What Is Teal Management: How To Manage Organizations?

If you have ever wondered what teal management is, this article is for you.

Work plays a very important role in our life. We devote most of the time to work during the day. Therefore, work should bring us a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction.

Despite the effort and effort, it should be more fun than sad.

Yet, for many of us, work is associated more with nasty chores and grinds than with excitement, passion, and mission. Are we able to change this situation?

Can we create a much greater attractive and welcoming workplace?

They are free from firm hierarchies, politics, bureaucracy, internal squabbles and bickering. A workplace that isn’t related to constant stress and doesn’t lead to professional burnout.

An environment where our talents and potential can be fully developed and what we do is respected and needed.

Is it possible to create a corporation that makes our work not only productive, but also more significant and fulfilling?

To many, such an “ideal” workplace vision sounds like a utopia.

However, to succeed in today’s world, where digital transformation is accelerating and young people are entering the labor market, we more and more need new, far better ways to function in organizations.

Work is no longer just a place to give us a living. In work, we seek meaning and satisfaction.

The old “with the stick and carrot” method of management didn’t work, as it was based on forced obedience and didn’t support employees’ sense of self-fulfillment.

The answer to the challenges faced by organizations today can be referred to as “turquoise management”.

It’s a way of working that allows better collaboration, faster value creation, more effective communication, and the creation of a more effective and happier workplace.

However, this requires new ways of thinking about organizations and an openness to change.

The biggest blockade before the change and development process for teams and organizations is ignorance.

Often bosses, company owners, managers, leaders think that their team or organization is working perfectly and there’s nothing they can do better.

What is Teal Management:

To better understand the need for change in today’s organizational management, it’s worthwhile to “go back in time” and follow how human consciousness, modes of cooperation, and organizational models have evolved over the centuries.

infrared world

This is an early stage of human development, spanning a period from about 100,000 to 50,000 BC. In the infrared world, survival is the key value.

The infrared world is a world of food collectors and folks struggling to survive. There is no such thing as an organizational model. There are not any elders or leaders to lead the group, no hierarchy.

In today’s world there are very few human communities that live and function in this way.

Purple world

About 15,000 years ago, humanity began to move into the next stage of consciousness.

This corresponds to the transition from small family groups to tribes of no more than a few hundred people. In the purple world, safety, security, traditions and rituals are key values.

The purple world is a world of shamans, ghosts and demons. At this stage of awareness, the organization doesn’t yet exist.

Task differentiation remains very limited. Alternatively, elders have “special” status, and therefore they have already got a certain level of power.

Red world

About 10,000 years ago, the first forms of organized life appeared. In the red world, strength, courage and strength are key values. In this world you must be strong and brave to win.

The red world is the world of farmers, warriors and leaders. The emergence of leaders who command not only hundreds, but thousands or tens of thousands of individuals.

Management in the red world is a chaotic system of government based on leader power, violence and fear. Only those who accept every decision made by the leader have a place in the group.

Amber world

At a later stage of development, there was a transition from the primacy of leadership to the concepts of state and civilization.

In the amber world, which fully arose around 4000 BC and survives in many places to the present day, huge states, civilizations, establishments and bureaucracies were created. One of the inventions of humanity in the amber world is democracy.

In this world, order, authority, hierarchy, structure, and the concrete division into good and evil are the key values.

The world of amber is the world of kings, philosophers, generals, priests and popes. Today, amber management can still be found in many places around the globe. They can be seen in offices, parties, state administration or churches.

Organizations based on this management can plan well in the medium and long term.

However, they’re less able to compete and implement changes quickly. They often have a firm, centralized, organizational structure in the form of a hierarchical pyramid.

Formal reporting runs from subordinates to superiors. There is a special reward and punishment system. Management is all about giving orders and controlling to attain the right results.

Orange world

The worldview at this stage is very materialistic. Only what can be seen and touched is real.

The orange world started to appear about 200 years ago and this period continues to this day. The main values ​​of this world are independence, competition, purpose and success.

The invention of the steam engine, mechanization and electrification contributed to the development of the orange world.

The Orange World is the age of scientists, engineers, marketers, salespeople, entrepreneurs and presidents. The time of companies, research, development, but also materialism, colonization and globalization.

Organizations dominated by orange management can compete effectively and eliminate competition in diverse ways.

An organization acts like a machine where people are a “resource” and their value is measured by their usefulness to the organization.

In today’s world, many global companies still depend on orange management in their organizational culture. In this model, leadership is more results oriented than people.

Green world

The obsession with materialism, social inequality, loss of community spirit caused a green world to emerge.

It is much more sensitive to human emotions and feelings. In a green world, the most significant values ​​are equality, ideas, community, sharing and cooperation.

For people and organizations working from this perspective, human relations are more important than results.

Green organizations use modern tools for team building, training, coaching, integration and doing things together.

All this to attain a common inspiring goal. Hierarchies are flattened, sidelined, and replaced by cooperation, co-creation, and self-organization.

Green organizations consider their social responsibility (CSR) an integral part of their activities and business.

Turquoise (teal) world.

Turquoise world is a new philosophy in life and work.

Turquoise management and turquoise organization became famous thanks to the creator of this concept, Frederic Laloux (1), and his book “Reinventing Organizations”.

The key values ​​in the world of turquoise are development, evolution, knowledge, motivation, inspiration and holism.

In the turquoise world, from the viewpoint of Abraham Maslow’s pyramid of needs, most of the lower level needs (physiological, safety, belonging, and recognition) have been contented and now self-fulfillment needs are mainly contented.

Turquoise management and organization. What’s this all about?

Turquoise organization resembles a multicellular organism in which there’s no central control, but in which different cell functions delegate tasks to each other.

The three pillars of the turquoise company are:

Independent organization – moving from hierarchical management to self-organization, self-management and a flexible system of cooperation based on close relationships between employees.

The pursuit of fulfillment – working conditions in which people can feel snug and take full advantage of their strengths and potential.

An environment where one can be oneself and there’s no need to pretend to be one. A workspace that supports employees in their development and fulfillment.

Evolutionary sense of existence – the turquoise organization is believed to have a life and a direction of their own.

Instead of trying to anticipate and control the future, members are invited to listen carefully to what is occurring and to understand what the organization wants to be and what goals it wants to serve.

The leaders of the turquoise organization (2) can be servant leaders. They are able to create favorable conditions for colleagues to develop and care about the company’s growth.

They have the ability to leave their egos and ambitions behind to share knowledge and experiences.

Turquoise management is based on autonomy in decision-making, supporting employees in discovering their passions, coaching, facilitating, but also on new alternative methods of work and cooperation.

To avoid chaos, disorder and anarchy, turquoise organizations develop special practices and methods that allow them to communicate and make the best decisions.

Summary

As we can see, our approach to cooperation and modes of operation have changed throughout human history. To a large extent, this is because of the worldview that prevailed amongst people of that time.

Today, more and more modern organizations are moving towards “turquoise management”, seeing real benefits in this way.

However, the way to turquoise is not easy, it requires patience and time. This is critical to build trust and partnership between all members of the organization.

Competition, which destroys cooperation and partnership, must be rejected. Break the hierarchical management structures that generally suppress innovation and creativity. Ignore the ‘carrots and sticks’ method.

Replace evaluation with appreciation. Control for support. And this requires a change of approach, open-mindedness and effort.

Thank you for reading this article about what teal management is and I actually hope you take action on my suggestions.

I wish you good luck and that I hope that its content has been a good help to you.