[fsloth]

Some good books I've found over the years:

Lencioni's "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team" is an often cited reference for team psychology. If you read through it (it's not long) it should give you more resources to analyze the current social context.

The second great resource - on personal influence - is Aristotles Rhetoric. Most modern resources try to appear more hip and current by more or less regurgitating what Aristotle already noticed - that personal influence is a matter of ethos, pathos and logos, and that in the general human context you need to take all of them into account.

Third resource that is very relevant to perceiving organizational mechanics is Cialdini's "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion"

[kevsim]

I loved the Five Dysfunctions of a Team. However, the advice in that book requires the main boss to be fully committed to fixing the dysfunctions and to convince their team to get onboard (or fire them if it’s not possible). Not sure how likely that is in this situation.

[fsloth]

I would not read it as a recipe but rather as a field guide to team dynamics - to give a better understanding of what may or may not be happening.

[yowlingcat]

Love the second reference. I've heard it come up before but never in this context. Thanks!