It tells the story about energizing the organization (high speed action) and incubating both “leadership” and “corporate culture” best practices through the War on Waste and thus establishing the roles that all employees play in business success. But it adds another dimension with the inclusion of the role that knowledge, particularly Tribal Knowledge, plays in any corporation. Leonard Bertain has also included Insights at the end of each chapter as a guide to the reader.

But the real addition to this book is the discussion of what is called the “Tribal Knowledge Paradox.” The owner of the business in the fictionalized story is the student of the book’s illustrious training consultant (Dr. Elbie) who leads him to an understanding of what it is.

But why call it “The Tribal Knowledge Paradox?” What does Tribal Knowledge have to do with The War on Waste? It turns out that effective change requires an honest engagement of all people and a consequent understanding of the company’s Tribal Knowledge. And that observation is one of the major discoveries of this process.

Tribal Knowledge is the collective wisdom and capabilities of the organization. It is the sum of all the knowledge and skills. It is the knowledge used to deliver, to support, or to develop value for customers. But it is also all the knowledge that is wrong, imprecise, and useless. It is knowledge of the informal power structure and process or how things really work and how they ought to. It is knowledge of who constrains the process and who facilitates it. It is the knowledge that is squirreled away by employees who feel a need to protect their jobs by not sharing the information needed to do a job. This is part of the totality of the Tribal Knowledge.

We hope you enjoy the read.

Leonard Bertain
Oakland, CA