Written by Dave Logan, John King and Halee Fischer- Wright, Tribal Leadership is a new perspective on company culture consisting of a series of "stages". This theory requires no immediate organizational overhaul and instead concentrates on a behavioral hierarchy where companies "level up" their individual employees. In short, and refreshingly, the project tools do not change; instead, the way of looking at employees within each Stage becomes the focus.

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The strange thing about leveling up through Tribal Leadership's Stages is that it's best to keep this unspoken. While it's easy to categorize employees into particular Stages, the point here is that each individual is not a "Stage Two" personality, but rather motivated by a particular "mood" or malleable life philosophy. The idea is to empower individuals to transition through the levels of a healthier work life. Here is an outline of those levels.

The Stages of Culture

1. Stage One Culture: Here employees operate under the model that life in general is a series of disappointments. People in this stage alienate themselves from productive members of the company and fall into destructive behavior simply because they've hit rock bottom and feel as if they've got nothing to lose. It's basically the point at which people steal, embezzle or "go postal" and outlier groups at this stage are often seen as "gangs." When an employee is in this mindset it's best to encourage them to socialize with others outside of the destructive gang and to offer ways in which life in general is not simply suffering.

2. Stage Two Culture: The employees in this stage don't operate under the "life sucks" mantra so much as they operate under the "my life sucks" mantra. They feel like victims of circumstance and want the company to change but feel powerless to enact it. They form sparse dyadic (two-person) relationships lamenting their lot in life. As employees find ways to improve this situation they begin to see how their efforts matter, they reach out to mentors, and they own success in their projects.

3. Stage Three Culture: This level of employee takes pride in their work but is seen as a "lone wolf" overcoming obstacles on solo missions. Stage Three employees believe, "I'm great - and you're not." Similar to Stage Two, these individuals form a series of dyadic relationships but here, rather than complaining together, relationships are based on co-conspiracies. These relationships are competitive and information is withheld to create self-benefiting outcomes. These employees value their own contributions above those of the team. Members of academic institutions often show these tendencies. To level up through this stage, leaders focus on assigning larger group projects, emphasize the value of networks and encourage transparency for the good of the larger collective.

4. Stage Four Culture: As employees move from a Stage Three to Stage Four mindset, they must have the epiphany that their contributions to a tribe-wide objective mean more than their personal successes. Stage Four employees believe "We're great - and they're not." It's the point at which your team rallies to defeat a common enemy. At this stage, team members recognize each other's strengths and form triadic (three-person) relationships while partnering to reach shared outcomes. Here trust is not earned, but rather becomes a given. Team members become the embodiment of core values. Most functional organizations operate at this level, but in order to level up leaders encourage networking and "triading" to expand the breadth of resources and knowledge.

5. Stage Five Culture: This group works on the "life is great" mantra in which the culture is devoid of competitors. These organizations align with a greater "noble cause" and tribal elders are seen as "brokering treaties" with other like-minded tribes. While individuals can regress into any of the earlier cultural stages, this stage is the end goal for those looking to elevate their team to a level of peak performance.

Happiness is Key to Productivity

The goal of "Tribal Leadership" is to help leaders move as many employees through the levels of culture as they possibly can in order to increase job performance. As with Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh's Delivering Happiness, job performance is based on job satisfaction and happiness in general. Through continual assessment of priorities, creation of networks and mentorship programs, and a series of one-on-one emotional weather reports, leaders can increase happiness and productivity without forcing disruptions to the day-to-day operations. Essentially, Tribal Leadership aims to be the non-denominational Twelve Step Program for a company's recovery. To check out the book you can either download the audio version or order it via the Tribal Leadership website.

Kelly's book is a must read for technologists and anybody interested in the future of the Web. In this post I'll explore a few of the main themes of the book, in particular as they relate to the evolving Web. (there won't be any spoilers, for those of you in the middle of reading it or if you haven't yet read it!) Two of the main themes are how technology will evolve and how we - humanity - can guide it and make the best use of it.

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The book literally starts from The Big Bang, proceeds through 4 billion years of our planet's evolution, and finally looks ahead to how technology will evolve.

The Technium: a Living System of Technology

Key to the book is a new term that Kelly invents: the technium. He spends about 6 pages explaining the term, but at it's most basic it means a system of technologies. It includes not only what we ordinarily think of as specific technologies (such as cars, radar, computers), but the entire system around technology - culture, art, social institutions, "the extended human" and more.

A key to grokking the technium is that it's a living system, which evolves in a similar way to humans. On page 45, Kelly explains that "the technium can really only be understood as a type of evolutionary life." He goes on to suggest that technology evolves in a mix of inevitable and chance ways, just as humans have done. His point being that we can fairly accurately predict the macro evolution of the technium (that computers will eventually acquire a level of intelligence akin to a human, for example), but not the micro details of that evolution.

We've been writing about the Internet of Things, when real world objects become connected to the Internet, for the past couple of years on ReadWriteWeb. Kelly's book reinforces what a profound change in the Web this is. As everyday objects get connected to the Internet, they almost become 'alive' to us. They might not be able to think for themselves, yet, but billions of 'things' in the world will be able to sense and compute information about the world.

Living With Technology's Increasing Power

On page 254, Kelly writes that "technologies are nearly living things." So we will need to adjust to this and figure out how best to utilize - and live with - technologies. Kelly lists five "proactions" that humanity should take to assess and engage with technologies:

1. Anticipation
2. Continual Assessment
3. Prioritization of Risks, Including Natural Ones
4. Rapid Correction of Harm
5. Not Prohibition but Redirection

At one point he compares technologies to children. As parents we aim to guide our children to reach their potential and contribute something to the world. "We can't really change the nature of our children," Kelly writes on page 257, "but we can steer them to tasks and duties that match their talents." Likewise, he suggests, we can guide and steer technology.

Was The Unibomber Right?

Kelly spends a significant part of the book exploring the moral and ethical issues around an ever more powerful technium. Is it wise for humanity to continue to let technologies evolve, until the technium is more intelligent than humanity?

A whole chapter is devoted to the theories of the infamous Unibomber, Ted Kaczynski. Kaczynski wrote a manifesto about destroying modern technology before it destroys us. He killed 3 people with mail bombs, while attempting to carry out his manifesto. Kelly at first defends Kaczynski's theories, but he ends the chapter by attacking him on a moral level. Kelly writes (page 212-213):

"But despite the reality of technology's faults, the Unibomber is wrong to want to exterminate it, for many reasons, not the least of which is that the machine of civilization offers us more actual freedoms than the alternative [...] so far the gains from this ever-enlarging technium outweigh the alternative of no machine at all."

The Optimistic View of Technology

Ultimately 'What technology Wants' is an uplifting and optimistic book about the future of technology. It contrasts in many ways to another thought-provoking technology book, which I read and reviewed a year ago: You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto; by Jaron Lanier. In that book, Lanier argued that technology reduces our humanity - for example by promoting the 'hive mind' over individual expression. Interestingly, Lanier is quoted on the jacket of Kelly's book. He recommends you read this book, "even though I profoundly disagree with aspects of it."

It's always beneficial to have skeptics about technology, so there's a place for Lanier's arguments. Both of Lanier's and Kelly's books are stimulating and well worth reading. However, I find myself much more swayed by Kelly's theories. Whereas Lanier dismisses the Internet as meaningless in and of itself, Kelly essentially argues that the technium (of which the Internet is a part) is a hugely important evolving system. It's as much a living system as humanity is. That, I suspect, is one of the aspects that Lanier would disagree with. But I find Kelly's theory to be compelling - and helpful as an approach to the increasing power of technology.

The book concludes that technology is ultimately good for humanity. Admittedly that was Kelly's pre-destined outcome - back in November, 2004, when he began writing the book, he blogged: "I sense that overall, technology is a good thing." However the end result of his 7 year quest, the book, compellingly makes that case. I think this line near the end of the book sums it up beautifully:

"How can technology make a person better? Only in this way: by providing each person with chances."

(which incidentally echoes my own thoughts after I read Lanier's book: "[...] Lanier glosses over the benefits of web 2.0 - that it gives everyone who has a computer (and nowadays a smart phone) a publishing platform with which to explore their creativity and have their say.")

I gave Kelly's book 5 out of 5 stars on Goodreads, because ultimately it provides useful advice on how to think about and deal with technology. Perhaps aspects of the book can be challenged on scientific or philosophical terms, as some have argued. But that seems beside the point. I think we'd all agree that technology is evolving incredibly fast. We need to try and understand the changes. We need strategies to get the best out of technology (and, by extension, ourselves). That's what Kevin Kelly wants; and in my view the book achieves it.

Photo credit: Doc Searls

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Said Smolan,"Half the people in the room picked up their cameras and took a photo of the television set just as Obama won." With The Obama Time Capsule, pictures taken by friends and family will live alongside professional pictures of the campaign trail. Smolan is waiving any profit on the project in the hopes that he'll provide readers with an affordable product they will cherish with their grandchildren. This user-generated component to the book ensures that The Obama Time Capsule becomes a time capsule for anyone willing to pay the $34.95 to Amazon.

Said Hewlett-Packard's Andrew Bolwell in a recent ABC World News feature on the book,"We think a book like this that's printed only after it's ordered, that's personalize for the end user, is absolutely the future of publishing. You can have your own family cookbook with Grandma's recipe through to Martha Stewart's recipe."

It appears that unbeknown to Bolwell, the future (much like President Obama) has already arrived. RWW has already covered a number of companies where products are produced on an individual basis and personalized to the user. Below is a list of companies that allow users to upload, price and purchase their personalized books:

1. Blurb: Blurb offers users the chance to personalize books in a variety of formats. The quality of this product is extremely striking and buyers can opt for a number of page layouts and finishes. While this service lacks the professional photography touches of The Obama Time Capsule, it certainly doesn't lack the personalization. What's more, the company is one of the few businesses able to earn healthy revenue in our down economy.

2. Lulu: Similar to Blurb, Lulu also allows customers to personalize and create books. Users can upload photos from their Facebook, Flickr and Photobucket accounts as well as directly from their computers. The finished products are sold in the Lulu online storefront as eBooks or physical hard covers. The company even offers square, compact and wallet sized options.

3. CreateSpace: In late 2007, Amazon launched CreateSpace as an on-demand book publishing service. In addition to being able to create a personalized book and sell it in the Amazon storefront, users can also create Kindle-specific books, audio CDs, MP3s, DVD's and video downloads. While the service isn't as sleek as Lulu or Blurb, the potential to reach the Amazon audience is a huge draw to those looking to earn money with their creative talents.

4. Scribd: Another site with a large audience, Scribd recently launched their own store this past April. With 60 million unique visitors per month, the company is a great platform for those looking to publish their original works. Budding authors can price and publish their books alongside Simon and Schuster titles in the Scribd storefront. For now, the storefront only services the eBook audience.

5. Tastebook: Both Grandma and Martha Stewart's recipes can live side-by-side in this personalized cookbook making site. Featured in a RWW article on recipe resources, this tool offers users the chance to personalize cookbooks and produce them on an individual basis.

The Obama Time Capsule is obviously a very cool project, but it's clear to see that personalized book production is certainly not a new concept. That being said, regardless of whether or not it's a paradigm shifter for publishing, the quality of The Obama Time Capsule, coupled with Smolan's recognition as a TIME photographer and TED speaker will likely still draw fans.