Help me understand the origin of tribes. What size were they? Go back to the earliest recorded history of hunter-gatherers, where living in a tribe was essential for survival. Beyond just humans, what other species live in 'pods'?
The earliest human societies were organized into small nomadic tribes of hunter-gatherers. The size of these tribes varied based on the available resources in their environment, but anthropological studies suggest some common patterns:
The optimal size for an active foraging group was around 7-8 people.2 This allowed efficient gathering and hunting while not overtaxing local food sources.
Larger tribes consisted of multiple family units, with total sizes ranging from around 25-50 people for a residential group camp.2
At certain times, multiple residential groups would aggregate into larger bands of 100-200 people for activities like mating or taking advantage of abundant seasonal resources. But these larger aggregations were temporary.2,1
The human brain evolved to maintain stable relationships with around 150 people, known as Dunbar's number. This may have influenced the upper limit for cohesive tribal sizes.1 So while total tribal populations could reach a few hundred, the core groups that foraged and lived together daily were relatively small, from just a handful up to a few dozen people.1,2
Humans are not the only species that live in social groups or "pods" for survival benefits:
Dolphins live in pods typically containing 2-30 individuals, though superpods of thousands can form temporarily.3 Pod life protects dolphins from predators.
Wolf packs usually consist of 5-11 animals, an extended family group cooperating to hunt and raise offspring.
Elephants live in tightly bonded matriarchal herds of around 8-100 related females and their offspring, benefiting from group protection and wisdom of elders. So the tendency to live in relatively small, cohesive social groups emerged as an evolutionary survival strategy across many species, including prehistoric human tribes.1,2,3 Citations:
We know that dolphins are a highly intelligent species. They travel in pods to compensate for their smaller size when facing predators. As authors, we face predators in different forms. Self-defeating self-talk. Fear of failure. Fear of success. Confusion. Tech stumped. I mentioned in class that my mission is to bridge the gap between self-publishing and traditional publishing. And it's more than just a gap in marketing. It exists in strategic planning, production, distribution, and ongoing operations. If you aren't where you want to be in life, surround yourself with others who are! The POD exists to divide and conquer. To motivate and support. To surround you with others who have a shared vision. A separation of duties within the pod is vital because there's far more work than we can do on our own. No successful author is an island. To succeed, we need the support of others! One author may be responsible for reader reviews, another for email marketing, another for Facebook and Goodreads, one for twitter and one for LinkedIn. One can proof, another can format. You will find your role in the pod. The collective intelligence (and effort) benefits every author in the pod. Everybody has a role to fill, but you have to be willing ask for help.
"Life shrinks or expands according to one's courage." ~ Anais Nin The upside of delegation. When you delegate to a colleague, you are making an ask and entrusting that individual with ownership of the task. Once the delegate commits to due date, they have taken ownership. The process is easily managed via milestones in AuthorDock. If you are uncomfortable asking for help, consider this your sandbox.
If you don't want to make an 'ask' of yourself, take time to be sure your ask is detailed enough, so the individual knows what you need and doesn't have to come back to you for more info. If you're not yet ready to delegate it to someone else, assign it to yourself and commit to getting it to a point where you can hand it off. It's not your job to say no for other people; it's theirs. ## Authors helping authors Hours you put into the pod can be logged in [AuthorDock](https://login.authordock.com/projects/launching-an-amazon-bestseller). In the spirit of an hour exchange (aka [time bank](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time-based_currency#Time_banks). Time you log into milestones are 'banked' as credits you can expect to redeem in the output of others. The idea is to encourage contribution and discourage 'freeloaders.' Every author will find a way to contribute to the whole. You may find it's easier to promote somebody else's work. That's the reason for the POD. They'll see the activity and will likely reciprocate. By logging our time in AuthorDock, we are able to see where our effort (and time) is being directed. **Time you spend solely on your own book is not logged as part of the collective. But if the effort will benefit others in the POD, log it.** ## Accountability Accountability becomes less of a problem when we are driven by shared purpose. We need to have skin in the game. The pod exists to support one another where we get stuck. A publically declared goal carries more weight. We succeed when we have each other's best interests at heart. ### You are student investing in your own education. ## Private Milestones If you still need to create an AuthorDock account: AuthorDock Onboarding I hope I've inspired you to join us! My best, Brian Schwartz 805-225-1251 ***