Culture Killer #3: Tribalism - Why “Us vs. Them” Is a Losing Strategy

We were "rewarded not just for doing well, but for making sure colleagues failed,” said a former Microsoft engineer.

In 2011, humorist Manu Cornet depicted Microsoft’s internal teams as street gangs—battling for turf instead of building the future.

Tribalism had taken hold. The cost? Slowed innovation, fractured collaboration, and lost ground in a rapidly evolving market.

When Satya Nadella became CEO in 2014, he made culture his top priority - targeting culture killers like bureaucracy and tribalism. Under his leadership, Microsoft shifted from “know-it-alls” to “learn-it-alls.”

The result?

A company once mired in internal battles grew its market cap from under $300 billion to over $3 trillion.

When departments hoard resources, teams protect turf, and people default to “us vs. them” thinking, trust erodes. Performance suffers.

Tribalism often starts with pride or identity. But left unchecked, it becomes protectionist and corrosive.

Decisions serve the tribe, not the mission. Information becomes currency. Collaboration gives way to competition. And the consequences are real—Microsoft missed the mobile revolution.

Siloed behavior and adversarial mindsets are usually symptoms of deeper issues: insecurity, misaligned incentives, or leadership that rewards internal loyalty over enterprise thinking.

It might look like:

✅ Teams resisting cross-functional input or accountability,
✅ Leaders defending underperformance to "protect their own”, or
✅ Language that frames internal partners as obstacles.

When these dynamics persist, organizations lose their connective tissue.

The most resilient organizations don’t have the strongest tribes—they have the strongest shared purpose and connected networks. They reward bridge-builders, not turf-protectors. They equip leaders to recognize and disrupt tribal behaviors. And they hold everyone accountable for collaboration, regardless of title, tenure or performance.

When people choose connection over protection, they unlock trust, speed, and innovation.

And in a world that’s increasingly polarized, the leaders who break down walls—not build them—will be the ones who move us forward.

Tribalism Illustrated

Manu Cornet’s satirical depiction of Microsoft’s organizational structure as internal teams as warring gangs. [2011]

Sources: Hit Refresh, Satya Nadella; Macrotrends.net; Culture Transformation at Microsoft: From “Know-it-all” to “Learn-it-all”, HBR Case Study