How to Use Triads to Improve Your Personal Relationships

Trios > duos.

I recently read the NY Times bestseller Tribal Leadership.

I found the whole book mind-blowing, but there was one little detail that grabbed my attention the most. It was this tip:

“Next time you go to Starbucks, take two friends, not one.”

Curious why? We’ll get there in a moment. But first, some context.

Trust, Success, and Triads

Tribal Leadership, written by Dave Logan, John King, and Halee Fischer Wright, exposes one of the major reasons that 24% of American organizations successfully stand out from the rest: triadic relationships.

Most corporate cultures are based on “hub and spoke” dyadic relationships. People in these cultures communicate mostly one-on-one, and they are protective of their individual relationships. Leaders and employees struggle to delegate tasks and to give up control. This is ultimately counterproductive for the company’s culture: people feel used, the workload is poorly distributed, and conflict is common and hard to solve.

On the other hand, organizations with an effective culture put effort in establishing triadic relationships between their members. A triad is a…