Rough Harbors
Build a Harbor.
Rough Harbors is a model for building communities based on shared discovery. Boats of people take on shared headings, and Navigators keep the conversation alive as the water shiftsWe are also a company scaling and iterating on the model in real-time. Honestly unclear if this needed to be a tech startup, but the funding environment is pretty wild atm.
The model, in metaphor
The system is defined by four words.
Rough Harbors is a system for turning knowledge into action. Private by design, intimate by construction. Navigation is only a metaphor until the world catches on.
- Harbor
- A community that provides shelter to members and the storms that give ideas safe harbor.
- Boat
- A thread of conversation, a place for connection — strangers, friends, or both.
- 8
- The unique boat you are assigned to when joining a Harbor.
- Navigator
- An 8's compass, tasked with keeping the boat on the right heading.
Harbor fees
Community members must pay to belong.
- Our communities work because you have skin in the game. Membership fees are mandatory, but do not need to cover a Harbor's costs. We are excited for Harbors to find paths to financial sustainability.
- Harbors are evaluated based on the experience of their members; membership fees make this ideal practical.
The Three Laws
Enter discovery under the Three Laws of Rough Harbors.
- Safe harbors for ideas are rough places for people.
- Safe harbors for people are rough places for growth.
- The Rough Harbor Rule makes boats just private enough to sail freely.
An epistemology
Row for the horizon, not for the center.
- Truth requires self-knowledge. You are assigned an 8 that shares your questions and reaffirms your identity. Know yourself, never lose yourself.
- Truth requires discomfort and discovery. Rough Harbors creates opportunities for you to feel discomfort through many boats.
- Honoring who we are must mean risking what we hold dear. There are limits; if someone in your 8 argues for spaces over tabs, this will be taken with the seriousness it deserves.
Navigation
Master of your soul you may be; captain of your 8 you are not.
- Traditional facilitation is a neutral role, and neutrality isn't very interesting. We hire Navigators, not facilitators.
- Navigators set the rules for their Harbors. Navigators can break those rules going forward as long as they are transparent about that and don't retroactively break things.
Build a Harbor. Build a community. Build ships.
Become a Navigator.
Join the Shipyard harbor for aspiring navigators innovating on purposeful community.
Experience Rough Harbors yourself while connecting with people on the frontier of human conncetion.
We accept members who can help form an 8 they will love.