The quotes and analysis in these articles comes, with permission, from the wonderful Teal wiki.
“Do we sense that we are meant to journey together?”
Wiki
“Does a person resonate more with sense & respond than predict & control?”
“Life does not need to be coerced. All we have to do is tune into what life wants to express or create, and life will provide for itself what is needed. Sense and Respond, rather than plan and control. We cannot change others, but we can change ourselves and support others in a safer environment. Teal expects each other to be open and vulnerable.” – Teal Wiki
All new team members are trained in problem solving and meeting practices, so they can operate in a team without a boss in charge. This include topics like “self-mastery” and “dealing with failure”. “Active Listening“, curiosity, is encouraged, the interest in the others ideas, beyond self-ego. Consensus Decision Making is not used. Instead a more organic “Sensing team mood” much like the Quaker system. Of course, it takes more than a document to bring values to life. In previous systems, meetings, more often than not, turn into playing fields for the egos, pushing souls into hiding. For that reason, almost all researched Teal organizations have instituted specific meeting practices like moments of silence. People typically have the freedom to change teams.
“We cannot change other people. But we can change ourselves.”
Wiki
People are systematically considered to be reliable, self-motivated, trustworthy and intelligent. Constant varied roles, the Advice Process, peer-to-peer strategy, etc. ensures inter-linking and a shared consciousness. There is a shared understanding that at times, individuals may need to vary their commitment to work. People set their own salaries, with guidance from their peers but if it so chooses, the salary advice group can choose to declare a conflict and invoke the Conflict Resolution mechanism. Colleague Letters of Understanding sometimes are used, especially in mission critical production chain situations.
In previous organizational systems, the feedback process frequently fails because it comes from a place of fear, judgement and separation. Feedback is especially powerful in a Teal organization because it is intentionally non-judgmental, and feedback is given in a spirit of open exploration and acceptance. Information is openly shared about the performance of each team as no one needs to be protected from the facts, good or bad.
In some Teal organisations, every team rate the quality of their interaction with other teams. The result is a company-wide “heat map”. The self-managing context helps people realize that no one is to blame. Failing to follow the advice process is the only “fireable” offense. It’s impossible to change other people. We can only change ourselves. Every person has life lessons they are meant to learn by themselves. What we can do is be there to support each other in that process of personal change. The focus is on helping the involved parties find solutions and difficulties are more open and vulnerable due to trust rather than hidden and gossip. This is similar to some Ancient community problem solving systems.
Jobs emerge from a multitude of roles and responsibilities that reflect the changing interests, talents, and the needs of the organization. Teal has no job titles or descriptions, so it becomes that much harder for people to merge their identity with the position they hold, encouraging full humanity. Teal values the whole person, a wider exploration of the person’s hopes, fears and sense of purpose in life, not just the job they are doing. Open, healthy relationships, high on trust and low on fear with Nonviolent Communication.
The Teal Diary 