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Reinventing Organizations: A Guide to Creating Organizations Inspired by the Next Stage in Human Consciousness Paperback – Illustrated, February 10, 2014
Deep inside, we long for soulful workplaces, for authenticity, community, passion, and purpose. The solution, according to many progressive scholars, lies with more enlightened management. But reality shows that this is not enough. In most cases, the system beats the individual-when managers or leaders go through an inner transformation, they end up leaving their organizations because they no longer feel like putting up with a place that is inhospitable to the deeper longings of their soul.
We need more enlightened leaders, but we need something more: enlightened organizational structures and practices. But is there even such a thing? Can we conceive of enlightened organizations?
In this groundbreaking book, the author shows that every time humanity has shifted to a new stage of consciousness in the past, it has invented a whole new way to structure and run organizations, each time bringing extraordinary breakthroughs in collaboration. A new shift in consciousness is currently underway. Could it help us invent a radically more soulful and purposeful way to run our businesses and nonprofits, schools and hospitals?
The pioneering organizations researched for this book have already "cracked the code." Their founders have fundamentally questioned every aspect of management and have come up with entirely new organizational methods. Even though they operate in very different industries and geographies and did not know of each other's experiments, the structures and practices they have developed are remarkably similar. It's hard not to get excited about this finding: a new organizational model seems to be emerging, and it promises a soulful revolution in the workplace.
"Reinventing Organizations" describes in practical detail how organizations large and small can operate in this new paradigm. Leaders, founders, coaches, and consultants will find this work a joyful handbook, full of insights, examples, and inspiring stories.
- Print length382 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateFebruary 10, 2014
- Dimensions6 x 0.96 x 9 inches
- ISBN-102960133501
- ISBN-13978-2960133509
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Editorial Reviews
Review
--Ken Wilber, from the Foreword
"The most exciting book I've read in years on organization design and leadership models."
--Jenny Wade, Ph.D., Author of Changes of Mind
"A book like Reinventing Organizations only comes along once in a decade. Sweeping and brilliant in scope, it is the Good To Great for a more enlightened age.
What it reveals about the organizational model of the future is exhilarating and deeply hopeful."
--Norman Wolfe, Author of The Living Organization
"A comprehensive, highly practical account of the emergent worldview in business. Everything you need to know about building a new paradigm organization!"
--Richard Barrett, Chairman and Founder, Barrett Values Center
"Frederic Laloux has done business people and professionals everywhere a signal service. He has discovered a better future for organizations by describing, in useful detail, the unusual best practices of today."
--Bill Torbert, Author of Action Inquiry
"As the rate of change escalates exponentially, the old ways of organizing and educating, which were designed for efficiency and repetition, are dying. Frederic Laloux is one of the few management leaders exploring what comes next. It's deeply different."
--Bill Drayton, Founder, Ashoka: Innovators for the Public --Advance praise
About the Author
His groundbreaking research in the field of emerging organizational models has been described as groundbreaking, brilliant, spectacular, impressive, and world-changing by some of the most respected scholars in the field of human development. Frederic Laloux lives in Brussels, Belgium, with his wife, Hélène, and their two children.
Product details
- Publisher : Nelson Parker; First Edition (February 10, 2014)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 382 pages
- ISBN-10 : 2960133501
- ISBN-13 : 978-2960133509
- Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
- Dimensions : 6 x 0.96 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #509,881 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #100 in Organizational Change (Books)
- #215 in Management Science
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Frederic Laloux works as an adviser, coach, and facilitator for corporate leaders who feel called to explore fundamentally new ways of organizing. A former Associate Partner with McKinsey & Company, he holds an MBA from INSEAD and a degree in coaching from Newfield Network in Boulder, Colorado.
His groundbreaking research in the field of emerging organizational models has been described as groundbreaking, brilliant, spectacular, impressive, and world-changing by some of the most respected scholars in the field of human development. Frederic Laloux lives in Brussels, Belgium, with his wife, Hélène, and their two children.
Customer reviews
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book insightful and interesting, with profound implications for other organizations. They appreciate the author's clear explanation of complex subjects in simple terms. The book introduces concepts and ideas that are thought-provoking.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the book insightful and interesting. It chronicles management theories and ideas that challenge the idea of the organization. Readers appreciate the inspiring vision and examples. The book provides a real eye-opening categorization of organizations that is correlated with the evolution of human development.
"...In review, the book was chock full of insightful statements about the issues inherent in modern success-oriented corporations of today, provided an..." Read more
"...He gives us a first good look at the future of organizations when we design to unleash rather than control our unlimited potential...." Read more
"...This understanding has profound implications for communication...." Read more
"...The book is filled with examples of Teal Organizations. Some are quite old. All share the same rules ands structure. Here is another key observation...." Read more
Customers find the book easy to read and understand. They appreciate the clear explanations of complex subjects in simple terms, with inspiring examples. The book is thoughtfully written and well-researched. Tables at the ends of chapters provide quick overviews. The color coding provides a vocabulary and mental way to discuss topics. Overall, readers find the book insightful and well-organized.
"...structures in history into memorable color coding, gives us a vocabulary to discuss and a mental way to compartmentalize common existent..." Read more
"...in introducing us to your pioneering leaders, and providing us with language and lenses, analysis and synthesis to better see and appreciate their..." Read more
"...For a quick overview, there are excellent tables at the ends of Chapter 2.3 (Self Management), Chapter 2.5 (Striving for Wholeness) and Chapter 2.6..." Read more
"...He is very hard-headed and pragmatic, and provides a wealth of practical detail that will be helpful to anyone trying to understand or improve..." Read more
Customers find the book thought-provoking. They appreciate the introduction to Integral Theory and its evolution. The analysis is highly thought-provoking, bringing to mind frustrating contexts and frames. The content is conceptual, practical, and applied, applying spiral dynamics and integral consciousness to organizations. It applies an integral framework and creates inclusion at work.
"...with an overview that, including Ken Wilbur’s introduction, introduces Integral Theory, and covers the evolution of worldviews and organizational..." Read more
"...Integral theory, metaphors for evolution, wholeness and vulnerability, self-organizing management, work and teams, personal accountability, purpose..." Read more
"...His analysis is highly thought provoking and brought to mind frustrating contexts and frames of leadership I've experienced during those time I've..." Read more
"...quantum leap in the evolution of organizations, which is described analytically and specifically, not as theory or speculation, but as observation..." Read more
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2018Reinventing Organizations Book Report
Reinventing Organizations by Frederic Laloux is a book about how organizations and management have evolved since the beginning of time and what is in store for the future. Laloux postulates that, since 150,000 B.C., human organizational evolution has created 7 different types of organizations, each one more complex than the last. The seven types of organizations, color coded for easier understanding, are:
1. 150,000 B.C. – 50,000 B.C. Infra-red – Reactive (little or no understanding of the world)
2. 15,000 – 10,000 B.C. Magic – Magenta (sees the mysteries of the world through Magic and Spiritualism)
3. 10,000 B.C. – Impulsive – Red “sees the world through a crude lens of power. Power is exercised constantly by ‘Chiefs’ to keep foot soldiers in line. Fear and unpredictability hold the organization together. Highly reactive with a short-term focus, well-suited to thrive in chaotic environments. Wolf packs are a good metaphor for Red organizations.” ex: street gangs and mafias, ancient tribes.
4. 4,000 B.C. – Conformist Amber (organizations are akin to armies: rule abiding bureaucratic institutions) “The Amber stage of consciousness enabled humankind to develop organizations that could operate on an unprecedented scale. This led to the formation of bureaucratic institutions, and nation states, many of which have survived for centuries. Amber organizations strive for stability and are characterized by clear roles and ranks within a hierarchical structure. Leadership is exercised through command and control and compliance is expected throughout the organization.”. ex: armies, catholic church, public schools, government institutions.
Breakthroughs of Amber
1. Long Term Perspective (stable processes)
2. Size and Stability (formal hierarchies)
5. 1750s A.D. – Achievement Orange (Organizations are akin to machines: large corporate organizations, meritocracy, shareholder focused) “Orange organizations represent the advance of the scientific and industrial revolutions. The world is seen as a complex machine whose inner workings and natural laws can be investigated and understood. This view has brought unprecedented levels of prosperity and life expectancy. Current management thinking, which is focused on competition, innovation and performance. shape how Orange organizations operate.” ex: modern-day corporations, multi-national corporations.
Breakthroughs of Orange
1. Innovation
2. Accountability
3. Meritocracy
6. 1950s A.D. – Pluralistic Green (Organizations are families, with extreme egalitarianism, striving for harmony, tolerance, and equality) “Green organizations reflect the Green stage of consciousness, which strives for harmony, tolerance and equality. While retaining a pyramidal structure, Green organizations focus on empowerment to lift motivation. They go beyond the shareholder focus of Orange to embrace all stakeholders. Family is the dominant metaphor.” ex: hippy commune
Breakthroughs of Green
1. Empowerment
2. Values-driven culture and inspirational purpose
3. Multiple stakeholder perspective
7. Now Evolutionary Teal “Refers to the next stage in the evolution of human consciousness. Teal organizations are characterized by self-organization and self-management. The hierarchical "predict and control" pyramid is replaced with a decentralized structure consisting of small teams that take responsibility for their own governance. Assigned positions and job descriptions are replaced with a multiplicity of roles, often self-selected and fluid. People’s actions are guided by ‘listening’ to the organization’s purpose. Structure in Teal is characterized by rapid change and adaptation.”
Breakthroughs of Teal
1. Self-management
2. Wholeness - invite us to reclaim our inner wholeness and bring all of who we are to work.
3. Evolutionary Purpose - members of the organization are invited to listen in and understand what the organization wants to become, what purpose it wants to serve.
Although these systems above evolved over time, Laloux states that they RED, AMBER, ORANGE, GREEN, and now TEAL organizations all exist throughout society, represented in different institutions. Furthermore, some organizations exhibit combinations of the different types, although all organizations have a dominant type.
Research for the book was done by extensively examining 12 different existent teal organizations that organically emerged and predate the book. The 12 organizations range from car parts factory in France, a leading pasta sauce plant in California, a Swedish State funded at-home nationwide nursing company, a software developer, and a multinational power generation company with over 40,000 employees. From the various examples, Laloux shows how this new teal organizational paradigm allowed the companies to achieve tremendous and quick success in their respective domains, which he uses to advocate the philosophy.
The tone of the book is one of optimistic philosophizing, in which all the claims made are, according to the forward, “solidly grounded in evolutionary and developmental theory.” I personally found references to scientific studies somewhat lacking, but the book addresses the issue by stating that new paradigm is cutting-edge. Most of the chapters of the book are so optimistic and so often fail to acknowledge counter arguments, that I began to draw many of my own. Of the many questions, two major ones were thankfully addressed. The first was: Is teal expected to ultimately replace most other forms of management, to which the text answered: “No, many forms of management exist and will continue to exist in society at the same time.” My second question was: “would the system of trust and a teal worker’s freedom to spend a company’s money without prior approval of any managers break down either by dishonesty or in times of crisis?” The text’s answer to the first part was: “the Teal system only works if the wages provided meet the basic cost of living needs for all of their employees,” (which I took to infer that teal organization isn’t universal applicable, for example it wouldn’t work at a low paying place like McDonalds). In questioning the efficacy of teal in times of crisis, chapter 2.3 (processes) addresses it, but barely so. The question of how employees, who can hire and fire themselves, may behave when their company is on the verge of bankruptcy is acknowledged as an untested scenario, in the text.
The format of the book itself is broken down into three major sections: Part one is an historical and developmental perspective of organizations; part two defines: the structures, practices, and cultures of Teal Organizations; and part 3 is about the Emergence of teal organizations: necessary conditions, how to start a teal organization, transform a current one, and implications of a teal society.
Overall, the book does provide several insights that I believe truly are revolutionary. First, the system of labeling the different organizational structures in history into memorable color coding, gives us a vocabulary to discuss and a mental way to compartmentalize common existent organizational systems around the world. Secondly, the 12 teal organizations, which are discussed at length, are remarkable in the fact that they can not only function properly, but also thrive with their bottom up management with lack of traditional hierarchies.
In review, the book was chock full of insightful statements about the issues inherent in modern success-oriented corporations of today, provided an eye-opening perspective on a new way to see decentralized, self-managed business models were managers don’t even exist. I would recommend this text for anyone who may be interested in either partially changing their business or overhauling it with the revolutionary teal model, which may improve performance and employee satisfaction. Although the teal isn’t for every business or for everyone’s taste, the depth of insight gained from this book makes it worth the read.
Useful chapters to take a quick look at are: 1.2, 1.3, 2.2, 2.3, 3.2, and 3.3
- Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2014WHO WILL BENEFIT?
This book is a godsend for those courageous, forward-thinking CEO's, Members of Boards, Consultants, Organizational `Changemakers', and Business School Faculty who resonate with the following three paradigm-shifting assumptions:
1. People love to develop and give their unique gifts, to collaborate, to make a lasting difference and to contribute to something larger than themselves -- and will demonstrate this in organizational cultures that challenge and support rather than control and extract
2. Our top-down, control-over-people, compartmentalized organizational designs are not a good fit for our times. Their rigidity leaves such organizations highly vulnerable in our volatile world. Millennials see these traditional organizations as today's dinosaurs
3. Our `next big thing is not a thing' -- rather, it's those organizations that ACTUALLY develop and unleash the virtually unlimited potential of people to evolve their organizations and themselves
WHY WILL THEY BENEFIT?
We've been collectively swimming in a sea of organizations (private, public and civic) with narrow and myopic definitions of success. These top-down, control-over-people, compartmentalized organizations are the water we swim in.
We are only beginning to get a sense of enormous costs and risks implicit in clinging to these fundamentally flawed organizational structures, processes and practices. We're only beginning to take measure of the gross insanity of perpetuating `business as usual.'
Frederic Laloux focuses on 12 pioneering organizations that have escaped the gravitational pull of traditional organizational design. He gives us a first good look at the future of organizations when we design to unleash rather than control our unlimited potential. He gives us a clear window into the future of organizations.
As more pioneering leaders explore what's possible when we transcend the `psychic prisons' of today's organizing forms we will be entering a new era for humanity. The potential benefits from designing organizations to serve and evolve life are unimaginably large -- this is truly awesome new territory where everyone wins. All immediate and extended `stakeholder families' can benefit in extraordinary ways as an organization's leadership engages in this quest.
5 THINGS I FOUND ESPECIALLY VALUABLE ABOUT THIS BOOK
1. Laloux's research demonstrates that elegant simplicity does indeed lie on the other side of the complexities seem essential in traditional compartmentalized control-over-people organizations
2. `Reinventing Organizations' is filled with detailed stories/descriptions of the specific grounded structures, processes and practices of organizations that illustrate the efficacy of this elegant simplicity
3. Laloux has shown himself to be a great bridge-builder. `Transcending and including' his McKinsey experience, he makes relevant wisdom from luminaries such as Ken Wilber and Parker Palmer extraordinarily accessible to those of us who are committed to taking our organizations to their next evolutionary level
4. Frederic really nailed it with his `Three Breakthroughs of Evolutionary Teal Organizations.' I'm convinced they are keys to a radically more hopeful future:
`Self-management' is the way all the rest of nature works. This `key' changes damn near everything that we've grown to hate about top-down controls.
`Wholeness' at all levels of system is not a new idea. It happens to exist throughout all the rest of nature. Learning to see our selves and our organizations as whole conscious, caring, committed and courageous living organisms is a key that opens all stakeholder relationships to a new level of co-creative possibility.
`Evolutionary purpose' challenges organizational leadership to step up to a very large question -- `What's the highest purpose we can imagine for our organization?' As we get a sense of our evolutionary purpose we see our organizations as vehicles for a never-ending action-learning journey -- with ever-improving contributions to the wellbeing of all life -- for all time.
5. How many C-suite executives have time to reflect on and co-creatively explore the implications of all of the above?
Not many! Most are captives of a vicious circle where their rigid organizations are unable to handle the challenges implicit in our `VUCA' world. So, `messes' get delegated upward to an already harried leadership. Unfortunately, reactive problem-oriented fixes tend to be born of the same thinking that created the messes in the first place -- and, in turn, create new `messes.'
Laloux's research shows that as leaders realize the `Self-management Breakthrough,' their world changes. They also achieve a level of spaciousness and new ways of seeing that support a `virtuous spiral' of co-creative exploration that routinely turns breakdowns into more breakthroughs.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Frederic's book shines a light on 12 pioneering organizations. The pioneering leaders, by dint of their beliefs, commitment, courage and persistence, are helping to blaze a trail toward a future that can work for all of us.
Laloux insists that having the board and the CEO `get it' is necessary but not sufficient to cross the `great culture chasm' between `Orange' and `Teal' -- where `getting it' calls for playing a strong and persistent stewardship role in the journey across that chasm.
We live in a world where 95+% of all sizeable organizations in all sectors and geographies are both trapped in and unconsciously reinforce `Orange' cultures. These organizational cultures deify consumption and growth -- sipping and distributing the same `Koolaid' without questioning the strange taste.
If these existing organizations are to realize the limitless benefits from an Orange to Teal metamorphosis, two challenges must be successfully addressed --
1) Pioneering leadership needs to emerge in existing organizations
2) Pioneering `providers' of transformational guidance need to develop their capacity to support such a metamorphosis -- versus limiting their practice to improving Orange performance
The good news is that such leaders and providers exist. And they will begin to find each other in ways that can make a lasting difference for all of us.
Thank you, Frederic Laloux, for your very significant contribution in introducing us to your pioneering leaders, and providing us with language and lenses, analysis and synthesis to better see and appreciate their work.
Top reviews from other countries
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Amazon CustomerReviewed in Brazil on October 4, 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars O livro que pode mudar o mundo através da mudança das empresas.
O melhor jeito de mudar o mundo é mudando que tem o poder econômico pra mudar as pessoas. Eficiência não precisa ser com exploração das pessoas. O livro mais incrível que já li e que todo empresário deveria ler. Referência para criar os valores e cultura de sua empresa.
- Amit SoodReviewed in India on September 2, 2022
5.0 out of 5 stars A compelling read!
Frederic Laloux in this book proposes that the evolution and growth of the human consciousness have made the current structure of our organisations obsolete.
He explores how some pathbreaking organisations are experimenting with new work practices, flatter structures and cultures, that set the ground to invite a fuller and perhaps happier expression of self' at the workplace. That has also helped the teams be more future-ready, as they learn to sense and respond to changes more fluidly and connect to clients more deeply. He calls them Teal Organisations.
While Traditional organisations subtly invite their employees, to leave their sensitivities behind when they came to work. People go to work today wearing a mask, that reveals only a part of themselves. The part they show is the tough, logical and effective side. They cover up their vulnerable, kinder and intuitive side. It seems risky to let the sensitivities of our heart and spirituality show up, lest they’d appear too weak. If they do not seem to be smartly driving results they risk losing their place on the table.
It is cliché to say that the organisation that we created for the purpose of serving ourselves, or others like us, have turned into machines. And we have become the raw materials - the human ‘resource’. Everyone from the top to the bottom are devoted, to growing the organisations, their profits and revenues.
But now Authenticity is increasingly in the discussion. There seems to be a growing desire to be more authentic, reflective, holistic and even heart-centred, in our way of being. To let the whole of the self-hood shine through.
Laloux writes that with the rising of human consciousness, our ways of organising and collaboration transform too. Perhaps a shift in the way our organisations are shaped is now due. Why should our time working, a significant part of our lives, be a less than joyful experience?
In the present organisations, the hierarchical structure shifts critical decision-making upwards. It is no wonder, that the life of those at the top gets more and more busy, hurried and stressful.
Yet, today’s society is more pluralistic and complex and, survives with more contradictions than ever before. The distribution of information is far more equitable and speedier. Could it be that the hierarchical structure is due for some reworking? Laloux shares his research in detail, on organisations that have thrived with a new kind of structure - that has no boss!
I find the work compelling. The book comes in two versions the main big book version and a faster-to-read illustrated version, I would strongly recommend them both.
- RICHARD GILBYReviewed in Mexico on January 27, 2020
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant!
Skip the pretentious foreword and get straight into reading the best book on organisations you will ever read. Clear examples and case studies and yet not a 'how to' book. Lots to think about and makes us all wish we worked for these kinds of organisations.
-
Jose F. Caballero NietoReviewed in Spain on November 2, 2016
5.0 out of 5 stars Una completa visión de los tipos de organizaciones, buenas prácticas teal y como llevar a las organizaciones al estado teal
Altamente recomendable para todos aquellos que piensen que las organizaciones requieren una transformación o una re invención.
El libro se remite a numerosas fuentes tanto de autores relevantes en esta materia como de empresas teal exitosas. Un excelente compendio que he disfrutado leyendo y reflexionando acerca de ello.
Esencial frente a los retos de las organizaciones, y del mundo en general, en las próximas décadas.
- R WaltReviewed in Canada on November 29, 2015
5.0 out of 5 stars A sneak peek at the future organizations
Reinventing organizations is one of those "this makes so much sense" books. The highlights for me are: looking at employees as whole humans who bring their lives to work, rather than a mask; investing heavily in conflict management (to enable and channel conflict rather than hide from it) and letting organizational projects and initiatives grow or die by the energy and interest of staff rather than top-down authority. This is an enlightened thinking about the human condition and our current trajectory - I see this trend emerging in different ways at different levels: interest in yoga, meditation, work-life balance, search for meaning outside of money and products, low levels of engagement, and most imporantly the sense that we have lost our communities. In answer to these, this is very positive as a path forward. There are many organizations featured in this book and the author does a good job describing the "in the field" manifestations of this philosophy. As an academic study it would be interesting to track these organizations and see how they fare over the medium to long term. One never knows which management philosophies are fads or at the very least which organizations and industries will prosper more than others using these practices. Regardless, there is so much commonsense in here that it just can't be denied and at the very least some aspects of this will apply universally to organizations. However, I would say this book and the ideas in it are about 5-10 years ahead of mainstream adoption. Thus, this is hopefully a sneak peek at the future of organizations.