Turquoise organizations are a model for creating companies that is increasingly used by entrepreneurs. Increasingly chosen in both large and small companies.In the book „Working Differently”, Frederic Laloux described the turquoise management model as the highest stage in organizational management awareness. In addition to „Evolutionary Turquoise”, there are four other “organizational colors” -i.e. the company’s organizational culture, but turquoise is described as the most innovative and future-proof. While in classic management we are dealing with a hierarchical system, in turquoise organizations we distinguish three pillars – self-management, striving for completeness and evolutionary goal.
After Frederic Laloux published his book „Working Differently”, it turned out that many more leaders and companies were creating organizations using self-management practices. One such person was Marek Wzorek, who worked at igus Sp. z o. o. As president of the management board, he co-created an organization based on the non-hierarchical Solar System as the company’s organizational structure. By collecting my own experience and conducting conversations with many other self-management practitioners, such as: Ruben Timmerman, Jan Zborowski, Rahim Blak and Frank Blase, Marek Wzorek described his own experience in self-management and other practitioners in the book „From hierarchy to turquoise, or how to manage in the 21st century”. In this article, we will deal with the first pillar of turquoise organizations, i.e. self-management.What is self-management, i.e. how can a company function based on mutual relationships?
Self-management – joint responsibility for the company
Self-management in turquoise organizations is based on mutual trust among colleagues. Mutual trust is much more valuable in achieving business goals together and developing the company together. Self-management involves abandoning the hierarchical organizational structure, abandoning the hierarchy of positions and even naming positions. Imagine that the company exists as one large unit, and the employee becomes its member and thus takes responsibility for his actions and treats them as his own, striving for common goals with the rest of the team. There are no superior leaders, and each member of the organization has an equal opportunity for development and innovation. This ensures that every person in a turquoise enterprise is equally involved.
Trust as the key to success
The basis for the success of such a business model is the mutual trust of employees, which is possible thanks to the common pursuit of goals. Employees perform functions that are individually tailored to their potential, thanks to which the company achieves better results. Team members share their knowledge and individual achievements for the sake of teamwork. Each employee is equally committed and responsible for his or her work. For this turquoise pillar to exist, all business information must be open to everyone, and decisions must be made in participatory or advisory processes.In the turquoise organization we believe that by speaking openly about the biggest challenges, we will be able to achieve much more as a team than alone. Thanks to this, among other things, the hierarchy in the company ceases to exist in favor of self-organization.
Self-management in Poland
In Poland, the topic of turquoise organizations is not yet very popular, but we can already see more and more enterprises becoming convinced of it. What companies in Poland declare this method of management? These are companies from various industries, including
- SoftwareMill.com – software house with a team working 100% remotely from the beginning of the company – described in the book „From hierarchy to turquoise”
- Boldare.com – softwarehouse with implemented holacracy – described in the book „From hierarchy to turquoise”
- Diuna Translation Agency – translation company – described in the book „From hierarchy to turquoise”
- igus Polska – a leading manufacturer of polymer e-chains, sliding and linear bearings and electric cables for movable connections – described in the book „From hierarchy to turquoise”
- Green Tower – a network of democratic kindergartens and nurseries based on the values of parenthood and closeness
- KAMSOFT PODLASIE Sp. z o. o. – a company offering modern solutions supporting work in the pharmaceutical, medical and veterinary industries
- Brewa s.c. – a company dealing with photovoltaic installations, heating foils and EV charging stations
and us from PerfectCircle®️ – the birth and beginnings of the company’s operation were also described in the book „From hierarchy to turquoise, or how to manage in the 21st century”.
Other companies that have chosen turquoise include, among others, HighSolutions (Software), DeSmart (Software), Halibut (training), PKS Gdańsk-Oliwa SA (transport company), Mentax (claim settlement), OXALIS Polska (distribution coffee from the Czech Republic). Every year, there are more and more turquoise organizations.
PerfectCircle®️ – together we take care of our customers’ well-being
As a team of business coaches, experts in turquoise organizations, we share the principle of self-management.Our common mission is to create an ecosystem that ensures health and holistic development for people and organizations. We believe that there is enormous potential in every person that can be used to achieve the best possible work results. During cooperation, we trust not only ourselves, but also our clients when making decisions.
Are our values close to you? If you like to develop and would like to help others discover the best version of themselves not only in their professional lives, but also in their private lives – join our team and community.In the innovative training, coaching and recruitment service #PerfectCircleCommunity, we combine adding new people to the team with sharing best practices on how to effectively enter the profession of a business coach and executive coach. We invite you to join the nearest group and the Business Coaching OPEN course HERE – let’s start achieving success together today!
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