Teal Around the World 2023 Recap.
I couldn't attend this year's Teal Around the World 2023 live event on March 2-3. Fortunately for me and other individuals interested in hearing from the storytellers actively engaged in Teal worldmaking, the entire event is recorded and is easily accessible on the organization's website and YouTube channel, of which I am now a subscriber. As a digital Teal Land backpacker, I wanted to focus my energies on uncovering real-world guidance on navigating to Teal. I also wanted to learn from an organization making a tremendous impact while being Teal. I was fortunate to succeed in both endeavors through Jos de Blok of Buurtzog and Lisa Gill (Politeness to Partnerships).
TATW (WTF FTW)?
Teal Around the World is a distinctive conference set within the metaphorical "Teal Land." In this adventure, participants navigate a jungle of possibilities, assisted by footprints symbolizing various stages and facets of organizational exploration. There are two trails, one for startups and another for established organizations. Startups either tread the "Lemur" path for those new to Teal or the "Woodfrog" for those experienced yet seeking the next phase. On the other hand, established organizations might follow the "Elephant" for the initial stages of Teal adoption or the "Crow" for advanced challenges and insights. The event is an engaging amalgamation of learning, self-discovery, and collaborative growth for individuals who want to help organizations navigate to Teal.
What's the deal on navigating to Teal?
"Teal" in business refers to a transformative organizational paradigm articulated by Frederic Laloux in his book "Reinventing Organizations."
Teal businesses are identified by three core principles:
Self-management. In Teal businesses, teams operate autonomously without the standard hierarchical managerial oversight, fostering responsibility and adaptability—think sociocratic or holacratic decentralized organizing and decision-making.
Wholeness. Employees are encouraged to integrate their personal and professional identities. Employees can engage more authentically by bringing their entire selves to their roles, leading to enriched relationships and an enhanced work environment.
Evolutionary purpose. Teal organizations depart from rigid business plans, letting their strategies unfold organically. They remain attuned to their evolving purpose, dynamically adapting to both internal desires and external changes.
Teal represents a shift away from profit-centric, top-down corporate structures and instead embraces a holistic, agile approach emphasizing its members' purpose and holistic well-being, positioning organizations for adaptability, resilience, and meaningful impact.
TATW Highlights.
Buurtzorg
Value-based is a buzzword healthcare companies in the US gravitate towards in defining their approach to patient care. Value-based is defined by the amount a health care provider earns for services "to the results they deliver for their patients, such as the quality, equity, and cost of care."* The challenge in the US to realize this objective is patient access to care by insurance, location, and quality of time a practitioner has to spend with a patient for a proper diagnosis. Companies like Wellvana in the US attempt to bridge the gap for community healthcare practitioners by reducing "the administrative complexities placed on physicians, helping them to prioritize patient relationships and quality of care."** Yet still, the topic of access is problematic as patients need to travel to the practitioners for care. That's what got me excited about Buurtzorg. Founded by Jos de Blok in 2006, Buurtzorg is a nurse-led, nurse-run organization of self-managed teams that provides revolutionary home and community care in the Netherlands.
Buurtzorg operates under a few principles.
Self-organization in action. No team is the same, leveraging local cultures to inform how the organizations appear in the community.
Leverage the onion Model. Client experience is the focus of formal and informal teams working with the Buurtzorg team for care.
Promoting a caring neighborhood. Healthcare as a community concern with specialized services available locally.
Social Care Systems. Moving from fragmented systems of care to integrated holistic and client-centered.
The biggest takeaway in the interview is when the founder and current leader is asked the question, "Do you feel you have too much power, and what happens if you retire? Are you still needed? Jos de Blok, the founder, responds that he recognizes he is the biggest obstacle in the organization's development, and with that recognition comes a self-regulating discipline to take up little space in conversation so his influence is minimized and others can lead.
Lisa Gill Politeness to Partnership - A New Level Of Collaboration
One of my pressing questions regarding decentralizing power in organizations is navigating conflict when creating new groups. Lisa Gill's workshop on Politeness to Partnership - A New Level Of Collaboration was particularly interesting because I have been accused of being too polite in my conflict management approach. Lisa's approach flips the construct on its head by first focusing on the group development component to navigate conflict. She mentions familiar themes like Otto Scharmer's deep listening for generative thinking. Recognizing that conflict can be a productive practice if facilitated in a way that navigates harm while focusing on learning. Lisa cautions that conflict should not be avoided or ignored.
Lisa also presents the four stages of group development:
Stage 1. Inclusion and dependency.
Stage 2. Counter dependency and fighting.
Stage 3. Trust and structure.
Stage 4. High performance.
The key takeaway for me is that the idea of the "prison of pretense and politeness" is a significant obstacle driven by wanting to protect. However, it's unnecessary—psychological safety does not mean physical comfort. Instead, paradigms of rights and wrongs and who is right and wrong are overcome by promoting fluid relationships focused on authenticity and practices that facilitate trust building.
"What we give attention to grows. What we pay attention to grows. I am a commitment to attention to liberation and reparations. I am a commitment to being/shining sunlight on everything […]"***
- Adrienne Maree Brown
Overall, I enjoyed exploring the Teal organizational paradigms at the TATW 2023 event, particularly gleaning insights from Buurtzorg's innovative approach and Lisa Gill's session on group dynamics. The emphasis on adaptability, resilience, and genuine relationships resonated with me. I've got my backpack ready and eagerly anticipate next year's event.
*Value-Based Care: What It Is, and Why It's Needed. https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/explainer/2023/feb/value-based-care-what-it-is-why-its-needed
**United States : Wellvana Welcomes Kyle Wailes as New CEO. (2022). MENA Report.
***Emergent Strategy – Page 2 – Adrienne Maree Brown. https://adriennemareebrown.net/tag/emergent-strategy/page/2/