Here’s a conversation with Daniel Quinn about how to change the world. It’s really good. Go read it, especially if you’re a Quinn fan.
A summary of the conversation:
The Author writes a book containing revolutionary ideas. The Friend reads the book and recommends it to The Business Owner. The book changes the way The Business Owner runs his business, thereby changing the way his competitors do business, thereby changing the world.
How neat! Three different types of revolutionaries all working together!
Three Types of Revolutionaries:
1. The Artist
The Artist changes the world by creating revolutionary art, books, movies, music, blog posts — anything that can reach and inspire a large number of people.
In Quinn’s example, The Artists are authors: Paul Hawken and Daniel Quinn himself. In the Freak Revolution Manifesto, we talk about The Artist type of revolutionary on page 30.
2. The Friend
The Friend changes the world by connecting with a small number of people and sharing revolutionary ideas with them.
This is the type of revolutionary that Quinn says is the most important. And in the Freak Revolution Manifesto, it’s on page 27.
3. The Business Owner
The Business Owner changes the world by doing business in a revolutionary and effective way. This creates a larger change in the market, forcing competitors to revolutionize as well.
The Business Owner in Quinn’s example is Ray Anderson, CEO of Interface, Inc. And we’ve talked about this type of revolutionary in our blog post “How can small businesses change the world without being evil?“.
4. You?
What other types of revolutionaries can you think of?
What type of revolutionary are you?
Have you read the Connection Manifesto? It tells the story of why there is so much hurt and sadness in the world, and how we can heal through connection.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
The Nurturer. One who cares for other revolutionaries by feeding them homegrown meals, reminding them to rest, and healing them with plants. One who teaches them yoga so they can roll with the punches with a little more ease. One who raises their babies to fight the man.
Can I be all of them? That’s what I want. :)
.-= Hayden Tompkins´s last blog ..Rock the Universe! =-.
The Nurturer! Yes!
The Duck Kicker. One who talks to the mostly-awesome people when they’ve been slacking on being awesome and tells them how to get back on track.
The Cheerleader. One who is super-excited about your corner of the revolution when you need some encouragement.
The Connector. One who puts you in touch with other revolutionaries to multiply the good done. One who always has their eyes and ears open, finds resources and gets them to people who will use them.
Right on!
I’ve always thought of myself as a Cheerleader. Not the High School *rah rah reee* type but the kind my Momma has modled for me this lifetime. Love, Trust, Belief.. these things are priceless.. & I know it firsthand. *nods*
.-= Lynnivere´s last blog ..Monday’s Minutiae =-.
The engineer – one who builds the tools and systems for running the amazing new world smoothly, efficiently and with great fun. Think how much goodness the guys who built Etsy contributed to the world.
Hmm, I think maybe I’m a bit of all three.
Me and one of my best friends are symbiotic activists. He’s introverted, I’m extroverted. I love public speaking, and can’t imagine anything worse than doing our books. He gets stage fright, and is a registered book keeper. He passes for straight, looks conservative, and lends us legitimacy. I look queer, look radical, and appeal to the activists and youth. He’s got a history in this community, and lots of connections. I am brand new, shiny, and peculiar, which attracts the attention of people who haven’t noticed us before.
Every project we take on we do together. We can operate apart, but if we achieve 5 units each apart, we achieve 100 units if we’re working together.
.-= radicalyffe´s last blog ..Welcome! =-.