WORKLIFE with Adam Grant
Episode: ReThinking – The Keys to a Flourishing Community with Dan Coyle
Date: January 27, 2026

Episode Overview

In this episode, Adam Grant sits down with journalist and bestselling author Dan Coyle (author of The Culture Code and Flourish) to explore what makes communities truly flourish, both at work and beyond. Drawing on stories from Alaska, a Parisian neighborhood, Olympian hotspots, businesses like Zingerman’s, and more, they untangle the elements behind building (or awakening) vibrant, resilient communities—highlighting vulnerability, shared experience, norms of giving, and the courage to let go of control.

Key Themes & Insights

1. Flourishing Isn’t About Resources—It’s About Connection

• People often assume thriving communities require ample resources, but Coyle’s experiences show that warmth, cooperation, and “connective energy” are built through meaningful bonds, often forged under challenging circumstances.
• [01:31] Dan Coyle: "When we talk about flourishing, we tend to think, oh, I need a lot of resources. ... But in fact, what you find is that there are these communities of meaningful connection, and that meaningful connection is this form of connective energy that you can channel into doing things together."

2. The Role of Adversity and Shared Suffering

• Harsh environments like Alaska force people to depend on each other, turning necessity into the mother of collaboration and community spirit.
• [03:12] Dan Coyle: “…because of the environment, because of the cold, because of the challenges, you end up cooperating a lot ... It was just this complete… let's build a healthcare system, let's build a pipeline, let's do stuff.”

3. Disaster, Messiness, and “Animation” over Automation

• Coyle references Rebecca Solnit’s work (Paradise in Hell), noting that disaster often elicits people’s greatest sense of meaning and belonging.
• Rather than focusing on efficient systems (“automation”), thriving groups cultivate “animation” – a sense of aliveness and spontaneous, purpose-driven interplay.
• [05:13] Dan Coyle: “They're not about automation, they're about animation. They're about finding these moments of collective meaning…”

4. From Treasure Hunting to Treasure Creation

• A pivotal insight: life isn’t about finding meaning already out there, but about creating meaning together with others.
• [06:36] Dan Coyle (quoting Barry Schwartz): “People mistakenly think life is a treasure hunt. And it's not a treasure hunt, it's treasure creation.”

5. Examples of Flourishing Communities

a. Zingerman’s Deli (Ann Arbor, MI)

• Onboarding centers around personal storytelling and shared intentions rather than rules or formal precepts.
• [08:50] Dan Coyle: “Ari gets up there and he just says, tell me your stories. ... And by the end of it, one woman was actually in tears...”

b. Paris’s “Super Neighbors”

• A retiring journalist starts a communal meal (longest-table dinner) leading to vibrant subgroups and deep care among previously withdrawn neighbors.
• [16:14] Dan Coyle: “He rented 80 tables...said we’re going to have a dinner. ... and there was this incredible celebration in the street... They call themselves the super neighbors hypervoison.”
• [17:08] Dan Coyle: “…what they're doing is awakening community. It was there all along, waiting for someone to create group flow, waiting for someone to design a message.”

c. Norwich, Vermont – The Olympic “Daisy Chain”

• Norms of “helping other children as if they were your own” catalyze Olympian output despite a lack of resources. A negative parental example set boundaries for what NOT to do.
• [19:00] Dan Coyle: “…what they have is this thing called the Norwich Daisy Chain, which is an informal norm of helping other children as if they were your own.”
• [21:23] Adam Grant: “I mean, you're describing a culture of giving, not taking. That's it in essence.”

d. Norwegian Alpine Team

• Even in competitive, individual sports, athletes freely share course tips, prioritizing group over individual gold.

6. Complexity, Mess, and Letting Go of Control

• Grant and Coyle distinguish between “complicated” and “complex” problems; communities are complex, demanding experimentation, flexibility, and patience.
• Letting go of control (vs. overplanning or overmanaging) creates space for true ownership and energy.
• [24:23] Dan Coyle: “…to have the level of patience to tolerate the mess. ... if people were really going to self-organize around this, we have to tolerate the mess.”
• [27:51] Dan Coyle: “That's a lesson over and over... those four words you said, 'it's up to you.' ... You’re actually unlocking them because you’re creating conditions for group flow.”

7. Leadership as Storytelling and Question-Asking

• Great leaders focus on facilitating conversations, asking better questions, and drawing out the gifts of others, rather than rigidly directing.
• [30:04] Dan Coyle: “…leaders should constantly be kind of working down that cascade, if they want to have quality relationships, they’ve got to have better conversations, ... ask better questions. And those questions of what gift could you bring to this? ... are just really, really powerful questions.”

8. Courage, Curiosity & the Power of “Activity” over Words

• Action, shared activity, and silence (vs. endless talking or planning) build bonds more reliably.
• [34:52] Dan Coyle: “I think words are… sus. ... stop using so many words people. Like, go do stuff with each other.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Action-oriented communities:

  • “All of Alaska is a little bit like that, where it's like, let's build a healthcare system, let's build a pipeline, let's do stuff.”
    — Dan Coyle [03:47]

• On the meaning in disaster:

  • “…some of them almost guiltily say, that was the most alive and the most community I've felt ever. ... The meaning was really clear… we had to self organize, we had to figure things out ourselves.”
    — Dan Coyle [05:13]

• Animation vs. automation:

  • “They're not about automation, they're about animation.”
    — Dan Coyle [05:25]

• On treasure creation:

  • "Life is not a treasure hunt, it's treasure creation."
    — Dan Coyle [06:36, quoting Barry Schwartz]

• Awakening vs. building community:

  • "We always use the phrase building community, but actually what they're doing is awakening community. It was there all along..."
    — Dan Coyle [17:08]

• Distinction between complicated and complex:

  • “Complicated things are linked up the same every time... Complex things are really different. Every time you engage with it, the system changes… is this more like building a Ferrari or raising a teen?"
    — Dan Coyle [22:24]

• Letting go as a leader/teacher:

  • “I wasn't just there to impart knowledge. I was there to build a community. And in a community, people have shared ownership…”
    — Adam Grant [26:44]

• Shared ownership unlocks energy:

  • “You're unlocking them because you're creating conditions for group flow. ... That's why sports, I think, in some ways, captures the beauty of that flow.”
    — Dan Coyle [28:22]

• Role of questions:

  • “If they want to have quality relationships, they've got to have better conversations, which means they have to ask better questions.”
    — Dan Coyle [30:04]

• Curiosity and courage:

  • “…over and over in these flourishing communities, I kept seeing those values of curiosity and courage next to each other.”
    — Dan Coyle [30:56]

• Lightning Round Wisdom:

  • “Don't think through that community action. Don't overthink it. Experiment into the space.”
    — Dan Coyle [34:46]

  • "Language is often our friend... but language is not our friend in a lot of these situations... stop using so many words people. Like, go do stuff with each other."
    — Dan Coyle [34:52]

Timestamps for Major Segments

• [01:31] Dan describes true flourishing in communities
• [03:12] Alaska childhood: why harsh environments build community
• [05:13] Community & meaning in disaster; Rebecca Solnit reference
• [06:36] Barry Schwartz’s “treasure creation” insight
• [08:50] Zingerman’s Deli onboarding and attentional architecture
• [14:43] Observing European approaches to community
• [16:14] Paris “Super Neighbors” story
• [19:00] Norwich, Vermont – Daisy chain & lessons from Olympic culture
• [22:24] Complicated vs. complex systems
• [24:23] The importance and challenge of tolerating “the mess”
• [26:44] Teaching & leading by giving up control—Adam’s reflection
• [27:51] Empowering others: “It’s up to you.”
• [30:04] Conversations, questions, curiosity & courage
• [34:17] Lightning round
• [38:21] The art of storytelling—finding and crafting meaningful stories
• [40:13] Reawakening community in Alaska: long table, action, tradition

Overall Takeaways

• Community is Awakened, Not Installed: Look for dormant connection, don’t just try to construct it.
• Let Go to Flourish: Leaders enable group flow by surrendering some control and tolerating uncertainty.
• Courage and Curiosity Fuel Growth: The same qualities that drive ecosystems help people connect more deeply.
• Action Over Words: Authentic community is built by doing together, not merely talking or planning.

This episode offers a practical, nuanced roadmap to building—and more importantly, awakening—flourishing communities wherever we are.

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Produced by TED in partnership with Transmitter Media. For more, visit AdamGrant.net.