Attributes of a strong tribe
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6 min read
Originally posted on Medium · View original →
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IS+TS-IV+CV(TV+TV-)
Sequence in which a tribe will move from corporate death to extraordinary performance
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If we understand where an organization is in terms of our eight quadrants, and we now roughly know the sequence in which it will move from corporate death to extraordinary performance, we can define some of the management actions that would bring those changes about.
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What binds people together
IS+TS-IV+CV(TV+TV-)
Coefficient of variation / CV
Entropy — gradual decline into disorder
Let’s explore some of the attributes of a strong and highly motivated tribe.
Things that helps move from corporate death to extraordinary performance.
A strong tribe must have a common enemy
It seems that for successful social interaction, we need common enemies.
Us and the government
Dev and Ops
Dev and QA
Marketing and Sales
The black and the whites in South Africa
The Arab and Jews in the Middle East
Apple and Microsoft
Who is your common enemy?
A strong tribe has clearly defined symbols
Why am I wearing this logo? Its because with that I gain a sense of identity and increase my sense of individual value.
AFL and Rugby fans buy footballs shirts, caps and dozens of items that carry the team’s logo and colors.
They want to show their loyalty.
People signify their membership of a tribe by associating with their symbols.
It’s like the Australian flag. The flag is the symbol of one of our tribes — the Australian nation
Which are your symbols?
A strong tribe offers a superordinate identity to all sub-tribes
It means psychological bond; A strong foundation of trust; a very strong sense of oneness among all the different sub-tribes.
The inability of management to integrate different tribes leads to the downfall of the entire business.
Tribes cannot be easily combined, and they continue to exist as separate entities wherever possible.
Even though there are no walls, in everyone’s mind still separate tribes.
By creating a new super-tribe — one that is completely different from all the existing tribes.
It allows people to emotionally and mentally leave their old trusted tribe and join the new, more successful tribe.
A strong tribe has a credible, just cause for its continued existence
A just cause is something great, a calling that is greater than any vision and mission statements.
Something so compelling that people sense their IV is strongly enhanced if they ascribe to the cause.
It is something that everyone instinctively knows is important and worthy of pursuing.
What is your credible, just cause?
A strong tribe has an accepted rite of passage
We become part of a tribe through an event.
By participating in a challenging event we form a bond, a sense of mutual pride and respect. And that make us feel like we are part of the same tribe
With no rite of passage, we expect the individual to decode tribe’s values, and then to adapt to it.
We end up with many different value systems, perspectives and attitudes.
What is your tribe’s rite of passage?
Tribes communicate in a non-traditional, subjective, and intuitive manner
Communication has always been viewed as a sender, a message, a medium, and a receiver.
However, people rarely consider the context of the communication, which largely determines subsequent behavior.
You’ll find that people spend far more time interpreting the parallel tribal communication than the content of the communication itself.
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Strong tribes record and celebrate significant events that reinforce their identity and value
Before writing was invented, how did people keep record of history? “By word of mouth”.
Definitive events in the tribe’s past were handed down from generation to generation in the form of folk tales.
Stories that reinforce the tribe’s identity, proving that the tribe has a rich and meaningful past and worthwhile defending.
Company that grows very quickly lose touch with the values that made them so successful.
Asked employees to recount their experiences in the company, the deeply human things people did. storytelling session
Book illustrating the corporate values and traditions through living examples. | National holidays
By formally defining and structuring the war stories, we’ll ensure that people have a consistent understanding of our values.
A strong tribe celebrates and cares for the skills, tools, and implements required for its prosperity
Most companies treat skills as a commodity–something they can add or remove through hiring and firing.
They don’t see that skills are one of the most important drivers of IV+.
If we ignore the motivating force of skills and tools, we abandon a powerful way to strengthen the tribe.
People will leave for ‘better opportunities’–not always for better monetary reward but rather to be recognized for their skill.
Companies that pay tribute to people’s skills and tools invariably attract the best talent.
Engineering Effectiveness
A strong tribe has clearly defined roles, responsibilities, values, authority, power structure, and chain of command
Once people establish good working models of
unambiguous responsibility, authority, roles, values and a chain of command
They know what to expect from one another,
They discount their weaknesses, build on their strengths and know how their group will behave under given circumstances
Stability
A strong tribe has a leader dedicated to the tribe’s success
How is strong TS+ and IS+ established?
It doesn’t happen by itself.
It needs a leader to design a system of work that will enable that to happen
A true leader is instinctively trusted by everyone.
People sense very quickly whether their leader is genuinely committed to them and the tribe.
A great leader knows with passionate and urgent conviction where the company should be going, which in turn generates immense loyalty and enthusiasm
In essence integrity and commitment remains the only measures of a great leader
Would you like to
- Have a feeling of commitment and enthusiasm that is profoundly different from everything you have ever experienced?
- Create an organisation that spontaneously improved itself?
- Have ordinary people consistently doing extraordinary things?
- Untapp the deepest and strongest motivators that humans possess?
- Build an organisation that is so motivated that is virtually unstoppable?
You need a leader that can dedicate to the tribe’s success
Start by carefully observing the way people behave in your company
Identify and understand all the tribes that exists
Identified the attributes of a very strong, highly motivated tribe
Rather than writing useless mission statements, start working on designing a new super tribe that offers more security and positive self-worth than the existing ones