Issue 12: Introducing "THE COLLECTIVE EDGE"
Announcing my new book on the weird, wonderful world of group dynamics
I have an exciting announcement. It’s not just one of those LinkedIn “I’m excited to announce I tied my shoes” things. It is genuine “squirrel in the Snickers factory” excitement.
I am excited to announce that I will no longer make vague allusions to my impending book - I will make concrete proclamations!
Hear ye, hear ye! My book, The Collective Edge: Unlocking the Secret Power of Groups, is now available for pre-order at your preferred bookshop (USA and UK). Drop whatever you are doing—commuting to work, cooking dinner, cleaning your Faberge eggs—and pre-order it immediately. And join our pre-launch team (see below)!
According to this totally unbiased description I found online, The Collective Edge is “a fascinating exploration into the surprising science of group dynamics that will forever change how you live and work.” You hear that? It will FOREVER CHANGE HOW YOU LIVE AND WORK!! How can you say no to that?
I wrote this book because group dynamics are insanely important - but often ignored. The non-fiction aisle of your favorite bookshop is filled with tips and tricks to change your individual psychology and behavior. It is chock-full of biographies and memoirs that take us inside the heads of interesting and eminent individuals.
Research shows that individualism is on the rise all over the world. Our minds are famously biased toward individualistic and self-serving explanations for human behavior—both our own and others’. It’s no wonder that we default to the individual level of analysis when seeking to explain, change, and improve.
Yet your life is filled with groups. Your work teams. Your families and friends. Your race, religion, and nationality. These groups are the key to your happiness and well-being. And the relationships among these groups will determine whether tomorrow’s world is prosperous and peaceful - or a dystopian nightmare.
I’ve spent much of my career conducting research and teaching about group dynamics. And I stay in business because most people—even team leaders and managers—spend surprisingly little time thinking about what groups really are, how they work, and how to get the best out of them.
Our struggles to wrangle the groups in our lives belie humanity’s not-so-secret superpower: cooperation. Our tendency toward cooperation is the foundation of human accomplishment. Nearly every scientific discovery, world-changing business, desert island musical album, and legendary sports team has a great group at its core. Groups, and group dynamics, are at the heart of the human story.
Yet living and working in groups is both a blessing and a curse. Too often, groups are in the news for all the wrong reasons: conformity, polarization, prejudice, conflict, and general mass stupidity. The secret is understanding how to work with the invisible forces of group dynamics instead of being mindlessly pushed around by them.
The Collective Edge will help you to think at the group level. This collective perspective will help you to build teams that can be more than the sum of their parts (synergy). It will show you how to harness the motivating power of competition without inviting in dysfunctional conflict. It will teach you what good group leadership really means —putting in place the research-backed conditions that allow groups to function effectively.
Now, why should you pre-order a book that you won’t be able to read until September? Before I got into the world of publishing, I was similarly confused. Why would you buy a book weeks or months before you can read it?
I’ll give you two reasons.
First, pre-order because of your steadfast support for me and/or the book’s message. Pre-orders are shockingly important, especially for new authors like me. Here’s how Rutger Bregman explained it:
Here’s something you might not know: pre-ordering a book makes a huge difference. It sends a signal to publishers, retailers, and the media that these ideas matter. It gets the book into stores, onto best-seller lists, and into your local book clubs
Second, if you pre-order, you’ll be eligible to become a member of The Collective Edge Launch Team (T-CEL Team)…
Join The Collective Edge Launch Team (T-CEL Team)
Would you like to make the groups in your life more effective (or, at least, less dysfunctional)? You've come to the right place!
Join The Collective Edge Launch Team (T-CEL Team) and help more people learn to unlock the secret power of groups! (invisibility? flying? telepathy?)
Step 1. Fill out the T-CEL Team Survey (1 minute, really)
Step 2. Pre-order The Collective Edge and save your receipt (USA; UK)
Step 3. You're officially a member of T-CEL Team!
As a token of appreciation, you’ll receive:
An early NetGalley copy of the book to read before anyone else!
12 months of complimentary paid subscription to Colin's Newsletter, The Collective Edge (when paid subscriptions are re-activated after the book comes out)
Early access to guides for groups and other bonus material
Promotional graphics that members can use to spread the word about the book on socials, newsletters, or elsewhere
Exclusive musical interludes from Colin and associates composed for T-CEL Team members (probably the most valuable part of this)
So join T-CEL Team today! If nothing else, T-CEL Team members will be my homies forever.
Hold on, You Changed the Name of the Newsletter?
Yes. I like The Fishbowl - I’ve used it on and off for years to refer to my lab and other extracurricular doings. It works because my last name has “fish” in it! But titles matter and The Collective Edge does a better job of describing what this will be all about.
My promise to you hasn’t changed: This is still a community for curious people to learn how the science of groups and organizations can help us live and work better together. And have a little fun along the way.
You’ll get twice-monthly newsletters that help you understand and shape your own moments of collaboration and creativity. You’ll also learn about social science, the writing process, and the non-stop action of academic careers.
I’ve been working hard behind the scenes getting ready for today — which has meant fewer old-school Fishbowl essays. But more essays are coming soon! I promise!
Between essays, I’ll sprinkle in interviews with academics, authors, and more. TCE guests will offer a unique perspective on “how the science of groups and organizations can help us live and work better together,” with an emphasis on groups, creativity, improvisation, and/or writing (and a huge thank you to
for being the first!).
Congrats! This is such a cool milestone! I love how you're weaving your book and your Substack together—and also just love your sense of humor. Your posts are always so fun to read. Just signed up for the launch team and heading to preorder my copy now!
I love the name (of the book and newsletter!) and the cover is beautiful! And hurrah for concrete proclamations (and huge congrats on them, too:)!