Corporate tribalism echoes a leadership style from ancient civilization

Image attribution: Kabuto 7; CC BY-SA 3.0

Corporate tribalism expresses the same nepotistic fear characteristic of political tribalism from times passed. Tribalism, with its chiefs, or in the case of corporations, chief executives, is an enclave of beliefs and practices governed by a paternalistic style hierarchy.

This type of management style was used in ancient Babylon, and many cultures thereafter as a way of coordinating society. It gave special rights, and even divine attribution to the leaders of those societies.

That was before people realized they could cooperate at an administrative level for the good of the whole without the tragedy of the commons setting in. Eventually, tribalism became suppressed in some cultures, and took a lower standing within society. It became demoted to the world of business leadership, at least in Western cultures that is.

Now, our businesses are run like tribes, and the same attributes of ancient tribes run rampant in corporations, for better or for worse. Fear of outsiders, hiring from within the tribe, competition with other tribes seeking the same thing, and use of similar resources in the same environment.