frames and guy 2 will telling everybody how he started it all. lol
“the picnic pretense was broken” I like that! Really great analogy!
Baked beans? Err, no. None of those here. =)
I'll post on the triage shortly. Always good to mix things up a bit.
Thanks!
Yes, there is DEFINITELY such a thing as lethal planning.
For a business, if you're dealing with a team you trust fully and communicate well with, you can jump into a project and make sense of everything as you go along. That's often what we end up doing with our best planned projects anyhow.
It all comes down to the people.
Thanks Marcus!
Like for so many things in life, this seems to me to be a question of balance.
On the one hand, a certain amount of planning is inevitable in the large scale projects with changing teams I work on. On the other hand, a absolutely agree that there often is what you call lethal planning – planning that is only focused on itself and not on the purpose or the people.
One important thing seems to be if you are able to build an atmosphere of trust. As you said, Seth: it all comes down to the people.
This video gives me chills. So many psychological, sociological, and social media lessons to be learned from it. How did you find this? This is fascinating.
That “atmosphere of trust” takes time, careful management, and an enormous desire to build a vibrant culture. Getting all the ingredients to bake a cake like that is a LOT of work, sir! =)
I saw a link to the video on Twitter. @joshuacc pointed out Godin's post last week with his take on the video (noted above) so that's another place you might have run across it.
Chills? I didn't get chills. More of a guffaw. =)
Sometimes you don't even know your starting a movement…the music just takes you and the limbs follow before the brain can register what is happening (especially if its slightly intoxicated).
I for one, love dancing and watching other YouTubers dance. I will think about @MissIve's point about the critical moment when the pendulum shifts and a reverse in tension happens– Power can be usurped even when sitting still. Proving your point number 1?
Except, as I said to Missive, most of the people who sit and do nothing should not brag about “bucking the trend” because they didn't sit for any particular reason.
I have never seen great things done from a person doing nothing. Can power be usurped by sitting still? Sure. That would require more than just one guy sitting though. He's still crazy. The next person to sit is lazy. The third person to sit has started a trend in sitting. =)
I don't recall mentioning that he was bragging or even claiming he's done anything. I'm not even claiming he's DONE anything. But passive and active movement are less interesting to me here. I'm simply talking about the underlying tension in the motion of a movement. The current. Some people refer to it as the power of spectacle, the gaze. When one does something different, all the tension rests on him. (I also think of the closed set of energy in potential and kinetic systems, for you science nerds.) It's intense which is why most people have noted that he is often the drunk or crazy one. Nobody else can stomach it. Once it reaches mob status, and the numbers of people joining increases exponentially per minute, at some point, they are “joining” to maintain status quo, not subvert it. They are moving, motivated by fear of being the only one not doing it, just as moments before they were sitting from fear of being the few who were doing it. Sitting or dancing is not issue here. It's are you moving to your own beat or to maintain a safe place within the herd. The latter is fear-based.
My only point was that, at some point, the tension shifts to rest on the one still sitting. Not that he had any agency in the tension residing on him.
Some of the bravest moments of my life have been the ones where I didn't join the herd.
I won't belabor this and detail my specific theories on what distinguishes the first one dancing from the last one sitting, and certainly they differ.
On lighter note, Morgan, I'll dance on hill with you any day, but you are so going to be #1. Shove.
J
Absolutely. But I still have the (maybe naive) dream that it may be worth the effort.
One more: Be patient and stick with what you believe. The party didn't start immediately. In fact, I almost turned off the video before things happened. So give things time. Reaction, support, confirmation doesn't come instantly. It can take a few minutes, or hours, or days, or even months.
It's CERTAINLY worth the effort. I was simply pointing out that it's not an easy recipe. =)
…there is no such thing as overnight success
My personal projection:
“Focus on one thing, do it well, finish up strong.”
and somewhere in the middle of that
“never ever ever ever give up”
My first thought was “Drunk white guys shouldn't start dancing.” (Not that I'm speaking from experience or anything…
)
After that I was left with the thought that if you want to be a trailblazer – or even someone who doesn't care if the crowd follows him much less that he's with a crowd – then sometimes you have to throw all your cares to the wind and (to take a much overused phrase) “just do it.” The result can be something incredible.
“Fix” VIPs? I dunno where we're taking this train of thought, but I think that would take care of them after the current generation. *snip snip*
Great post and thank you for inspiring us to think about it this way. I would add: Do what comes naturally. That song is so fantastic, how could you be sitting to it? He was dancing because it felt good and he was going to dance no matter what.
What is interesting is that the footage itself is picking up steam. Out of sheer coincidence, I saw it on another blog. The video has many hits. Now I get to tweet your great post too. Cheers to the anonymous dancer!
Unfortunately not – event if sometimes I wished there was (I'm not that patience super hero)… Good to have friends that remind me of that truth and help me keep going on.
You took that in a direction I hadn't thought of. =)
I'd be game for learning your specific theories on what separates first to join from the last.
“at some point, they are “joining” to maintain status quo, not subvert it.”
Ah, yes. The ones who refer to themselves as “late bloomers” and such.
Really interesting point that, after a certain momentum was reached, people joined because they didn't want to be different. Stellar, Miss!
I find it really interesting that you nearly gave up on the video. The music wasn't good, the quality was terrible, and the point was buried nearly a minute into the video. Some editing would do the clip quite a bit of good.
Sometimes we sell ourselves and our ideas short by taking too long to share the point we're trying to make. I've seen a lot of great projects die because of this.
Of course you'd not have any experience in that. =)
The cool part about not caring about the crowd following is that you won't fall apart if it turns out that nobody follows you. There's no guarantee that your movement will gain momentum. The saying “He gave up just a little too early” is enthusiastic but it doesn't account for the possibility that some things just won't ever take off.
It'll come full circle if the anonymous dancer gets in trouble at work for lying about taking time off for the festival or something like. =)
Nothing wrong with a bit of dancing.
Thanks Kendra!
Ive watched this a few times now and love it more each time.
SO THE ANSWER TO LIFE FOR ME: be different yet be AUTHENTICALLY who you are and not “different' for the sake of standing while others are seated.
and embrace that core community. HARD. dont worry about numbers as when you are number one (not like the foam finger #1 but the #1 above) then eventually the #s may follow and if they never do? you wont even notice.
[...] Seth Simonds is one of the bloggers that I chose to follow from the list . Seth had a post appropriately titled “How To Start A Movement”. [...]
@asgreinc I didn't notice this before on our twibe page. Very, very cool!
That was just awesome. I totally loved this video.
It’s the perfect example for “How to Start a Movement.”
Dare to be the only one standing up – not caring what others think – be passionate about what you believe. Your excitement and passion will be felt by others. As people start joining in – the ripple effect happens.
Then everyone wants to be a part of it.
Awesome.