Teal not only in the logo – what are teal organisations all about?

Teal is not just a colour, but a concept of operation. In this text, we explain what makes teal organisations stand out. Why do we do that? Well, it’s because we do our best to be one of the teal companies.

Do you notice the teal elements on our website? That’s by design. From the very beginning, THEY.dev has been shaped by the Teal organization model. We are still on our journey to becoming fully teal, but its core principles already drive how we work. Let’s dive into what the Teal concept actually is, how we understand it, and what it means for our team in practice.

To understand the concept of teal organisations, we must go back to 2014, when Frederic Laloux published the book “Reinventing Organizations”. The author did not invent a new management methodology from scratch, as the title might suggest. He analysed companies that were already operating in unconventional ways and described the evolution of human consciousness in the context of creating organisations. Laloux took into account not only the organisational chart itself but also the relationships of its components (employees, owners, management) with each other. He then gave his research historical context, dividing the history of management into several stages, assigning them metaphors and colours:

• Red (Metaphor: Wolf pack): Organisations based on power, fear, and absolute obedience to the chief (e.g., street gangs, mafias).
  
• Amber (Metaphor: Army): Rigid hierarchies, constancy, strong processes, and a strict division of roles. Predictability counts (e.g., public administration, traditional universities, the church).
  
• Orange (Metaphor: Machine): The most popular corporate model today. Focused on innovation, internal and external competition, meritocracy, and profit maximisation. At the centre are KPIs, targets, and management by results.
  
• Green (Metaphor: Family): A model that tries to soften the soullessness of the “machine”. Agile organisations, focused on culture, values, interpersonal relationships, and the satisfaction of stakeholders, not just shareholders. The boss still exists but is intended to play the role of a supportive leader (servant leader).
  
• Teal (Metaphor: Living organism): A complete paradigm shift in operations. The organisation is treated as a complex, adapting system with a life of its own, rather than a machine that needs to be steered.
  

Three pillars of teal – how does it work in practice?

What distinguishes teal organisations from all previous ones relies on three fundamental pillars that turn the traditional approach to business upside down.

1. Self-management In teal, there are no bosses, middle managers, or directors. There is no traditional promotion or climbing the corporate ladder, because… there is no ladder at all. Teams are completely autonomous.

2. Wholeness Traditional business often requires us to wear a “professional mask”. In the office, we are supposed to be rational, tough, and focused on goals. We leave our emotions, doubts, or problems at home. Teal invites employees to be fully themselves. The organisation ensures a sense of psychological safety. Discussions cover not only results but also moods, relationships, mistakes, and intuition. Workplaces become spaces where you don’t have to pretend to be someone else, which radically reduces stress and burnout, and unleashes creativity.

3. Evolutionary purpose The vast majority of companies are created to generate profit. In teal, profit is treated like oxygen – the organisation needs it to live, but breathing is not the meaning of life. The company has a mission it wants to achieve. Moreover, teal companies reject rigid planning. Employees, being closest to clients and the market, can see for themselves where the organisation should head, and naturally direct its resources that way.

4. Decentralised Decision-Making How are decisions made in teal organisations? This is done through the so-called advice process. Every employee in the company can make any decision, on one crucial condition: before making it, they must consult internal experts in the given field and the people who will be affected by this decision. They do not need their agreement or consensus, but they must listen to their opinions and take full responsibility for their decision.

This is not a theory

Contrary to appearances, teal is not an experiment reserved exclusively for small, modern IT startups (although yes, for them too). In his book, Laloux described several examples of companies that successfully operate in this model:

• Buurtzorg – a Dutch organisation bringing together over ten thousand nurses. Teams of 10-12 people decide for themselves how to care for patients, who to hire, and how to manage the budget. They do not have a single medical manager, and their results in quality of care (and low administrative costs) outclass the competition.
  
• Morning Star – a giant in the US tomato processing industry. Thousands of manual workers and machine operators operate without managers, negotiating annual “letters of understanding” among themselves regarding their roles and responsibilities.
  
• FAVI – a French metal foundry supplying parts for, among other things, gearboxes. Serial production in heavy industry has also successfully applied the self-managing model.

People accustomed to the orange or amber model, still popular in many areas of the economy, may share the belief that the teal model is in practice another name for chaos and anarchy. The point is that it is exactly the opposite. It is a self-organising structure. This does not mean that everyone does everything. Everyone does what they are good at.

For leaders and company founders, this is, in turn, a gigantic test of humility. Handing over power to the team means limiting the ego and abandoning the illusion of control. If a company president, in times of crisis, grabs the helm again and starts issuing directives – teal will immediately cease to exist, and trust – the building block on which the organisation stands – will be irretrievably destroyed.

What does teal mean for THEY.dev?

Being a teal organisation, we try to adhere to the general principles of this concept. We also add our own, which are found in our name.

• Transparency – we operate openly, both internally and externally when working with a client. They have constant insight into the progress of work on their project.
  
• Honesty – we tell the truth. Plain and simple. Even when it is inconvenient. If something went wrong, or we know it is impossible or carries high risk: we let you know.
  
• Efficiency – we understand this as creating software in a way that solves real challenges. We adapt it to the client’s needs so that they can effectively implement a given tool into their organisation.
  
• You – That is You. Our client. Our partner. Your success is the key in the whole process of working on an application at THEY.dev.

We operate with respect for co-workers and clients, and everyone on our team can influence the decisions made in the company. You won’t find even a pinch of micromanagement here. At the same time, we do not treat teal as carved in stone. The founders of THEY.dev, Filip and Wojciech, are both developers and the people setting the direction of development – however, any of us can influence this.

What are the benefits you get when working with teal companies?

Collaborating with a teal organisation benefits you with a guarantee of transparency and honesty at every stage of the project. In this model, there is no room for corporate masks. No well-rounded sentences, no covering the truth. The customer is treated as an equal partner whose success is a priority (which, in the case of THEY.dev, is reflected by the letter “Y” – You). That’s why you have a constant insight into the progress of work.

The lack of a rigid hierarchy and micromanagement means significantly better flexibility and innovation. Thanks to decentralised decision-making the experts working directly on your project can react swiftly, without waiting for approval from above. That makes things go faster.

There is another benefit you get from working with companies like THEY.dev. You support a healthy work environment, and by doing so, make this model more visible and, hopefully, popular.

Is it worth being teal?

There is a well-known saying in Poland: “It is worth being decent, although it doesn’t always pay off. It pays off to be dishonest, but it isn’t worth it.”

We identify the rules we have set for ourselves and which guide us with this very decency. At the same time, in the long run, we believe that being teal pays off. It’s not only the mentioned rules, but also the effects of applying them, including team engagement, high flexibility, innovation, and freedom of thought. This management model may seem quite surprising, but it is efficient and, we believe, fosters the building of a healthy organisation.

If you want to see how efficiently an organisation can work in a teal model, let’s talk!