The main threats of Turquoise (Teal) organizations
co-author: Marcin Konkel
In recent years there have been numerous publications on Turquoise organisations and their positive aspects which is thanks to a great book by Frederic Laloux — ‘Reinventing Organizations’. This is a good tendency. The business world needs it. However, knowing the levels of consciousness, we realise that Turquoise carries a lot of threats. Every leader and manager has to learn and get prepared for them so that Teal will be supporting and not hindering their efforts. It is time to start promoting values, ideas and business models originating in another consciousness level on a wider scale. Laloux’s concept is based mainly on Clare Graves’s ‘Value Levels’ (known also as the ‘Levels of Human Existence’) and Don E. Beck’s and Christopher C. Cowan’s ‘Spiral Dynamics’.
Turquoise is a term describing the 7th level of consciousness, a so called ‘Free Individual’. If someone achieves that level, it means that their worldview is open, tolerant and expects partnership and work-life balance from the world and/or the company he works for. The person wants to work in order to develop himself and his passions. He/she wants to be flexible, get to know various tasks and exchange them with other people. It is not about money but personal fulfilment, honesty and authenticity. Such an approach guarantees a great flexibility in action and a fast pace of changes, which leads to efficiency. Personally, Adam, is implementing the Turquoise style in one of his three companies — partially he’s implementing it and partially it appears on its own. It can be noticed in such situations when, in some projects, my employee becomes my boss, he assigns tasks and supervises me so I don’t forget about something. We learn from each other, provide feedback and coach one another. The organisation is evolving constantly. We are not an ideal Turquoise but a lot of elements have appeared naturally or are being consciously introduced.
For this purpose we use the Change Value Process (CVP) method which I have been developing since 2008 in my coaching and business approach. Additionally, I have co-created a tool for getting to know consciousness levels present at the time in an individual as well as the whole organisation. It’s called ‘Quest’. Using it we can foresee whether our employees will develop towards Turquoise or just the opposite. One can check if they are ready for it. It sometimes happens that 50% are ready and the other half is not.
It is a fascinating to observe how Turquoise (7th level, ‘Free Individual’) shows among employees, while the boss is Red (3rd level, ‘Warrior’) or Orange (5th level, ‘Leader’). It means that, for instance, employees want to work in a flat hierarchy, share knowledge and duties, maintain work-life balance, whereas for their boss the most crucial are: profits, money and real results.
Looking the other way round: the company leader may be already on Green (6th) or Turquoise level, while employees remain on Red or Blue (4th) level. It is the leader who opts for cooperation, partnership and personal development, whereas employees are more into results and a systemic, procedural and hierarchical approach.
Knowing the mechanisms of Graves’ Levels in a business context we can foresee many outcomes such as human behaviour. We can help people find motivation and ways of motivating others. It might seem that Turquoise organisations and people on the Turquoise level are the ideal. However, knowing the subtleties of the concept we realise that it is not and it will never be like that.
Not so long ago, there was a premonition that coaching is the recipe for many of our concerns and anxieties. Even earlier, people were thinking that capitalism is the ultimate cure for the world’s problems. We know very well what was the outcome of that. The fact is that there is no miraculous recipes. No one idea or one method to be a solution for everything. A lot of people got discouraged by classic coaching because they were not willing to listen to the coach’s questions. They expected advice and ready-made solutions, not having time for meaningful conversations. It shows that not everyone is ready and open for self-development. Coaching will not assist each individual. Capitalism and democracy are not fit for countries that are in the state of civil war. In Western capitalistic countries it can be seen that the quest for economic development may transform into a well known rat race. Despite the improving social status people neither become happier nor healthier.
Turquoise will not be perfect either. Each level of consciousness has got its own shadows. It is important to get familiar with them so that the beautiful idea of this level does not lead to a disaster.
In Change Value Process method, which focuses on managing teams and working with change, we do not think that the aim is to become a Turquoise organisation as soon as possible. Moreover, we do not believe that it is the best solution for everyone. There are 8 levels of consciousness. Large organisations act globally as they are able develop at a minimum of six levels. Some can encompass all eight levels of which Turquoise is just part of. However, Turquoise itself can bring to an organisation the same number of advantages as disadvantages.
While introducing a Turquoise style and consciousness to an organisation we will might be facing certain resistance. Sometimes to a considerable extent while in other cases there will be very little friction and all will go smoothly. Why? Because people differ in their consciousness levels. Unless, HR managers, leaders and directors understand it, we will be only discussing the theory without experiencing a real change. In the Turquoise Table (below), that was created on the base of the CVP managing method, you can see examples of threats that might evolve.
The problems that apply to so-called Y Generation result partially from the fact that some part of the young people (20–30 years old) is slightly Turquoise. That means that their worldview concentrates on living a good life. It’s not a problem provided they have also other consciousness levels active and know that it is important to combine a few elements like: cooperation, solid work, order and others. If the young generation thinks in an immature (Turquoise) way then we face a situation when a young graduate says: ‘I want to earn 3000 euros net per month, own a car, work till 4pm and have a billiard or a football table on the office premises’. That is what they expect, not contributing much themselves. In a situation which demands mobilisation and intense work they say:
‘I want to have fun. I do not want to get tired.’ It is a so called immature seven — an immature, not integrated Turquoise level. If the leaders in this scenario are not able to understand this worldview, then they cannot educate their young employees. As a consequence a company fails as well as an individual fails.
Worth remembering is also that calling a company Turquoise or Teal is a generalisation. There does not exist a company that is purely on level 7 or any other level for the matter of fact. Most employees can be on a certain level and then we use this expression that a company is Red, Orange or any other. Yet, not everyone is and will be. Another thing is that they all have different levels active at a time. Some might be inactive or blocked by shadow that we mentioned earlier. This poses new (for someone using the concept) challenges for future leaders on how to work with their employees on a deeper level of commitment, coaching and mentoring.
Manager stops being a boss and starts being a partner for meaningful conversations, a true-servant leader and enabler. We tend to think that in such a paradigm more people will be changing jobs not because of money or fancy office but because their workplace is no longer congruent with the way they want to build their career or does not support the values that they live by. Moreover, this will fundamentally change how we work together and will require a more mature (and self-conscious and ‘integrated’) leadership.
Important thing worth noting is that being on the 2nd or 8th (or any other) Graves’ Value Level does not make you more or less intelligent, better or worse human. It changes the values that are currently most important to you — as if you were looking on the world through a different lens. Every level is important and integrating all of them in a healthy way enhances immensely your communication skills, self-awareness, confidence and the ability to help others thrive as beings.
When you combine Graves’ Levels with personality types, knowledge of coaching, neurobiology and few other fields — it can significantly change how you understand others and communicate. Imagine a world where a lot of tension is gone thanks to us being able to see more and experience more. Where people can support each other, their business and companies where change is made in a more meaningful way — by understanding and working through it together instead of imposing on the workers (as some of the agile implementations we observe on everyday basis).
Both of us have experienced going through some levels on Graves’ Levels and by understanding the process we know what we should work on and what should we secure in terms of working with own shadows or potential limitations. It’s a constant discovery and a lifetime journey. This can also speed up, to a certain extent, your progression in terms of challenges you’re facing at the moment. Let’s give an example:
Gary’s most active Graves’ Level is 5th (also called ‘Leader’, ‘Orange’ or ‘Strive Drive’). This level characterises itself in self-development towards achieving better effects, leading, building systems. His dominant character traits are melancholic (analytical, rather quiet, determined) and sanguine (optimist, enthusiastic, changeable) although he appears as a choleric (highly self-confident, pushing forward, having strong vision). After spending two weeks with Gary one can notice that he lacks energy and seems fatigued after spending half a day in the office. When we talked a bit more on his problems and challenges we pinpointed that the problem was twofold. One was the shadow of not fully integrated ‘Orange’ level which, in Gary’s case, was focusing too much on receiving recognition from the outside. The second problem was that he viewed being leader through the behaviours of a typical choleric and not his own. Individual work with Gary focused on finding more internal gratification (thus integrating the ‘Orange’ level) and finding his own leadership style based on the traits of melancholic and sanguine connected with learning how to appreciate them. The latter could also be a way to find his own charisma. Most of us associate public speakers and leaders with the traits of a choleric and, not having much other examples, try to copy them. Those actions need not to be congruent with their temperament and can cause lack of energy or even depression.
This example is of course a simplified one and depends strongly on the context. We are always a mix of various character traits and values. The elements of of our integral selves are also much more complex thus individual work and getting to know what’s inside us and our colleagues or friends is so crucial. The purpose of this article is not label one another.
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As you can see there are many things that can be taken into consideration to help and understand one another. The mentioned threats are not only present in Teal organizations but also on each Graves Level but differ one from another. Thus, knowing how to navigate and progress among them is crucial. What are your thoughts on the subject? What ‘shadows’ or threats do you see in your organisation and it’s environment?
