This article informs school improvement and educational change from a radically different perspective. Building upon work done recently in neural psychology, primatology and ethology, the article examines four common and general types of organisational form: the cell, the silo, the pyramidal, and the network types of organisational structures. Status and dominance hierarchies are discussed, as are the dynamics of collaboration/competition and collectivism/individualism. Final consideration is given to the concepts of culture and community, especially as they manifest in the school improvement literature. (Contains 3 tables, 2 figures and 10 notes.)