Great Boss, Dead Boss: How to exact the very best performance from your company and not get crucified in the process by Edgar H. Schein
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
This is a book written in a story style which presents the idea of tribes and how these are how people in a business operate.

The book presents tribal dimensions:

1. Individuals are socially, emotionally, and psychologically defined by their tribal membership.
2. Individual Security (IS): Individuals act to reinforce their security when under threat.
3. Individual Value (IV): Individuals act to reinforce their self-worth when their security is not under threat.
4. Tribal Security (TS): Tribes act to secure their self-preservation if their security is under threat.
5. Tribal Value (TV): Tribes act to reinforce their self-worth when their security is not under threat.

Though the book various things happen which are then evaluated against the dimensions in a positive or negative way.  Initially the idea of positive tribal and individual security is presented as a bad thing resulting in complacency, process focus, rules and regulations, in fighting and backstabbing, taking no risk or innovation however during the rest of the book TS+ and IS+ are presented as good things – to me security is more nuanced than positive or negative.

The book presents a continuum from corporate failure at TS-IS- up to TV+IV+, as follows, with actions to progress to the next stage.

The book presents tribal attributes:

1. A strong tribe must have a common enemy.
2. A strong tribe has clearly defined symbols.
3. A strong tribe offers a super ordinate identity to all sub-tribes.
4. A strong tribe has a credible, just cause for its continued existence.
5. A strong tribe has an accepted rite of passage.
6. A strong tribe has clear external measures of success.
7. A strong tribe understands and protects its source of power.
8. A strong tribe knows how it compares to the “untouchables.”
9. The criteria for tribal membership are clear and credible.
10. Tribes communicate in a non-traditional, subjective, and intuitive manner.
11. A strong tribe develops its own unique language.
12. Tribal roles are fundamentally different from accepted functional roles.
13. Strong tribes record and celebrate significant events that reinforce their identity and value.
14. A strong tribe has a clearly defined and well-known justice mechanism.
15. A strong tribe has a clearly defined icon that embodies the tribal value.
16. A strong tribe has a walled city–a place of refuge where things of value to the tribe are kept.
17. A strong tribe possesses objects of value that embody the tribe’s value.
18. A strong tribe has a revered figurehead.
19. A strong tribe celebrates and cares for the skills, tools, and implements required for its prosperity.
20. A strong tribe expects unquestioning loyalty.
21. A strong tribe has clearly defined roles, responsibilities, values, authority, power structure, and chain of command.
22. A strong tribe has a leader dedicated to the tribe’s success.
23. Strong leaders have capable mentors whose psychological limits exceed their own.

The book provides a grid detailing communication between tribes and individuals and their impact.

The book presents a list of tribal and organisational roles, this is not very well explained and magically the book restructures the organisation by magic.