This seems like the correct diagnosis to me. "Deeply held beliefs" are at play, at all levels and activities of the organisation, from coding practices, to hiring and marketing. The almost unstated, invisible beliefs destroy collaboration, since it is natural for them to come in conflict.
In a way, if we go deeper into why a religion works, and enables collaboration among large number of people, it is because it homogenizes "deeply held beliefs" through various shared literature and practices.
By extension, if an engineering team must work together in more cohesive ways, "the engineering religion" must be more explicit and there must be higher levels of bonding, more explicitly stated "deeply held values". It is difficult, since it requires excavating deeply held beliefs from individuals, finding common ground, or "installing" at a deeper level beliefs beneficial to collaboration.
In a way, if we go deeper into why a religion works, and enables collaboration among large number of people, it is because it homogenizes "deeply held beliefs" through various shared literature and practices.
By extension, if an engineering team must work together in more cohesive ways, "the engineering religion" must be more explicit and there must be higher levels of bonding, more explicitly stated "deeply held values". It is difficult, since it requires excavating deeply held beliefs from individuals, finding common ground, or "installing" at a deeper level beliefs beneficial to collaboration.