The Primes: How any Group can Solve any Problem

Introduction

The world is resetting. It feels tipped now. Power, money, people, influence, and “coolness” are sliding around and pooling in new places. We are not sure where things are going to end up. Leading a business or any organization right now feels like shooting pool on the back of a small boat in high seas during a storm.

Eventually, the world will find its new stability. Eventually…maybe, but not in the foreseeable future. Managers and leaders are trying to guide their teams and organizations through these uncertain times. People are joining up in unprecedented alliances and coalitions to tackle problems that transcend any single organizational boundary.

At a minimum, the environment is imposing requirements for substantial change. Many of us are facing a mandate for wholesale transformation. The PRIMES is a gyroscope that you and your group can depend on to chart your best path, keep oriented, right the ship should the unexpected happen, and get to where you want to be, when you want to be there.

The PRIMES correctly names universal patterns of group behavior. The 46 PRIMES named in this book are not theories hatched in some lab; they're not new-fangled methodologies. They are phenomena as real as rocks and wind. They are an inextricable part of the human experience. PRIMES show up every time people join up in groups to solve problems, drive change, and transform systems. Like genes are to individuals, PRIMES are to groups. Whether you understand them or not, they determine ...