Anthony Bourdain & How Not to Steal
For almost two weeks now, I've been thinking of Anthony Bourdain every day. I've been trying to work out some of the lessons he has taught me so far about community through his work. There are many, I've realized. But what I want to share with you today is how I think his work serves as a model for the type of creative work we do: gathering people.
The day Bourdain passed, Taiwan-born comedian and activist Jenny Yang explained, "Bourdain never treated our food like he 'discovered' it. He kicked it with grandma because he knew that HE was the one that needed to catch up to our brilliance."
Yang's thought, above all else, is what I have been pondering.
Through his particular way of traveling and telling stories of cultures and people, he showed us how to create without stealing.
Call it what we may, we "borrow" from others when we build a brand community. Most companies I work with want to know examples of other companies building brand community. They want "use cases" and case studies. They want to know what others are doing so they can take what they need, throw out what they don't, and create from a template.
Templating is one way we borrow. Then there are those organizations that create a brand community that appears entirely new in the business world. They also borrow: they lean heavily on models from other cultures and periods in human history to create.
Typically, therefore, we owe a great debt to others in the creation of our communities. We often owe that debt to ancestry and history that is not our own. Quite often, we fail to give credit where it is due.
By examining Anthony Bourdain's work, I am still learning how not to treat my work as if I am discovering anything for the first time. I am still learning how to incur a debt in the process of building community and offer gratitude and credit for it. I don't create ideas in vacuums. I don't build community without the significant contributions of many communities that came before.
Tomorrow's leaders can learn from Bourdain's quiet respect, spotlight-shining, deep listening, and go-with-the-flow attitude.
Being indebted to so many others, making peace with that debt, giving credit, speaking out against those who don't: this may be the hardest work we can do in this industry, and the most necessary.
Anthony Bourdain "kicked it with grandma" and never tried to act like he was the fountain of her wisdom or her wit or genius. Instead, he shined the light on her. He laughed. He spoke about her with what can only be described as love.
He didn't discover anything new. He didn't create anything new.
He just showed us what it looks like to sit in awe as we receive the gifts that this messy world can give us. If only we will travel far. And listen.
Who are you sitting in awe of in your community work? How do/can you thank them and give them credit? Comment below.
Keep going. We need you.
Your friendly neighborhood community builder 💛
Carrie
In the last newsletter, I explored the idea of starting small. You can read it here.
In response, Erin Anacker, co-founder of WholeStory/dog mom/community thinker, shared with us: "I would add to your list of why starting small is a good idea the only way to go: launching is a process, not an event. This is something I've been learning over the last couple years. No matter if it is a community or a business, you have to pack the snow in your hands before you try and gather more snow and roll it into a big, magical, momentum."
Think Erin is smart and poetic? I do too. Say hi to her on Twitter!
