Community Continuity

When talking about belonging, we tend to refer to a “sense of belonging” rather than to “rules for belonging”. At least, we do until we’re contemplating joining a country club or some other formal organization with a prescribed set of membership expectations. Because I think of belonging or not belonging in terms of feelings, it was very interesting to read Dr. Howard’s chapter on Belonging in Design to Thrive and consider the idea of belonging.

I don’t think of myself as a joiner, yet I’m a member of numerous professional organizations and this past winter I volunteered with Habitat for Humanity for the first time since college. All of these things come with certain rituals and expectations (and remuneration, of course).

Professional membership often just requires a membership fee. In return I get newsletters, continuing education and networking opportunities. Sometimes I serve as an officer in which case more is required of me. There is an election/initiation ritual, a series of meetings at which stories are shared and, in time, I become more familiar with the group and its history and do not need to ask for explanations at meetings. I had never thought of this process as a leveling up, but in a way it is. I have more knowledge, more history, more to contribute and a greater sense of belonging. Professional organizations typically have stories of origin as well.

Habitat has an incredibly strong origination story, but it’s not always so easy for a woman to “belong”, especially in the south. For some reason, the men want to follow the schema they were born to, the one that tells them to take over heavy wheelbarrows, wield hammers and assume that a woman can’t possibly use a chop saw. Fortunately, Habitat has recognized this and created Women Build so that women can learn building skills and infiltrate the manly routines of the regular builds (and no, that’s not how they describe it on their website).

Reading about belonging helped me understand a lot of what makes a successful community, online or otherwise. I also realized that the techniques that contribute to success have to be ongoing; they can’t stop with the first wave of members. Too often, an early core group has access to the community but fails to retain new members because there is a disconnect somewhere. They may have forgotten to tell their stories, maybe even forgotten their stories, or abandoned an initiation ritual because it took too much time or cost too much money. I am so sorry that new employees at a company I used to work for no longer get a two day orientation with meals and teambuilding exercises but are instead subjected to one day of HR policy plus some name games. Perhaps a routine or protocol was never explained to new members and as the early members dropped out, the meaning of the “Fight Club” soap bar was lost. Identifying a bard or historian seems like a wonderful way to ensure continuity and thereby ensure the success of the community.