Experimenting with microsolidarity crews

(2023 edit: I’ve compiled a list of session templates at eacrews.org)

In 2020 I was introduced to “microsolidarity”, a set of ideas and methodologies on relating to others in groups. Over the last 6 months I’ve been experimenting with it in the form of “crewing”. This post is a casual outline for anyone interested in the steps I took organising crews of rats and EAs to meet weekly and:

help each other with life problems
nerd out over mutual obsessions, from well-being to emergence to ambition
just generally connect as human beings

I didn’t set out with a plan, I just did what felt right at the time so take this as less of a recipe, and more of a retrospective from which you might want to pick and choose some stuff of your own to try!

What I did:

#1 Collect “free electrons”: I’d keep an eye out for people I suspected might be interested in crewing and would be fun to hang out with. I found mine:

In “introductions” slack channels for events (be on the lookout for key interests like “community”, “governance”, “well-being” or “relating”)
At virtual conferences for communities like effective altruism, complexity weekend, or radicalXchange
People I know in real life (though never more than 1 per crew)
People recommended by other free electrons

#2 Connect: I’d reach out to these people to see if they’d be interested in a 1-1 chat

Normally this would be a message like “Hey, if you were interested in jumping on a call sometime to connect I’d love to chat about X 😊”
I’d go on a walk, call them up at the agreed time, and just get to know them. The conversations might involve:
- swapping backgrounds
- discussing ambitions
- ending up talking about shared topics of interest
Normally they’d also nerd out about something I think a lot about (community, utilitarianism, public goods, civics, etc) and the conversation would just spark up

#3 Mention Microsolidarity: Inevitably I’d start talking about theories of groups or experiences I’d had crewing, and if they showed an interest I’d mentioned there might be an opportunity to join a time bounded crew coming up. If they seemed keen I’d add them to my list.

Note: I’ve noticed people are normally a lot more interested in joining something with a time limit, rather than an indefinite commitment.

#4: Form the crew: Once there were 3 free electrons who’ve expressed interest I thought would vibe I just dumped everyone in a group-chat and we found a time to meet weekly for 6 weeks. I would just go with combinations of people that “felt right”, but two things I came to realise I was doing were:

Organising the group around a shared interest like “ai-safety”, “well-being”, or “civics”. Basically people who get fired up over the same thing.
Trying to avoid an “EQ vacuum” in a crew. The more people who feel comfortable discussing the way something is making them feel right now, rather than what it makes them think of, the better. Cerebral groups aren’t worse than “feely” groups, but I was gunning for the latter.

#5 Have an intro session: We’d get on a video chat and spend 90 minutes getting to know one another. Generally I found everyone gets so high on “new crew energy” that 🔥 topics of conversation will just spontaneously emerge as people introduce themselves. If the spirit of emergence doesn’t fall on the group however, you may need to be willing to “stand up on stage” and act as a foil, talking about something you’re currently passionate about.

#6 Case clinics: Case clinics are the secret ingredient. Over the next 4 sessions each person would bring some problem they were working on to the group, and receive 90 minutes of undivided attention from their peers. I would ask around before the session to see who was interested in volunteering to bring a case. Examples of some of the topics we’ve had:

Social anxiety/feelings of inferiority
Break-ups
Fears around over-ambitious projects
Imposter syndrome
Feeling torn between rural or city living

The case clinic format involves:

A 15-20 minutes monologue from the case giver about what they’re going through with space for clarifying questions
Each “coach” reflecting back what they heard and how it made them feel, without giving advice or over-intellectualising
The case bringer reflecting back what it was like to share and receive the reflections, and any further thoughts they have
A generative dialogue in which advice is now allowed

Things I’ve been more intentional about over time that seem to affect how things feel:

Holding a spirit of curiosity during the case-sharing portion (people really value being asked clarifying questions on their case)
Paying attention to my emotional rather than intellectual reaction to the bullet points of the case being brought, and then modelling reflecting my emotional reactions back during the reflection portion. When someone shares something vulnerable to a group of strangers, their monkey brains wants most to know first how it’s affected the receivers emotionally.

I’ve been a part of 10 or so case clinics at this point, and with each I have more and more respect for the format. Having 3 other people give you so much care, to help you through something you’re struggling with has been a novel and profound experience for everyone I’ve seen receive it.

#7 A graceful landing: Ending things well can be hard to achieve, especially if there was no time limit set on the crew. In the crews I’ve been a part of I’ve seen three outcomes:

The slow death: This happened to the first three crews I was a part of, and I now work to avoid it. People’s emotional experience of being in the crew starts to change as the “new crew energy” wanes. You get “failures to launch” where people show up and it’s not a bad time, but it doesn’t leave them excited for the next meeting, so people drop off one by one till the organiser stops organising. If you’ve ever been in a DnD group that peters out like this you know it doesn’t feel great. But it’s also not the end of the world.
The time bounded ending: The crew disbands with a good feeling after the planned 6 weeks. People post stuff related to the crew in the chat every once and a while and you have people to contact down the line who may be interested in forming a new crew.
The perpetual hum: If the crew is “humming” with enough energy to keep it going without you acting as the organiser, then the 6-week format can morph into something a little more dynamic whilst avoiding the slow death. At this point ideas around “rotating leadership” have come up where others in the crew volunteer to be responsible for it, and I can relax with scheduling or feeling the need to watch out for any snarls or issues arising.

And there you have it, my limited experience with crews and crewing, such as it is. If you want to try something like this yourself and have any questions (or just want to nerd out over groups together) feel free to reach out on twitter (@FilmerJarred) 😊.