Are you a Teal Organization?

I’m reading a book called Reinventing Organizations – A Guide to Creating Organizations Inspired by the Next Stage of Human Consciousness by Frederic Laloux, 2014.  This is a serious book that begins with the premise that “the way we manage organizations seems increasingly out of date.”  This is my final blog in continuing our discussion.

Ask yourself this question: “As an organization, do we try to minimize the need for change by predicting and controlling the future OR do we see change that happens naturally and continuously?”

• If you answered YES to the first part, then most likely your organization creates a reality that stays within the boundaries of your budget and strategic plan.
• If you answered YES to the latter part, then most likely you have the innate capacity to sense changes in your environment and to adapt from within.

Does it make a difference?  YES!
Frederic Laloux, the author, contends the way your organization deals with change can reveal how far the organization is moving to becoming an Evolutionary-Teal Organization.  What is an Evolutionary-Teal Organization?  It’s comprised of three elements:

1. Self-management:  To operate effectively based on a system of peer relationships, without the need for either hierarchy or consensus.
2. Wholeness:  People no longer have to show only their “professional” self, or hide doubts and vulnerability.  Instead, a culture invites everyone to bring all of who we are at work.
3. Evolutionary purpose:  Instead of trying to predict and control the future, the organization has a life and a sense of direction of its own.  Everyone is invited to listen in and understand what the organization wants to become, what purpose it wants to serve.

So, how does this all apply to change?  If one truly believes your organization is an ecosystem, then you will respond to change naturally and adapt from within.  An example:

• People are free to act on what they sense is needed; they are not boxed in by static job descriptions, reporting lines, and functional units.

The alternative is organizations see change as painful.  They redesign the organization like one redesigns a machine, and sees the world as threatening their survival if nothing changes.  As a result, people resist change.

So, how far has your organization come?

(Content adapted from Reinventing Organizations: A Guide to Creating Organizations Inspired by the Next Stage of Human Consciousness)