We are trying to be as close as possible to a teal organization.

http://www.reinventingorganizations.com/

Necessary condition for a teal organization

Top leadership

•  The founders or top leaders must have integrated a worldview and a psychological development consistent with the teal development level.
•  The level of consciousness of an organization cannot exceed that of its leaders. They create and hold the teal space.
• Founders need to renew trust and avoid control policies.
• Leaders don t have hierarchical power but carry much moral authority. Their power is limited to the advice process.
• Transparency on the data and free access with the same tools for everyone.
• Every decision offers the opportunity to ask the question: what decision will best benefit the organization?
• Holding the place. Three types of energy fields in the organization. Activity, relationship and context.

Ownership

•  Owners of the organization must also understand and embrace evolutionary teal world views.

No other factor is critical:

Geography and Cultural background, sector of activity, profit or non profit, size of the organization. 

Practices

self management

1. Conflict resolution mechanism

2. Advice process

3. Peer-based evaluation and salary process

Wholeness

1. Ground rules for safe space. Write down the colleague principles.

2. The office building. Let people define how their working space looks.

3. Onboarding process. 2weeks to 4months introduction to what the company does and learning a bit of each jobs. A long welcoming process.

4. Meeting practices.use a cymbal. Start with a minute of silence. Check in (how do you feel now, naming an emotion, reconnect your awareness) check out (unspoken emotions during the meeting, acknowledgement). A pracice of truth telling.

Example. Tingsha bells. Whenever the person in charge feels that ground rules are not beeing respected or that the meeting is serving egos mor than purpose, the volunteer can make the bells sing. No one can talk until the last sound died. During the sound, every participant asks himself a question : am i in service to the topic we are discussing and to the organization ?

Purpose

Needs to be 100% clear.

1. Collective purpose

2. Individual purpose

3. Planning the future, profit

4. Recruitment 

5. Empty chair meeting practice

Emergence of an organization s culture.

Human Role definition

People ...

1. Are creative, thoughtful, trustworthy adults, capable of making important decisions

2. Are accountable and responsible for their decisions and actions

3. Are fallible. We make mistakes, sometimes on purpose

4. Are unique

5. Want to use their talents and skills o make a positive contribution to the organization and the world.

•  Every colleague has a number of roles he has agreed and committed to fulfill.
• Individual shall work together with no use of force or coercion.
• There is no performance without happiness.

Conflict resolution

Using effective self management: never use force and honor your commitments.

Conflict resolution is the mechanism through which peers hold each other to account for their mutual commitments.

Conflict formulation

Conflict avoidance is a major organization issue.

The first step to formulate the conflict is the hardest.

There is a simple three step process for difficult conversations:

1. Here is how i feel.

2. Here is what i need.

3. What do you need ?

People have to be okay with having a conversation about how they are feeling, what they need and what the other person needs.

Code of conduct to solve conflicts

Direct communication and gaining agreement. 

When a colleague finds that another is doing a lousy job or not pulling his weight.

Three phases :

1. Both sit together. The initiator makes a clear request (no judgment, no demand). The other responds clearly to the request with yes, no or a counter proposal.

2. If no solution is found. They no inate a colleague that both trust to act as a mediator. The mediator supports parties in finding a solution but cannot impose a resolution

3. If the mediator fails. A panel of topic relevant colleagues is convened. They listen and help shape agreement but do not impose decision. They usually carry eniugh moral weight for matters to come to a decision.

Disagreements are private. All parties are expected to respect confidentiality during and after the processes. They are discouraged to spread the conflict by enlisting support and building rival fractions.

Freedom and responsibility are two sides of the same coin, you cannot have one without the other.

Holding colleagues for their commitments can feel uncomfortable.

A clearly outlined conflict resolution orocess helps people confront each other hen needed.

This process helps people not to fear to raise issues. It is easier to discuss a disagreement when there is a well paved avenue that will get us unharmed to the other side.

Relationships and conflicts.

 - it is impossible to change other people. We can only change ourselves

 - we take ownership for our thoughts, beliefs, words and actions.

 - we do not spread rumours. We do not talk behind someone s back.

 - we resolve disagreement one to one and do not drag other people into the problem.

 - we do not blame the problem on others. When we feel like blaming, we take it as an invitation to reflect on how we might be part of th problem and its solution.

Managing conflict, key values:

Wihout conflict, we become over accomodating and over protective and we become different persons with our colleagues.

Most conflicts are sparked by ego, few by soul. We have become so wary of conflicts of the ego that we neglect to engage conflicts of the soul.

Structure

• Web of individual contracting.
• Colleague letter of understanding that records the different roles and commitments that the person has agreed to.
• For a structure with less than 10 - 15 persons the organization should run as a single self-governing team.