dinsdag 1 mei 2018

Journeying towards an Agile and/or teal organization


Abstract


When Fréderic Laloux published his book Re-inventing Organizations the word ‘Teal’ became equivalent for the self-organizing, non-hierarchical organization. Agile has similar ambitions. This article offers a Spiral Dynamics based tool for any team or organization on an evolutionary journey. 


Questions, suggestions and constructive feedback are most welcome: info@ctrl-improve.nl

Introduction

Since Fréderic Laloux’s book Re-inventing organizations came out there has been a lot of talk about the ‘Teal organization’. To what extent is an Agile organization equivalent to a Teal organization? When we look at self-organizing teams there are undoubtedly comparisons. Agile however is still mainly applied in software development whereas the Teal examples are spread out over all kinds of sectors. Other agile organizational models such as Holacracy and Sociocracy 3.0 don’t focus on any specific field. The first is mentioned as an example by Laloux in the consultancy firm Holacracy One where the second is fairly new. And then there are too many new models popping up to keep track of. This is what makes Laloux’s perspective so interesting, because he focuses on the values that shape the models, frameworks, methods etc. As ‘form follows function’ the organizational model itself should be flexible, roles of people change as does governance if the situation asks for it to keep moving towards the organization’s evolutionary purpose.

If you follow Laloux’s reasoning and use his lens to look at western society then a large part of settled organizations seem to comply to Conformist Amber, like most government institutions, schools, hospitals etc. (You will find a detailed overview of the value systems and related colours further on in this article.) In second place it is Success-driven Orange which is the dominant value system when it comes to power and money, most banks are good examples. People and organizations operating from Pluralistic Green can be found in most NGOs. Evolutionary Teal organizations are still not so easy to find yet growing in numbers and the interest for how they operate is growing as well.

So, what makes Teal so attractive that so many people and organizations seems to want something from it or to be in it? Is it just because, according to the Spiral Dynamics model it might be higher up the ‘ladder of evolution’? Could it be business success and money driven? Or is it because urgency in the world to start thinking and acting from these Teal values is higher than ever? As Einstein said: “Problems cannot be solved from the same level of consciousness that created them.” Is it all of aforementioned reasons or something else completely? Global (sustainability) challenges ask for systemic changes that all individual value systems are unable to tackle on their own. Therefore we need all people and perspectives and all possible social, economic and ecological solutions to deal with our current global issues. Leadership from a Teal value system may connect and integrate all.

The percentage of people that operate from Teal is growing. My experience is that you don’t find them in groups, but rather hidden in organizations or operating solo. We do not need to ‘be Teal’ to be able to contribute to integral solutions and Agile/Teal organizations. We need to use our own unique assets, unite them without judgement and collaborate towards a common purpose while we continue our own evolutionary journey. Is that Agile?

So, where do you stand as a person, a team or an organization? Are you adaptive enough to constantly changing surroundings? Can you deal with not-knowing? Are communication and collaboration highly valued in your team and organization? Does your organization have an evolutionary purpose? And what is yours? These and other questions may be answered by applying the following models and guiding questions.


Embarking on the journey towards Agile and/or Teal

Below you find the Quadrant that was introduced by Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory. When applied on a specific case that a team, department or organization is dealing with it may offer some proper insights. By taking someone through the quadrant step by step and asking a set of guiding questions the participant comes to her/his and the organization’s interior values and how they show themselves in exterior, tangible behaviour, culture and structures.

The second step is to take all participants through a set of questions based on the Spiral Dynamics model that Laloux uses in his book. Dominating value systems become visible as well as related behaviour that is either constructive or destructive for the organization’s purpose. Also it may become clear which value systems are less or not enough present in the team or organization which may be an impediment to create a healthy balance.

Have a look and read through the questions. As you will see I have chosen the colours that Laloux has taken from Ken Wilber’s model. These are sometimes different from the ones Clare Graves used in Spiral Dynamics.
 
Source: Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory


Guiding questions for the four quadrants


Bottom right:
Can you briefly say something about the context in which this case takes place? Who are the parties involved? What are the goals? What is the influence of the system (specific context of the organization, market situation, politics, legislation, etc.)?


Top left:
What does this case do to me personally? What touches me so deeply? What are my values, what is my vision regarding this case?


Bottom left side:
Who are involved in this case? Is there cooperation and a common vision? Do you feel supported by the environment to take the next step? What is the degree of trust? How deep do conversations go (to merely exchanging courtesies, debate or having proper dialogue?)


Top right
What solutions does the case call for? Do you have energy to get started? Which skills are supportive and / or impeding?


Guiding questions with the value systems


Which aspects can be found in the case? How do the different value systems manifest themselves in this case? What are healthy and what are unhealthy expressions?

Beige: To what extent are people involved who cannot take care of themselves and need help? Does the case have anything to do with the survival of the organization?

Purple: To what extent is there a feeling of solidarity? Are you proud of the organization and its history? Do you know certain rituals within the organization?

Red: To what extent is there decisiveness in the approach to the case? To what extent do power relations and positions play a role? To what extent do stakeholders take their position? With authority?

Amber: To what extent are the procedures, regulations, existing structures around the case clear? How is the culture around making agreements and adhering to them?

Orange: To what extent does one work purposefully and strategically on achieving certain goals? Is there a focus on facts, success / result and is there cost awareness? Is there room for different views?

Green: To what extent is there attention for process aspects and quality of communication in the case? Are all those involved heard? Is there cooperation in openness?

Teal:  To what extent is there space and time for not knowing? What could be a transcending purpose?

-        What can be the constructive contribution of the other value systems to achieve that purpose?

-        Which value systems (within the organization or with certain key figures) are closed, which are blocked and which ones are open? To what extent were you yourself open and centred on the important moments for this case?

-        To what extent do the relevant people involved take responsibility from their own dominant value system or where do they let them run?

Indigo: Since there is so little known of this value system I dare not include this yet in this exercise.

                                                              


Harvest and Next Steps

After this exercise you will have an overview of the dominating value system(s) in your team and/or organization as well as which ones may be less represented or not at all. Also you may find which expressions of certain value systems are healthy ones and which are working against a harmonious collaboration towards the common purpose.

From these insight you can take all kinds of next steps. Which ones to take is completely dependent on the outcomes of this exercise. Make sure you do make an action plan and that you evaluate at times whether the actions are successful. Keep in mind that this exercise generates a picture of the current situation. Teams and organization are dynamic so make sure you look at the outcomes as part of an ongoing process.

One great advantage that I find in this exercise is that it deals with values, which are the roots from which people act, behave, speak and how they interpret the world and give meaning to their work. This gives the potential to create awareness that may already set change in motion.

Working with values also makes it challenging, which might be seen as a disadvantage. Too easily interpretations of behavior are assigned to specific value systems instead of looking at it the other way around. Reality is always more nuanced than what we can perceive. What we see might be true, but there is always more truth to be found. It takes a coach with a complex mindset to get the best out of this exercise and to take people to the depths of their values.

Training and Workshops

If you want to know more or if you are interested in training or a guided workshop from half a day up to multiple days, please contact the author.
About the author

Sebastiaan van Zaanen, Agile coach at CTRL-Improve, holds a MA in Business Communication and a MSc in Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability. He is both Agile coach as well as a social entrepreneur with a focus on contributing to the transition towards a sustainable society. Systems thinking, facilitating participatory group processes and leadership in complexity are his strong assets. Besides developing mere cognitive intelligence he believes in an integral approach to personal growth. He finds this in his daily martial arts practice.

Questions, suggestions and constructive feedback are most welcome: info@ctrl-improve.nl

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