“T” is for “Tribe”

Because I am convinced that Seth Godin and Dan Pink either share a consciousness or, possibly, are actually SOMEHOW ACQUAINTED, I continue to obsessively contemplate how to merge many of the lessons of “Drive” with those of “Linchpin.” In my obsessive contemplation, I neglected to consider the book that first drew me to Seth’s writing: “Tribes.”

A few days ago, on the way back from a stroll to the water fountain, the phrase “‘T’ is for ‘Tribe'” popped into my head. Then I sketched something. I don’t have a scanner near me, so I opened MS Paint, that most rudimentary computer-aided-drawing tool, and created a crude visual of what I was thinking.  “Visual” and “thinking” belong together, if you ask me, and I am a very visual thinker.

It occurred to me that Pink’s “Four T’s” over which people seek mastery are really the essence, the soul, of a Godin-esque Tribe.  In Pink’s model, the T’s are: time, task, technique, and team.  Time is representative of the time frame within which people do the work.  Task is representative of the actual step or steps behind doing the work.  Technique is how one goes about doing the work, the style and methodology for getting things done.  And team is representative of the people with whom we choose to work.

I thought about the T’s in terms of a Mega Corp like the one in which I labor. In the typical Mega Corp, the average worker bee is denied mastery over team and task. Often, technique is controlled. Time probably comes in fourth. The point is that the longing for matery over the Four T’s is palpable. So, what happens when you quietly and discreetly grant people mastery over their own Four T’s?

They become AWESOME.

At least, that is my experience…no. No…it’s more than that  Granting mastery over the Four T’s is my mission as a leader. I inspire and influence so that other can be innovative. And I do that by granting them mastery over the Four T’s. I just didn’t have a name for it.  Until now.

So, “T” is for “Tribe” because the Four T’s are the soul of any Tribe.