https://www.nickdewilde.com/the-social-architecture-of-impactful-communities/#
In Bowling Alone, author Robert Putnam chronicles America’s declining participation in membership organizations of all kinds, including churches, labor unions, rotary clubs, and volunteer groups.
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This disengagement has coincided with increasing feelings of isolation. In 1985 Americans reported having an average of 2.94 close friends. By 2004 this number fell to 2.08. In the same period, the number of Americans who reported having no close friends outside the family jumped from 36% to 53%. While we don't yet know the impact of quarantine on these measures, it's hard to imagine that sheltering in place is leading to improvements.
In recent years, a crop of new communities has sprung up across multiple categories that may have a shot at restoring some of America’s diminished social capital. For example:
Some of these communities belong in more than one category
While some of these organizations may have started with purely financial motivations, I suspect that most of their founders aspire to build communities that can replace some of the social capital that America’s waning institutions once provided.
They will, of course, have big shoes to fill. To replace the bonds that institutions like churches and labor unions once provided, our community architects will need to understand and deploy the social dynamics that have driven impactful communities for centuries.
During my time building, managing, and participating in a spectrum of thriving communities, I've learned how impactful groups are structured. In this guide, I’ll synthesize what I’ve learned into advice that you can apply to your own community and make a profound impact on the lives of your members.
In The Innovator’s Solution, professor Clay Christensen introduced the Jobs-to-be-done theory to explain how consumers “hire” solutions to improve their lives. The theory posits that people look for the right solution to help them get from their current state to a more desirable one (smarter, loved, happier, healthier, etc.).
Image by Ash Maurya
Individuals typically “hire” communities to accomplish transitions that require human connection. A startup founder who wants to become a better leader applies to Leaders in Tech to get the type of honest feedback needed for professional growth. The parent of a child with a rare disease might join The Mighty to get caretaking advice from parents in similar situations.
Impactful communities have environments that make it easy for members to connect and create value for one another. Sometimes the connections themselves create most of the value. In other situations, the value comes from what gets exchanged (expertise, status, motivation, etc.) after members connect. Either way, it takes a thoughtfully designed community for these interactions to take place.
Building these types of environments isn’t easy. Unlike an app, your members can’t be programmed to consistently deliver valuable experiences for one another. That’s why it’s critical to thoughtfully design your community’s social architecture to maximize the value that gets exchanged between members.