The Art of Community Building: Microsolidarity, Teal Organizations & Decentralized Power | Richard D. Bartlett

Richard D. Bartlett is a community organizer, entrepreneur, and coach who helps people grow high-trust communities and decentralized organizations. In 2011 he was part of the Occupy Wall Street movement — a pivotal moment that set him on the path to becoming a key player in Enspiral, an organization that shares money, power, and information to help its members do meaningful work. He went on to found Loomio, a software that helps organizations navigate decentralized decision-making, and later The Hum, a non-hierarchical management consultancy. His latest venture is Microsolidarity — a community building network and movement dedicated to cultivating high-trust groups at a human scale.In this conversation, we explore how Rich's upbringing shaped his work with community building and team organization, the importance of integrating traditional values, and what it takes to create a pluralistic community with the capacity to hold many perspectives.We get into what Microsolidarity is and how it works, how group size changes relational dynamics, essential modalities and practices for community builders, insights from Enspiral, and how to build trust and accelerate personal growth through community.We also explore the challenges of visionary leadership, navigating the polarity of autonomy and belonging, Michael Levin's work on the superorganism and collective intelligence, the illusion of being self-made, how to integrate vulnerability into the workplace, and creating decentralized organizations.🔗 LINKS & RESOURCES 🔗Rich's personal site Microsolidarity — community building network and practice The Hum — Rich's consultancy The Religious Case Against Belief — James Carse Nonviolent Communication — Marshall B. Rosenberg Theory U U-Lab Course Liberating Structures Internal Family Systems Circling — Relatefulness Open Space Technology Better Work Together — Enspiral🕰️ TIMESTAMPS 🕰️0:00 - Introduction2:32 - How Rich's upbringing led to his work with community building and team organization6:50 - The importance of integrating traditional values8:44 - Creating a pluralistic community with the capacity to hold many perspectives19:16 - What is Microsolidarity?27:45 - How group size changes relational dynamics30:35 - Essential modalities and practices for community builders36:25 - Insights from Enspiral and working in community44:33 - Building trust and accelerating personal growth through community47:22 - The challenges of visionary leadership54:51 - Navigating the polarity of autonomy and belonging59:28 - Michael Levin, the superorganism, collective intelligence and the illusion of being self-made1:08:40 - How to integrate vulnerability into the workplace1:17:20 - Creating decentralized organizations1:26:40 - Additional resources for community builders*Subscribe to my YouTube channel to watch the video versions of the Elevating Consciousness Podcast *Subscribe to the Insighter Substack to get in-depth articles on the theory and practice of human transformation through a post-conventional