This document was originally published by the Teal for Startups Working Group.
“An earlier version of this call to participate was originally published by the Teal for Startups Working Group and launched in collaboration with our strategic partners Teal Practice Group and Enlivening Edge.”
The Challenge
Every year, 250,000 startups are created in the U.K while 2.3 million are created in the European Union. The EU five year startup survival rate is only 45%. Imagine the impact if we could help even a small percentage of them? How can we reduce this high failure rate?
Current business models and frameworks have been in place since the industrial revolution. They have been incredibly successful in bringing education, a high standard of health and increased wealth to many parts of the world.
Now these fixed hierarchical models and organisations are becoming less innovative and less able to meet the demands of a more fluid and interconnected age. The mechanised nature of organisational structures has led to increased dissatisfaction in the workplace across all levels of employees, from the boardroom to the shop floor.
Malcolm Turnbull, speaking at the annual dinner of the Business Council of Australia, had a clear message for corporate Australia:
“You need to rethink your management culture if it is rigid and unyielding. … That means organisations need to be much less hierarchical, they cannot be blame-based … It’s always important to be cautious, of course, but in a disruptive age of rapid change, deference, if overdone, can be death from a corporate point of view. Change is rapid. We’ve got to treat volatility as our friend, not as our foe.” – The Guardian
Peter Thiel’s recent talk on the financial and education sectors being the next place for disruption. Therefore, the institutions that ‘disrupt’ themselves will be at the forefront and able to ride the coming changes more effectively and with less turbulence.
“The question is: does our education system provide you with that substantive base of knowledge or does it [make] you simply a trained robot in a lab? Are you really not doing that much creative work, are you mostly just doing menial labour?” he asks. “I think people do need to learn some things very substantively. The question is always how much of our education system produces that.” – The Guardian
The Purpose
Next generation organisations will be values-driven with a systems-thinking, holistic understanding of their purpose and impact. Traditional hierarchical management is replaced with self-organized, self-managed teams which adapt flexibly to changing circumstances to achieve the organization’s purpose whilst adhering to its values.
An organisation derives its purpose from fulfilling a valuable function for the community–not from blindly serving the narrow needs of just one stakeholder group– to aspire to describe the next stage in the evolution of human consciousness.
Teal opens up the structure to a more fluid organisational structure so that skills, commitment and potential can be enhanced rather than the traditional structures of companies restricting the energetic flow of people and business.
These organisations will be soulful workplaces where our full-range of talents is nurtured and our deepest aspirations are honoured. They will bring a holistic understanding of human and team psychology, making it possible to consciously create community and foster empathic communication.
This will in turn result in better collaboration, and happier, more effective organizations, , meeting the basic human drive for integrity and more humane ways of working together.
The early development of organisations in this new model has shown that it is possible to increase market share, profits and productivity through new ways of approaching work. When work becomes about purpose rather than paychecks, employees connect with the values of the company and will go over and beyond what is required to support their roles and the well-being of the organisation.
A holistic understanding of individual and team psychology, tools for conflict resolution, and structures for decision making and action-taking can bring more effectiveness and increased happiness to organisations.
The goal of companies must be to contribute to creating a better future for all. We believe a different organisation is needed to build effective product-services which serve society, as everywhere we look, people crave more humane experiences (HX). Simply put, a company which can create these will be a more successful business.
Forward-thinking companies such as Unilever (source) are increasingly taking onboard ideas like circular economics, sustainability and ending involvement with deforestation.
In order for these new ideas, policies and practices to really take shape, we believe a different organisational structure is needed to build inspired and whole people alongside products and services that enhance our economies, environments and communities.
The Intended Audience
The audience for the materials created by Teal for Startups consists of entrepreneurs interested in Teal and Next-generation organisations as well as interested researchers, coaches, mentors and investors.
The content co-developed will be directed at those already interested in creating a next-generation organisation. Materials for a wider audience not yet aware of next-generation organisations will be produced by follow-on efforts after the initial white paper is published.
The Concept
How do we build these new startups? A Conversation, A Whitepaper, A Community, A Movement. We believe that an eco-system model rather than ego-system model would be the most appropriate way co-create something new that will help startups in their journey.
“When operating with ego-system awareness, we are driven by the concerns and intentions of our small ego self. When operating with eco-system awareness, we are driven by the concerns and intentions of our emerging or essential self— that is, by a concern that is informed by the well-being of the whole. The prefix eco- goes back to the Greek oikos and concerns the “whole house.” – Source: From Ego-System to Eco-System Economies by Otto Scharmer and Katrin Kaufer
What is Teal?
Teal organisations are values-driven with a systems-thinking, holistic understanding of their purpose and impact. Hierarchical management is replaced with self-organized, self-managed teams which adapt flexibly to changing circumstances to achieve the organization’s purpose whilst adhering to its values.
A Teal organisation derives it purpose from fulfilling a valuable function for the community, not from blindly serving the narrow needs of just one stakeholder group. Teal aspires to describe the next stage in the evolution of human consciousness.
Teal for Startups Working Group Values
We aim to create a culture of trust, personal responsibility, transparency and collaboration by practicing empathic communication. We are creating structures that can provide valuable frameworks for new entrepreneurs and startup organisations to redefine success that include financial and personal well being as making the world a better place to live for all by providing HX (humane experiences).
What’s the latest Status? & Join us!
After bringing together the connected themes of Teal organisations and startups, Teal for Startups has grown to community of 410+ with 140 working group members from a diverse range of locations and backgrounds.
The aim of the working group is to map out a developmental model of a startup business within the Teal way of operation. This can define the core questions that need to be asked and help to prioritise decision making and create focus along the way. The results will be published and shared in the public domain.
To keep up to date check out our Notice Board and join the working group here.
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