Teal mindset
The main criticism of the model popularised by Frederic Laloux in his book Reinventing Organisations is that it is another categorisation model. In this article, I will try to clarify all the misunderstandings and simplifications that are often made and I will delve into the theal mentality, an aspect that is not sufficiently explained in the text.
THE GREAT CONTRIBUTION OF LALOUX
Although attributed to Laloux, the colour definition of the different levels of evolutionary development of people is not his. Its true source is Spiral Dynamics, based on the research of Clare W. Graves by Christopher Cowan and Don Beck, to which Ken Wilber also contributes.
Nor is it theirs the linking of different attitudes of people to particular types of organisations. In fact, the first person to talk about tribes, institutions, markets and networks is David Renfolt.
The Belgian’s great contribution is to introduce us to a fifth type of organisational design, teal organisations, telling, with examples, how pioneering companies have introduced evolutionary purpose, self-management and wholeness into their day-to-day work. Although I also think he was wrong to use the word wholeness; what teal organisations require are not wholesome but authentic people.
Incidentally, since his publication, a new organisational model is sprouting up, brought about by cryptoeconomics, the decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO), which gives a new lease of life to the future of governance.
THE MISTAKE OF SIMPLIFYING BY COLOUR
Those who speak of categorisation are only focusing on one of the two levels that Laloux works with: that of organisational designs, the different ways of working together. And they speak, in a simplified way, of red, amber, orange, green or teal organisations.
But they are forgetting the second level, that of the evolution of people’s mentality.
We could not say it more clearly: teal is not only a type of organisation, it is also a new mentality.
Moreover, the teal mindset is a paradigm shift in the way we think and behave. Something like when Galileo said that the earth is round, breaking with the prevailing view of the terraplanists.
THE TEAL MENTALITY PUTS AN END TO CONFRONTATIONS
Until the emergence of the teal mentality, previous ways of thinking are wary of the previous model of thinking. For example:
- Amber thinking, which elaborates rules to feel safe, abhors the free will of red thinking.
- Orange thinking, which relies on innovation to feel safe, questions the immobility and rigidity of amber thinking.
- Green thinking, which relies on collectivism to feel secure, denigrates the insensitivity and resourcefulness of orange thinking.
- The teal mentality, which has purpose as one of its axes, does not question any previous thinking, but accepts its most positive part and transcends them.
In other words, in this social confrontation between those who advocate collectivism and those who advocate sovereign individualism, a third way is proposed. The teal mentality is about seeking a both and more to co-create together.
They recognise the good of the previous models. Green thinking, by putting the group above all else, ends up diluting the singularities of each person. Orange thinking, by focusing on individualism, abandons the search for the common good.
Seen from the teal mentality, both are necessary. Free people, who have become great by developing all their strengths, are needed to participate and contribute collectively to a common good, a greater purpose than each person individually.
FROM MASK TO ESSENCE
Therefore, the most important thing to achieve the teal mindset is a leap in the evolution of people. This is the message that we at 9brains have insisted on time and time again: the teal mindset requires an inner work of people.
It is not just a matter of copying Buurtzog’s organisational design, or being inspired by Patagonia’s values and purpose. It also requires an inner work of all the people involved, but especially of the leaders (and/or founders).
What does this work consist of? In going beyond the disguise, beyond the character we create for ourselves to hide our fears and show our vulnerabilities. This is the only way to get to the essence of the teal mentality.
The reason it does not exist is because the predatory orange mentality prevailing in multinationals, and evangelised in business schools, takes advantage of any weakness of the opponent to draw blood.
If a CEO has not fired a few people when he arrived at the post, with the excuse of adjusting costs, he is not respected. He does not feel feared and, only then, he knows that they will not go after him, as he went after his predecessor.
FROM MISTAKES TO STRENGTHS
A final substantial element of the teal mindset is to shift the focus from error to strengths.
The red, amber, orange and green mindsets conceive of the world in terms of scarcity. The world and people are problems to be solved.
In capitalism, when something doesn’t work, it is replaced by something else. People are part of that gear. Human departments specialised in finding the best piece of the market. People are in the grids of comparing themselves and trying to be who they are not.
The way of thinking is based on error, we focus on what needs to be corrected. We follow ad infinitum a loop of identifying the problem, analysing the causes, looking for solutions and establishing an action plan to implement them.
The abundance mentality advocated by some methodologies, such as Design Thinking or Appreciative Inquiry, is to focus on our strengths, on what makes us truly good. When you connect with your true essence, all that prison of posturing disappears.
Barcode, by Bansky.
One little player, Stephen Curry, has completely changed the game of professional basketball by focusing on the strength of his long-range shots. Now, everyone plays like him. They have copied him.
No one can beat you at being yourself. The way to leverage that uniqueness is to leverage your gifts, not solve your problems. The magnet for attracting customers is called authenticity.
The same is true for organisations. The key to applying a teal mentality is to focus on what gives them life, what makes them unique. And that is anything but categorising.
