In his 2014 book, Reinventing Organizations, Frederic Laloux introduces the concept of a teal company to describe one that is democratized. These companies don’t have a traditional management hierarchy or organization chart.

Instead, they operate by way of self-managed teams and decentralized decision-making. They take a human-centered approach to work and empower employees to perform at their best every day, regardless of the situation.

Laloux settled on the color teal to describe this sort of organization because, in his estimation, teal represents evolutionary concepts.

In 2014, the concept of such an organization was met with a definite level of skepticism by management experts. However, as businesses emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is reasonable to revisit Laloux’s vision and propose a new question — are turquoise companies the future of work?

Defining Characteristics of a Turquoise Company
To answer that question, we need to look at the defining characteristics of a turquoise company. They include the following:

• Employees work as a team to focus on fulfilling the company’s primary purpose (e.g., providing services, building products, etc.)

• Employees all consider themselves to be vital links in the company’s chain.

• Employees always respect the work of their co-workers, regardless of the task(s) they are working on.

• Every task is seen as equally essential.

• Employees are self-managers who don’t need a boss to motivate them.

Employees work for a turquoise company because they firmly believe in it, not because they want to “climb the corporate ladder” or earn a specific amount of money.

Turquoise company employees are self-motivated to perform their best every day to fulfill their company’s objectives because they believe doing so will better themselves, the company, and the world.

Benefits and Drawbacks of Working for a Turquoise Organization
Some employees can thrive in a turquoise environment. They don’t need a boss to dictate their day or motivate them to do their jobs. These employees may exceed expectations when given the autonomy and responsibility to do what they think is best for the company. For them, the benefits of working for a turquoise organization include:

• Flexibility

• Autonomy

• Creative control

• Teamwork environment

• Ability to perform a multitude of tasks

Other employees, however, flounder in a turquoise environment. This is particularly true for those organizations that do not have the proper foundation to be turquoise.

For example, some companies experimented with a teal model during the COVID-19 pandemic when they moved from working in the office to working remotely.

Employees needed to be self-motivated to fulfill their responsibilities without constantly checking in with a manager or their co-workers. In the wake of unexpected absences and supply chain issues, employees needed to take on duties and tasks that were not previously part of their job function.

Many people discovered the downsides of working in a turquoise environment, which include:

• Difficulty measuring performance

• Requires an exceptional team to work effectively

• Lack of accountability can be frustrating when team members don’t do their jobs

Bottom Line
The thought of an organization operating with a flat hierarchy in which employees are self-managed might sound like a fantasy. However, several companies identify as teal, and others are actively working toward a self-management company.

Of course, there will always be a need for companies of different colors on the organizational spectrum. Not every company can operate without a hierarchy, and it’s not true that having a hierarchy is inherently flawed.

So, while teal organizations may be one type of company now and in the future, it is not likely to become the only business model. Ideally, more companies will adopt the human-centric aspect of the teal model and use it to inform their organizational chart, no matter what structure their business takes. After all, the most important resource any company has is its people.

References
Bartosiewicz , S. (2017, September). Turquoise companies. future or utopia? – ceejme.eu. Retrieved May 10, 2022, from https://ceejme.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/ceejme_3_7_art_08.pdf

Laloux, F. (2015, July 6). The future of management is Teal. strategy+business. Retrieved May 10, 2022, from https://www.strategy-business.com/article/00344

Laloux, F. (2016). Reinventing organizations. Gardners Books Ltd.

Rutkowska , M., & Kaminska, A. M. (2020). Turquoise Management Model – teal organizations – . Retrieved May 10, 2022, from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Malgorzata-Rutkowska-5/publication/342708110_Turquoise_Management_Model_-Teal_Organizations/links/5f02e71d92851c52d619e664/Turquoise-Management-Model-Teal-Organizations.pdf