Social contracts
What makes certain relationships and communities last for decades, while others dissolve as soon as they start? What is social glue made of? Is there a recipe for it? I spend a lot of time pondering these questions as communities around me flourish and decay. It seems like what it comes down to is the social contract that is put in place. Social contract theories are rooted in socio-political history. They became popular in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries through figures like Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and served as explorations of government structures and civil obligation. Today, social contracts are perhaps most identifiable in companies. Through onboarding sessions, activities and documents, employees learn about the social rules, expectations and obligations of the company they are joining. They learn about what the culture (from Latin colere - to tend, cultivate) is made of, and how to sustain it. Culture is a living thing, and so are communities and the relationships inside of them.
This week, I'm sharing a set of learnings from social contracts observed in communities around me.
Correlations
The Point People
The Point People is a collective of women operating at the edge of tech, social change and innovation. We use system-thinking, culture, networks and language as tools for creating change. We are continuously making sense of the ever-transforming world around us as we are continuously making sense of who we are together and to each other. We are learning that the role we play as a community changes based on where the world is at and where we are meeting it as people and professionals. "What purpose does this group serve now" is always a valid question and one that allows us to see the world through a mesh of perspectives in which we always find our own.
Sandbox
What is this Sandbox thing, a cult? People in Sandbox or in its proximity often joke about it because it's hard to understand why people are so committed to each other. Sandbox started a decade ago, as a community of young professionals. Over the years, it's shifted to be a lot more than that - a support system for people in transition, a group of people spending meaningful time together around the world, a group of highly esteemed peers to unpack life with. There are as many definition as there are people in it, and that's ok. Every time a major event happens in the world or in the community, or every time enough of us get together in the same place, there's an opportunity to redefine what the community is and what roles it plays. The "magic" of Sandbox is that there is a strong social contract established from the start - someone needs to invite you in the community and you need to produce a "wow" (a gift to the community) to explain what you would like to contribute. This "give first" mentality is the social glue and culture that transcends generations of members, time and space.
Conversations
Conversations communities around me are exploring this week:
When is too early to start a social contract?
How formal does the contracting need to be?
Who has authority to set a social contract?
That's all for today! Tell me about social contracts you are observing in your communities. What are you experimenting with? What's sticking?
With gratitude,
Vx