Sublime

Self-management: Teal Organizations have found the key to operate effectively, even at a large scale, with a system based on peer relationships, without the need for either hierarchy or consensus.

With processes, critical knowledge no longer depends on a particular person; it is embedded in the organization and can be transmitted across generations. Any person can be replaced by another that takes over the same role in the process. Even the chief is replaceable, in an orderly succession, and Amber Organizations can therefore survive for cent

Nevertheless we can distinguish between three broad types of approaches, a framing you might find helpful as you ponder the journey of your organization. I call them creative chaos, bottom-up redesign, and pre-existing template.

The biggest change in regard to training is, of course, that employees are in charge of their own learning; there is no HR function that defines training programs and determines who can attend what training programs or at what point.

Brian Robertson, the founder of Holacracy, sometimes uses another set of archetypes to talk about the power of self-management to shift relationships to a healthier level—helping us to move from Persecutor, Rescuer, Victim, to Challenger, Coach, Creator.

In Orange Organizations, strategy and execution are king. In Green Organizations, the company culture is paramount.

In Teal Organizations, people are not empowered by the good graces of other people. Empowerment is baked into the very fabric of the organization, into its structure, processes, and practices. Individuals need not fight for power. They simply have it.

Because there is no hierarchy of bosses over subordinates, space becomes available for other natural and spontaneous hierarchies to spring up—fluid hierarchies of recognition, influence, and skill (sometimes referred to as “actualization hierarchies” in place of traditional “dominator hierarchies”).