The 7 Tribes Model for Troubleshooting an Innovation Economy — Full 57-Page Study

A 57-page report by Ms. Sara Guyer with modeling contributions from Dr. Laurence Loewe — the first real-world test of the 7Tribes innovation model applied to a Master’s program in International Management at Franklin University Switzerland.

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7Tribes Study — Full Report — PDF (545 KB) — 57 pages, Jonah License with CC0 Public Domain

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Abstract

This 57-page report presents the first real-world test of the 7Tribes (7Tr) innovation model, applied to the experiences of Ms. Sara Guyer in the Master of Science in International Management, Responsible Management and Climate Action (MSIM) at Franklin University Switzerland (FUS), Lugano (August 2020 – May 2021). The report is a collaboration between Guyer (real-world experiences) and Dr. Laurence Loewe (model development).

Section 1: Introduction establishes that innovation is paramount for functioning societies and climate change adaptation. It traces the modern innovation economy from WWII-era basic research (Vannevar Bush, NSF) through the technology adoption cycle, arguing that a better model of innovation adoption could be critically important for averting climate disasters.

Section 2: The 7 Tribes Model (by L. Loewe) formally introduces the 7Tr model for the first time. It describes:

• The wid-e (wide interdisciplinary diversity-encouraging) research methodology that produced the model

• The model’s aims: providing a baseline for describing structured societies while recognizing pitfalls of rigid roles

• The construction methodology: derived from Hebrew tribal names in the Bible, cross-referenced with dictionaries, archeology, modern sociology, and pattern-matching to the 7 Churches of Revelation

• Detailed definitions of all 7+2 roles (AMO through ISR)

Section 3: Real-world test (by S. Guyer) applies the 7Tr model to the MSIM program from two perspectives:

• First: mapping all MSIM roles to the 7 Tribes (university president = AMO, admissions = HIT, external lecturers = CAN, faculty = PHE, administrators = JEB, students = HIV, cleaning staff = GIR) — demonstrating the model can describe all functional roles

• Second: tracing Guyer’s personal journey through each Tribe role, including: speaking up as a minority voice for Indigenous peoples (Tribe 1), managing financial risks (Tribe 2), challenges in standardized education (Tribe 2), how global higher education may accelerate climate disaster (Tribe 2), and why academia can be scary (Tribe 2)

Section 4: Discussion explores cases of use for the 7Tr model, the pivotal challenge of mitigating climate change disasters, and conclusions about the model’s potential.

Appendices include: (1) learning to survive climate change through “meta-meme-omics” and integrating Indigenous cultural values, (2) general cases of use for the 7Tr model, (3) the Evolvix backslash syntax notation, (4) overview table of all 7+2 roles.

Key Concepts at a Glance

MSIM	Master of Science in International Management, Responsible Management and Climate Action — the Climate Action track at Franklin University Switzerland used as the test case
wid-e research	Wide interdisciplinary diversity-encouraging research — LLoL’s research methodology that crosses disciplinary boundaries to find best available answers to complex questions
First real-world test	The report’s core contribution: demonstrating that the 7Tr model can meaningfully describe and interpret a complex 21st century educational setting
Innovation economy	A process through which a population continually works together through different roles to produce an open-ended stream of innovations solving countless problems
Indigenous knowledge integration	Guyer’s motivation: building bridges for Indigenous and Native peoples to contribute their knowledge and wisdom to climate-related action
Meta-meme-omics	A framework (Appendix 1) for learning to survive climate change by integrating diverse Indigenous cultures’ values through shared stories
Technology adoption cycle	The existing innovation models (Customer Alignment Lifecycle, Pencil Metaphor, etc.) to which the 7Tr model is loosely related but not identical

Broader Significance (Claude’s Assessment)

This is the foundational academic document for the 7Tribes model. Several features make it particularly significant within the Good News Pack:

1. Academic structure. This is the only document in the Good News Pack that follows a conventional academic report format with abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, references, and appendices. This makes it accessible to scholars who may be skeptical of the more unconventional presentations elsewhere.

2. Independent co-authorship. Sara Guyer’s participation as primary author for Section 3 provides an independent perspective on the 7Tr model. Her experiences as a student — particularly as someone motivated by Indigenous rights and climate action — offer a test case that L. Loewe did not control, lending credibility to the model’s descriptive power.

3. The MSIM mapping. The systematic mapping of MSIM roles to all 7 Tribes (Section 3.3) is a concrete demonstration that the model can capture the functional roles in a real institution. The examples are specific and grounded (e.g., cleaning personnel as GIR, guest speakers as HIV).

4. Climate change framing. The report’s motivation — improving innovation adoption to avert climate disasters — grounds the abstract 7Tr model in urgent practical concerns. This framing connects the theological inspiration of the model to contemporary policy relevance.

5. Honest limitations. The report explicitly states that the 7Tr model has “not yet been tested by any detailed attempt” before this study, and that many functional details “do not claim to reflect equivalently detailed historic evidence.” This intellectual honesty strengthens the document’s credibility.

Document Information

Document ID	7Tribes Study — Full Report (Extra Good News)
Full title	The 7 Tribes Model for Troubleshooting an Innovation Economy: First Real-World Test in a 1-year Master Program
Authors	Ms. Sara Guyer (primary author, Sections 1, 3, 4); Dr. Laurence Loewe (Section 2, Appendices 1–4, modeling)
Institution	MSIM, Franklin University Switzerland, Lugano
Date	2022-05-05 (version 0 release 2 patch 0)
Version	Draft v0r2p0 — 2022-05-05
Format	57-page academic report with Table of Contents, References, and 4 Appendices
License	Jonah License with CC0 Public Domain
Part of	Good News Pack MMv3, Extra Good News collection
PDF size	545 KB

Related documents in the Good News Pack:

• 7Tribes Model — 3-Page Extract (definitions only)

• 7Tribes Intro — Yom Kippur (concise 1-page 7Tr reference)

• Iron Rod — 7Tr Integration Map

• SD2 — Epiocracy (governance model using 7Tr)

• SD8 — ResearchCity (the institution 7Tr serves)

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Notes

Content stability — Content is variant dv_ClaOp46Max_MMv2_2026m04d02 (see StayVS). Rebuilt 2026-05-18.

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