Overarching premises and values ​​in a turquoise organization. Turquoise experiment of Sberbank. Integrity in focus

Teal organizations break stereotypes in the field of personnel management. HR tried to figure out how they differ from typical companies.

From the article you will learn:

Useful tools for HR

What are turquoise organizations

Turquoise companies are living organizations or firms of the future, in which everything is different from the usual Russian companies. They do not practice a rigid leadership style, but coaching and self-management, instead of KPIs, values ​​\u200b\u200band goals are used.

In turquoise organizations, there is no place for lazy and non-executive employees who work exclusively under duress. As a rule, their staff includes creative specialists who are inspired not by the social package, but by interesting tasks and limitless opportunities for development.

Some HRs believe that this approach to the management system comes from unwillingness to delve into processes and waste time on employees, others are sure that the idea is utopian, because, in their opinion, employees, in principle, cannot work well without proper management control. However, such organizations are successfully functioning, developing, and their number is gradually increasing.

Principles of the turquoise organization

The principles of the turquoise organization still cause heated debate among skeptics.

To understand why some are ironic about the companies of the future, we need to consider the basic principles on which relationships are based within. There are "three pillars" - evolutionary purpose, integrity and self-government.

evolutionary goal

The evolutionary goal is manifested in the fact that the company does not work on tasks that are not necessary to achieve specific results, even if it can generate income. The actions of employees and management are aimed solely at achieving the goal, which was the basis for the creation of the organization. If an employee appears in the company who does not share common ideas, he does not take root in it, because he does not find support from his colleagues.

Integrity

Every employee in a teal organization is seen as an individual, not as a means to an end. His desires, aspirations, emotions are taken into account. Companies often do not adhere to schedules, plans, do not separate personal life and work. In them, a person is important, and not a "cog" in the system, with which you can increase profitability. Colleagues are always ready to help if someone has problems, whether work-related or family-related.

Self management

Employees have the right to make a decision without discussing it with colleagues, managers. They know that they will have to take responsibility for it. Despite this, punishments in turquoise organizations are excluded, but more often employees blame themselves for mistakes, so they try not to make mistakes.

Self-management tools in a turquoise organization

Teal organizations adhere to the Agile ideology, which reflects the company's culture, value system, principles and way of thinking. According to her, a clear work schedule from idea to result is less effective than the ability to change the algorithm and generate ideas in the process of solving problems.

The increased flexibility of the control system allows:

• achieve freedom from corporate values- people work more than spend time on formalities;
• instill a desire to develop- employees feel their importance, so they try to grow professionally;
• enhance team spirit- within the team are formed strong teams, whose participants can share experiences, problems, ideas;
• choose the optimal amount of work- The Agile ideology does not accept rush jobs, so employees are not assigned more tasks than they can perform.

To put the Agile philosophy into practice, Teal companies use Scrum, Kanban, and other tools that explain how to work. At the same time, business owners and managers do not try to write an algorithm of actions, but only make up rough plan which each employee is free to understand in his own way.

Scrum

Scrum (framework) is a template that allows you to independently choose ways to achieve your goals, change the rules in order to release and improve products based on market needs. The focus is on cross-functionality. A classical firm has functional departments: marketing, legal department, sales, personnel service, IT, etc. As part of a team, representatives of departments create a product from start to finish, practically do not work with documentation.

Important! In turquoise organizations, there are no bosses as such, or rather, they do not interfere in the work processes and relationships of colleagues. They are leaders, mentors, who at any moment are ready to start performing tasks on an equal basis with the rest.

Kanban

Kanban is a method of work by which the entire workflow is visualized and improved. Kanban is not a flexible tool, but it allows you to use it in new ways. labor force. There are no strict rules, there are only basic principles: time frames, Lean, task reduction, and visualization.

In turquoise organizations that practice kanban, a big goal is divided into global tasks and milestones, which are recorded on sticky notes and placed in a given order on a wall or a special board. Employees finish one thing and only then proceed to another.

Holacracy

The basis of holacracy is a branched organization structure, consisting of nested and indirectly adjoining circles. If in a classical company structural units are required to coordinate actions with higher management, in a holacracy everyone has the right to make decisions and manage the budget within the framework of their goal.

Features of working with personnel in turquoise organizations

Recruitment and selection of personnel

In building teams, the values ​​​​of employees matter, and only then professional quality. Managers and ordinary employees pay increased attention to matching the values ​​of applicants company values at the stage of selection, in the process of adaptation and work.

Example At Zappos, selection is carried out in several stages: superficial conversation on the subject of professionalism and experience. in-depth interview on the relationship between the values ​​of the applicant for the position and the culture of the organization; training for four weeks. Each new employee is immersed in the history and culture of the company. During the second week, a specialist of any position and functional duties answers customer calls. Upon graduation, he is offered $2,000 on top of his salary for the time he worked, but on the condition that he quit the company. Such a check in Zappos weed out people who came only for the sake of money.

Adaptation and training of personnel

In turquoise organizations, each new employee adapts to the culture. During this period, HR is trying to understand how its values ​​correlate with the values ​​of the company. The specialist is trained, including management methods: scrum, kanban, holacracy or others. The main adaptation takes place in the team that is interested in it.

Grade labor activity employees

A non-standard scoring system is used. Teams discuss the workflow at regular meetings, where everyone gets feedback, recognizes growth zones. The performance of employees is not assessed with the help of periodic certification - this is done by a team of 5-9 people daily. If an employee is inefficient, it is immediately noticeable.

Relocation of employees

The self-organization of people in turquoise companies is manifested in the management of the composition of the team that recruits and fires workers. Often, HR functions are completely transferred to ordinary specialists. If an employee wants to join another team, he agrees on this with interested parties.

Rules for the relationship of managers and subordinates in turquoise organizations

Agile companies have no place for conflicts and intrigues. In them, no one and no one swears. Managers practically do not interfere in the work of subordinates, but only gently guide employees if they notice that they are having difficulty completing tasks.

If something needs to be regulated, the manager draws up a set of rules and norms, deviation from which is not regarded as disobedience and is not punished by the head. Everyone is free to act as he sees fit. The main thing is that the employee achieves the goal and does not violate corporate culture and psychological climate.

As a rule, ardent aggressors who do not share goals and values, act in their own interests, are quickly forgiven. If a person does not want to leave the teal organization, the leader can offer "compensation" to avoid conflicts.

In Agile, there is no competition for a position or a higher salary, so there is no intrigue aimed at the survival of workers. Usually, employees themselves are not interested in being in a team that they no longer correspond to. Labor Relations are terminated by agreement of the parties or at the initiative of the employee.

Read the HR magazine. Based on the 7 principles of relationships, you will be able to understand which line of behavior to choose and how to get along with subordinates.

Companies without a hierarchical structure with the lyrical name "turquoise" are not a managerial utopia and not socialism in a single office. This is a new trend.

“I can come to work at any time, we don’t have bosses, only mentors. Therefore, it is convenient to combine work with your favorite hobby. It turns out that you are your own boss. Conveniently. I like it,” says Svetlana, field specialist of Tinkoff Bank. She moved to Tinkoff after office work and believes that she will not be able to return to the “classic” working atmosphere. “It seems to be fashionable now, but it doesn’t matter to me. As long as I feel comfortable, I work here,” she says. She has 12 more clients in the same area today.

4 eras of business management

The term "turquoise company" itself became popular after the publication of Federic Lalu's book "Discovering the Organizations of the Future". In it, Lalu shares existing systems business management into 4 "epochs":

• "Red" - a conservative management system, which rests on one leader, dictating the rules of work.

• "Orange" - a system common in corporations built on the principles of competition, reward and punishment. The strict hierarchy of the system does not cancel mobility up the career ladder and ideas from below.

• "Green" - a system in which the emphasis is not on the result and benefits, but on personal relationships within the group, which are more valuable than the result.

• "Turquoise" - a system that emerged from a mix of successful "orange" and failed "green" systems. Self-management, integrity and evolutionary purpose are the three main pillars of turquoise companies.

Your own boss

In Russia, the “turquoise” direction gained popularity after the idea of ​​such management was voiced by the head of Sberbank German Gref and even tried to introduce “turquoise” principles in several branches of the bank. However, the bank is in no hurry to share the results of such implementation.

Some companies built their business on "turquoise" principles even before the introduction of the term "turquoise" into the mass consciousness. For example, the network of children's developing centers "Baby Club" initially had a horizontal structure.

“Just when it became fashionable to be called “turquoise”, it turned out that we already are,” says Yuri Belonoshchenko, founder and head of the Baby Club. - Relationships were built according to the scheme not “manager - subordinate”, but “one team”, where everyone has their own areas of responsibility, and the rest support you in this. There are common goals and plans. There are strategic sessions where all employees discuss the plans and goals of the company, as well as each team player individually. Any member of the team can influence the decision. Everyone's opinion matters."

For other companies, "turquoise" management has become a convenient tool for solving problems with a decrease in the efficiency of employees with a concomitant increase in staff. For example, the Vkusvill company officially chose the “turquoise” path (the principles themselves, according to the leaders, were introduced from the very foundation of the company), when, against the backdrop of rapid business growth, it faced the problem of “blurring” job duties and responsibility for them. “When the company's management realizes that their offspring has already grown from a micro and perhaps even a small business, it suddenly turns out that profits have stopped growing at the same pace, or even started to decline altogether. By this time, the number of employees usually already exceeds a hundred, and top management far from always knows exactly what each of them is doing,” recalls Valery Razgulyaev, information manager at Izbenka - Vkusvill.

If at this moment you invite consultants, they will offer to paint for everyone official duties, to prescribe regulations for interaction and monitor their implementation, Valery Razgulyaev is sure. “Unfortunately, formalization kills the last initiative of employees and often contributes to the dismissal of the best of them,” he said.

In the case of the Izbenka-Vkusvill company, the tool for solving this problem was the formation of promises from all employees of the company. “First, you need to get together with the core of the company and understand what the initial success and growth of the company was based on. And here it is very important to understand that all this was due to the fact that you were able to give your customers something that they really wanted to receive. And the best way to express it is in a promise you made to the client and then delivered on. Most likely it will turn out that the promise was a composite one, and it contains both adequate cost, and speed of response to requests, and pleasant interaction with employees ... ”explains Valery Razgulyaev. As a result of the restructuring on full-fledged "turquoise rails", the company does not have a rigid schedule (many office workers appear in the office 1-2 days a week, and store employees make their own schedule), no dress code, no fines and regulations. Moreover, Vkusvill does not have a single budget, despite a developed network of more than 450 stores.

"Turquoise" companies versus Russian realities

The theory of "turquoise" management is new, and on Russian market it is just starting to take root. “At the moment, there is an active “rake collection,” says business psychologist Lyudmila Boldyreva.

According to the expert, there are several main points where “a plug appears”:

• Self management. One of the principles of "turquoise" organizations is self-management (there is no need for a hierarchy). Not in all areas of business and not for all people, this principle is suitable. So far, most people are accustomed to the fact that there is a boss, and he sets tasks. The boss is responsible for systemic vision.

• The level of psychological maturity of workers. To follow the principle of self-management, people must have a very high level of psychological maturity, awareness, the ability to communicate well, negotiate, etc. And, most importantly, everyone must have a common understanding of where the company is “going” and how.

• The number of employees. If with 5 employees it is still possible to move towards a “single goal” in a single sense, then with 500 it is already more difficult to do. Either way, control is needed. Otherwise it's anarchy.

• Various incentives to work. Everyone comes to work with their own values, it is important for someone to fulfill themselves and be a good professional, he loves his job, and someone just goes there to earn money and that's it.

According to the HR manager Russian IT company, being "turquoise" is a sign of progressive thinking, which is fashionable to show off. "In practice Russian workers due to their mentality, they cannot yet adapt to a format of work with blurred lines of responsibility. Whatever one may say, most cadres, especially outside Moscow, still need a “stick.”

“Three pillars of “turquoise” organizations: responsibility, trust and motivation. Until each employee learns to take full, 100 percent responsibility for the work done on himself, until he learns to trust a colleague, and not be afraid that someone will set him up or appropriate his ideas for himself, until there is some kind of motivation for the idea, and not for the sake of money, companies cannot become “turquoise”, - says Lyudmila Boldyreva.

However, in companies that have already been given the “turquoise light”, they believe that the difficulties are general, not related to Russian realities. “Rather, in Russia it is even easier to bypass them, since we are used to yielding even in our personal ambitions for the sake of justice. And these difficulties are connected with the “reverse side of the coin”, which is not even familiar to most managers, when many employees “burn” with all their heart for the cause. No matter how great it sounds, but it often causes serious conflicts, when the opinion of the “burning” employees on the correctness of a particular decision turns out to be different. And in a “teal” organization, one cannot dismiss the alternative vision within the framework of the hierarchical paradigm “who is higher is right.” That is why many “turquoise” organizations are considering specific mechanisms for resolving disputes that would allow moving forward without destroying the common field of interaction,” explains Valery Razgulyaev.

There are chances for the "turquoise business" to spread widely in Russia, Yuri Belonoshchenko believes. “The current generation of managers and entrepreneurs with a different way of thinking. They do not think in terms of ambition, not in terms of the “leader-subordinate” principle. They think in terms of goals, objectives, build processes in a different way. The ideology of agile management, Scrum, flexible management is coming,” he recalls. In addition, the problems are not in Russian realities, but in a person's head. Indeed, in the "turquoise" management there is a very important component: you are responsible for what you do. There are no loopholes, there is no work “from 10 to 19”, but there are tasks and goals and how you achieve them and how you work in a team. Complexity is precisely the presence of such thinking, the thinking of a responsible person. Then we get "turquoise management" and "turquoise company". If a person thinks differently, there is a shifting of responsibility, then nothing will work.

Utopia or new reality?

“The roots of Federic Lalu's book lie in the theory of "spiral dynamics", which is based on a system of values ​​that is reflected in the behavior of people and in the principles of management. When it comes to business, the emphasis is on self-managed systems—small teams that solve problems. In contrast to the "turquoise" approach of Lalu, which is presented in the book in an interesting and plain language, Spiral Dynamics is a deeper and more thoughtful theory,” says Peter Strohm, Vice President for Development in Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean at the Adizes Institute.

The Adizes methodology is based on basic principle: organizations, like living organisms, have their own life cycle and exhibit predictable and repetitive behavioral patterns during growth and aging. At every stage organizational development the company faces a specific set of challenges. How well a company's management copes with them, how successfully it implements the changes necessary for a healthy transition from stage to stage, determines the ultimate success or failure of that organization.

According to Peter Strohm, the principles of self-management work well in those organizations whose success is directly related to innovative developments, that is, in high-tech companies. The approach is good for project management. At the same time, many questions arise about how it can be applied in companies engaged in operational activities.

Problems can also arise in the process of implementing the developed solutions. “According to the Adizes methodology, in order to make a good decision, you need to be a democrat. To successfully implement the decision - a dictator. This approach to making and implementing decisions is called “democracy”. Thus, self-managed teams are able to make decisions based on democratic principles. However, as regards the preservation of dictatorship in the process of implementation, it is hierarchical systems that cope much better with this,” Peter Strom believes.

If the company was dominated authoritarian control, it will not be easy for her to immediately and completely become “turquoise”. It's the same as jumping a level. Perhaps such changes are possible in a particular division, but in general it will be difficult to make this in a company. If, nevertheless, the organization decided to go in this direction, it can change by taking certain steps. For example, those that the Adizes methodology suggests, the expert is sure.

Text: Anastasia Litvinova

During a #VKLIVE live broadcast, German Gref said that several branches of Sberbank are already working according to the Turquoise organization model described in the book Discovering Organizations of the Future, without bosses and KPIs, but with customer care.

How the experiment works in real conditions, what a company of the 21st century should look like, and why companies in the evolutionary (or turquoise) stage are good - we will tell in this article.

Turquoise experiment of Sberbank

According to Gref, it is too early to talk about how quickly and massively it will be implemented, but the results are already very good.

Recently, he met with the coaches of the Turquoise offices in Balashikha, who, using the example of specific cases, told how employees learn to work in new paradigm. For example, a client contacted a bank branch with a request to change the code word on the card. According to the standards, the employee had to change the word, give the documents and let the client go. In a Teal organization, an employee was wondering what was the reason for replacing important information. It turned out that the swindler needed the code word - this is how the crime was prevented. And this good example jobs at the Teal Organization when people care.

In the new Turquoise paradigm, the team is changing from within: employees learn to be independent and take responsibility for their decisions, and leaders become coaches. This is noticeable not only to the employees themselves, but also to customers: they began to thank employees more often for their responsiveness.

Natalya Kuznetsova, coach, says: “Our department works on the first goal - customer satisfaction. We are changing the mindset of employees. Employees began to think more not about plans that we don’t have now, but about what the client wants from us. The slogan was born: “We used to think that we could take from the client. Now we think that we can give the client“. Oksana, the office manager, also shares her impressions: “Earlier, our managers and deputies solved problems for us. Now we solve problems of any complexity as a team and a team. And it's more efficient."

German Gref notes: “In this sense, everything here is completely different from what we usually do in a bank. Wonderful coaches in the departments, and very interesting results of the first months of work. And I think this is the right way for us to move forward. The whole team has a sense of ownership: they feel responsible for building long-term relationships with clients, and this greatly increases the involvement and satisfaction of people with their work. A lot of processes are being transformed. We see the most important thing - the burning eyes of customers. For this, it is worth conducting such experiments. ”

Why are Turquoise companies so efficient and productive? There are several basic ideas.

Organizations of the future

You can't change anything by fighting the existing
reality. To change something, create a new one
a model that will make the existing hopelessly obsolete.
Richard Buckminster Fuller

Throughout its history, including today, mankind has mastered four ways of cooperation in organizations based on four different worldview paradigms: Impulsive Red, Conformist Amber, Competitive Orange and Pluralistic Green. Each of these organizational models was another groundbreaking discovery that allowed people to decide more and more challenging tasks and achieve previously unthinkable results. And this is how Lalu reveals the essence of the turquoise organizations.

A New Metaphor: Organizations as Living Organisms

In the Competitive Orange paradigm, organizations are described as machines. Pluralist Green organizations use a different metaphor - the family. The founders of the Teal Organizations do not want to play the role of the chief executive. The approach to the organization as a machine already seems soulless and restrictive. The founders of the Teal Organizations use a different metaphor to describe their aspirations. With surprising frequency, they speak of organizations as living organisms or living systems.

Imagine what organizations might look like and change if we stopped designing them as soulless, rumbling machines?

Self-Government - Priority #1

Turquoise organizations effectively solve problems of any level of complexity, using a system based on the interaction of peers. There is no need for hierarchy or consensus in this system.

The widespread lack of motivation seen in many organizations is a detrimental side effect of the unequal distribution of power. The first major discovery of the Teal Organizations is the opportunity to overcome the age-old problem of unequal distribution of power.

Integrity in focus

Traditionally, organizations have always encouraged employees to show only professional qualities at work, and leave other personality traits at the door. We are required to demonstrate courageous determination, self-confidence, strength, and hide doubts and weaknesses. Rationalism reigns, and emotions, intuition and the expression of spiritual needs are undesirable and inappropriate.

In contrast, the Teal Organizations have developed a set of agreed practices that encourage us to reconnect with our inner integrity and be who we really are at work.

evolutionary goal

Teal Organizations are considered to have a life of their own and have their own idea of ​​where to go next. Members of the organization are encouraged not to try to anticipate change and control the future, but to listen and understand what the organization wants to become, what purpose it wants to serve.

Trust instead of control

When you change your perspective, you see change.
Wayne Dyer

What seems most incomprehensible to many is the absence of superiors. But it is important that with no middle management and with a minimum of administrative leadership, Teal organizations do without the usual control mechanisms. These companies are built on a foundation of mutual trust.

The motives are transparent. Workers and other employees of the organization are reasonable people who can be trusted to do everything right. With this setting of rules and control mechanisms, very little is required.

As trust grows, so does responsibility. Healthy imitation and the opinion of colleagues regulate the system better than hierarchy. Teams, setting their own goals, take pride in achieving them. If someone tries to use the system to not do their part in good faith or slow down, his team members will quickly let him know how they feel about it.

At all times there are people who act on the basis of a worldview, which, according to the stage of development of consciousness, is higher than the worldview of the majority. The book includes reflections on the possibilities that open up to us if we decide to build organizations not according to the model of a mechanism, but drawing inspiration from nature and life. And the more people and more organizations follow the example of these innovators, the more they will enrich and refine our understanding of the new model, pushing the boundaries of this understanding a little further, inventing new methods and experimenting in new directions.

As the Navajo healers said, "We are the people we have been waiting for."

The book of the coach and stimulator Frederic Lalu "Discovering the Organizations of the Future" became an obvious sensation. It is about a real tectonic shift in understanding internal organization business structures. From the first pages of the book, your ideas about how to properly build a corporate structure begin to be questioned. At first you are discouraged, then you protest angrily, then you doubt, and then you want to know more about this form of organizing the joint work of people. At its core, the book is a transformative practice - after reading it, your life will never be the same. Therefore, in the first lines of this article, I strongly recommend that you, if you have not read it yet, read this book.

But Lalu, unknowingly or intentionally, is being disingenuous, describing the new approach as quite open to the public. I propose to consider some features of the "turquoise" organizations in applying this model in Russia.

A Brief Introduction to Spiral Dynamics

Let's start with the fact that when the book was published, the word "teal" was translated without agreeing with the generally accepted terminology in the Russian-speaking integral community, which caused confusion. She, this confusion is already present, since both Ken Wilber and Don Beck use to indicate the stages of complexity deployment human systems different colours. The history of this confusion is not interesting. In essence, of course, it is not so important what kind of symbol to endow such voluminous mental constructions, if you understand and appreciate what is behind the symbol more than this symbol itself. But disagreements still arise. Here is an illustration designed to minimize semantic loss:

As Frédéric Laloux describes his turquoise comes after green, that is, he tries to describe the "yellows" in terms of the spiral dynamics of the organization. But if you are familiar with this evolutionary approach to the development of human systems, then when reading the book you will often come to the conclusion that the relationships described in turquoise organizations are more similar to those generated by a pluralistic form of values, seeking universal agreement, creating communities, striving for a high degree of involvement of everyone in the implementation of something big and meaningful. That is, in the book of Frederic Lalu, we are talking about green organizations. But this does not detract from the merits of the book, which describes a radical paradigm shift in approaches to building a case.

Frederic Lalu cites the following principles for self-governing organizations in his book, referring to Gary Hamel:

• Nobody can ruin a good idea.
• Everyone can contribute.
• Everyone can become a leader.
• No one can dictate his will to others.
• You choose your business.
• You can easily build something of your own based on what others have done.
• You don't have to put up with bullies and tyrants.
• Agitators are not isolated.
• Perfection usually wins, but mediocrity does not.
• Inciting hatred will backfire on whoever does it.
• A great contribution to the cause receives recognition and fame.

Based on these principles, you can independently infer the stage of thinking that gave rise to such principles.

It is customary to scold the green stage in the integral community, ironically over the culture of the new era and wishful thinking. However, let me offer you a point of view from which what is called green in this ironic vein is only a superficial ripple, an initial exalted form of spiritual euphoria, which has as little to do with a truly genuine pluralistic consciousness as myths about greedy, selfish and short-sighted oranges correspond to the real strength and depth of a rational, enlightened, inventive, self-sufficient modernity, or, for example, how a judgment about a righteous, honest, decent “blue” world order does not fit into the Procrustean bed of religious dogmatism and bureaucracy. Each string of spiral dynamics carries with it its own special sound, coloring the culture with both harmonious and overly deliberate, discordant melodies.

True green is about mature, sensitive, sincere and responsible men and women who care.

They found each other and united to fight for what we today consider the norm - for the right of women to vote, for the abolition of slavery, for the right of the child to a family and education. Green is much more complicated than orange, something is available to green that orange cannot even think of, drawn into the framework of its external invulnerability, its ideas about personal viability, its constant striving for elusive success. Green is directly and ordinaryly happy inside deep involvement in a common cause, the tasks of which he considers to be significantly greater and worthy of attention than personal status fuss and showy gloss. Green has great luxury, which for orange is not even considered as a criterion for happiness - green highly values ​​​​his right to be real: sincere and vulnerable, he no longer compares himself with others and walks light - he has thrown off the shackles of conforming to someone else's opinion. Today, some tasks green remained unresolved or unfinished yet. We have not yet learned to admire the beauty of political, spiritual-religious, national and gender differences between people, countries and cultures. Green thinking, encountering a boundary that makes such a distinction, often seeks to erase it in order to realize its desire for generality. We are seeing such a crisis of multiculturalism in Europe as a consequence of an unjustifiably generalized approach to human nature. Green, like all other stages of the first order, considers only its own values ​​worthy of attention, it ignores or condemns everything that is not consistent with its ideas that, for example, trusting relationships between people are significantly more effective than control and coercion.

To understand the truly epochal significance of the innovations that Frederic Laloux describes in his book, it is important to keep in mind an adequate picture of green thinking, surprisingly holistic in its inconsistency. I repeat, we are talking about adults, feeling, sincere and responsible men and women who care. They are willing to work hard towards their common goal, they are respectful of each other, they care, they are responsive and they, key moment- self-organize.

Approaching the question of what Frederic Lalu was silent about, let's remember how master's degree programs came to Russia business administration. “Organizations of the Future” brings green values ​​to us in the same way that the MBA brought orange values. Enthusiastically received at the very beginning, the Master of Business Administration programs soon came under justified criticism as unsuitable for domestic reality. But over time, when new formal methods and forms of work were put into practice, they accepted feedback and began to be taught differently. Most likely, the “organizations of the future” will have to go through similar stages.

Criticism of the MA in Business Administration has been built around the difference between American and domestic cultures, although it was really about the difference between orange and red-blue thinking. Yes, the case, organized in the format of the first courses in the MBA, works in America and does not work in Russia, because American companies employ people who can extract confident music from their orange strings, and Russian companies try to play orange music on red strings. and blue strings are doomed to fail. Two factors have contributed to the fact that the MBA remains a successful business school: firstly, we have adapted it to Russian reality and secondly, our Motherland has learned to give birth to its own orange "Platons and Newtons".

Similarly, by implementing the organizational forms described in the book of Frederic Laloux, we run the risk of getting a modern crisis of European multiculturalism, repeated on a smaller scale, within the domestic company. Why? Because Frédéric Laloux's companies employ people who know how to extract confident music from their brand new green strings. Yes, of course, such companies that successfully operate on the market are possible in Russia today. But they must have a powerful green filter at the entrance and understandable forms of ousting from their ranks those employees who managed to deceive such a filter.

And for the construction of such companies, a personal transformation of a leader is needed, who no longer considers people as tools for manipulation to achieve his goals. Yes… just a personal transformation…

What is Frederic Lalu silent about? His "organizations of the future" look monochrome - their employees are hardworking, caring, sociable people who solve all their problems in specially designed deliberative formats. Even being integrally informed, he does not write about the fact that this almost never happens either on a personal, let alone social level. We are different, we are influenced by a lot of psychological, everyday, cultural and political circumstances. Perhaps, in order to inspire the reader, the author needed to generalize something. This, however, is permissible, it is only important to understand that we are reading reduced to brief description results of real experience real people who have come a long way for these results. Most likely, the leaders of the companies described in the book have the music of the yellow strings in their repertoire, using them to create the most effective human systems from the high quality "human material" available in Europe and North America. But still, these results look surprisingly monochrome - they are formulated in a relatively narrow value range - from ending orange through green to the initial yellow. This may be evidence of the persistent filter of perception of Frederic Laloux - we receive through the book only what the author himself could notice. The organizations themselves described in the book can and most likely are much more complicated and interesting. There is another very important circumstance here. The fact is that the evolution of human systems is an inexorable and inevitable process. Business schools continue to fulfill the missionary task of teaching local "natives" not to eat their competitors, but to make a win-win situation with them, creating conditions for mutually beneficial partnerships. Frederic Lalu's book is one of the first swallows of a new evolutionary wave that will create its own schools and teach business people to see in the extraction of maximum profit not an absolute goal, but a means for the implementation of more significant tasks. And then, perhaps, myriads of unemployed trainers, inspired by the life-giving beauty of eco-friendly communication, will finally have something to do. Imagine that in a year or two, the majority of employees in your company, having found something to their liking, do not show off in front of others, do not pull the blanket over themselves, are able to negotiate, care about the common cause, strive to quickly resolve conflicts, soberly evaluate their contribution, be fair to to yourself and to others. In a word, every employee of your company masterfully knows how and loves to play on the green string of his soul. Then the organizational principles described by Frederic Lalu will come in handy.

Indeed, trusting relationships within the human system can work wonders. People who no longer feel the need to report their actions "to the top" get a chance to discover in themselves a responsible attitude to their work. Lalu cites the following figures: “About a third of employees (35%) are actively involved in the work process. Far more people are indifferent to what they are doing or have actively distanced themselves from their work (43%). The remaining 22% did not feel any support from the management.” Involvement in a common cause may be the result of a trusting attitude of the owner of the company to employees and employees to each other. This can create the conditions for the dormant green strings of their souls to wake up and start playing their better music.

The involvement of the green stage can undoubtedly enrich the organizational structure of business structures. But the very idea of ​​building organizations in monochrome strikes me as flawed. It makes the company overly dependent on the only possible format of relationships, creating, in fact, greenhouse conditions within a closed system for the same type of music with just one string. Really “yellow” in terms of spiral dynamics can be an approach to creating management by values ​​in a company, when people with different outlooks on life find acceptable forms of work for themselves. This approach is referred to as the natural project of the case. Unfortunately, it is difficult to describe it in the format of a short article. Spiral dynamics, as a non-linear integral model, born of more complex thinking, is actually a tool for solving problems created at the green and other stages of first-order thinking. We are introducing a hierarchy of values, we are again drawing boundaries where green thinking has tried to create a utopian realm of benevolent caring friendliness.

Frédéric Lalu describes to us innovative, successful, strong and very interesting green organizations. He, however, wants to think that he is talking about "yellow" organizations, calling them turquoise in Russian translation.

Regardless of this confusion, what he describes is amazing. This is really a new approach, a new corporate life, new culture Affairs. As for the "yellow", the "yellow" may be precisely the approach to creating such a self-governing, living organization. "Yellow" thinking is multifaceted and not tied to value paradigms, it contributes to the natural self-organization of chaotic systems. It’s hard for me to imagine a monochrome “yellow” system, rather it is about the governing principle of coordinating multidirectional vectors towards a single goal. I don't think, frankly, that a "yellow" monochrome business is possible. How social phenomenon business starts on red, blossoms on orange, and ends on green, which no longer perceives profit as an end in itself, but as a means to something more important. "Yellow" forms of labor organization, project activities can be assimilated within the orange and green paradigm, but I can't imagine a "yellow" case as such. "Yellow" has other tasks and a different structure, an order of magnitude larger. I repeat, in today's complex and fast-paced cultural and technological conditions"yellow" can, and probably should be the principle of managing an organization - the principle of flexible, detached, fearless, integrating thinking. qualitative cultural change. Moreover, in a certain sense, we can say that the mentality of people living in the post-Soviet space is based on an internal craving for sociable involvement. We do not ignore deep psychological issues, we still strive to help each other, it is internally easier for us to trust than to verify, we strive to “get to the bottom of everything” in everything. Perhaps it is the Russian people who will have to say a very significant word in this part of world history.

Now no one really knows how to create such organizations either from scratch or as a result of transformations of existing classical hierarchies. We should expect the emergence of research communities of business people around the topic of organizations of the future. These will be communities of interested practitioners, not consultants. Participants will be able to join forces for collective analytical work on a particular company. These communities will not be burdened with massive spiritual baggage, but its members may have experience of certain contemplative practices. Neither religious, nor political, nor ideological, nor national, nor sexual restrictions will be able to interfere with these communities - they feel the Procrustean bed a mile away. These communities will be united by the issue of creating human systems in which each individual will have the opportunity to develop their talents and virtues in the most natural way. Members of these communities will create the future, literally and immediately. I would be honored to work with them.

Today, the knowledge accumulated by mankind over many thousands of years has become available at a distance of a few clicks of a computer mouse. All cultures born by people, all value orientations are equally actively present in our now common information field, giving rise to both destructive upheavals and surprisingly beautiful new forms of humanity. In the global space of semantic chaos, new ideas are born and die with amazing speed. This is how our thinking evolves. We live in a busy time, when whole epochs have time to change during the life of one generation. Therefore, we have been able to trace the laws of evolving thinking and can apply them in practice.

The term "turquoise management" is very young, it was introduced by the consultant and former partner of McKinsey & Company Frederic Lalouve in 2014. Although organizations adhering to this principle of management have existed since the middle of the 20th century. Lalu divided the companies by color according to their management model, where red corresponds to the most impulsive and disorganized, and green corresponds to the most conscious organization with social responsibility. But Lalu realized that this was not the last step, and identified a turquoise - evolutionary model. It is very different from the previous ones in its approach to doing business, tools and, most importantly, philosophy. This is a new cool round of business development.

Higher Purpose and Self-Management

Teal organizations are often referred to as organizations of the future or living organizations. They lack KPIs, management control, and there is no management itself either.

The most important thing in turquoise management is the evolutionary goal, the mission of the company. It is directed not inside the organization, but outside and is important not only for the client, but also for some community or, perhaps, even for the state. So, Andrey Krivenko, the founder of the VkusVill company, calls the evolutionary goal of his company products with an honest composition in all stores in the country.

The second important principle is self-government. The organization is built on the absence of a vertical of power: a minimum of bosses and a maximum of freedom. In a classical organization, bosses give orders and orders, subordinates carry them out. The latter practically do not participate in decision-making. This approach does not give ordinary employees the opportunity to show up, apply talents and feel like part of a team with a common goal, and not just a cog in a huge machine. Turquoise organizations, on the other hand, are as horizontal as possible. The guide for new employees in the company - the developer of computer games Valve (Counter-Strike, Dota 2 games, etc.) reports that there is a founder, who is also the president, who is not the boss: tasks of any level and complexity are distributed among the colleagues themselves. Who solves the problem, he is responsible for it. This is very logical: it is strange to hire a person with certain competencies for some position, and then spend time setting tasks for him, monitoring their implementation and being responsible for what he does.

Your own boss

Teal organizations do not job descriptions, each employee takes on roles, makes promises corresponding to them, be sure to receive feedback from the team in each of the areas. In the process, he can leave some roles and get new ones. Can join any project within the company. Even the hiring of new employees is recommended to be carried out by the entire team with which the potential employee will be associated. Employees will ask important questions for their work and will be able to understand whether the person is right for them in spirit. The team is also responsible for the hired employee.

Particular attention is paid to the people in the company. According to a study by the consulting group Deloitte, 82% of millennials say they will be more loyal to their employer if they provide flexible working conditions: variability of the schedule, hours of presence in the office, and so on. A quarter of the respondents confirmed their willingness to recycle. It is important for a modern person to have certain freedoms, and strong control prevents the company from developing. Quality relationships within a company cannot be built on control. Hanging control leads to fear, and fear - to the desire to hide their mistakes, because of which the organization loses a real understanding of what is happening. Errors must be analyzed, their causes found and eliminated, but not hidden.

All for people

There is a fear that if you do not control employees, give them freedom, then they will simply stop going to work. But the experience of turquoise organizations shows otherwise.

The California company Patagonia was founded in 1957 and made climbing pitons, but has gradually grown to become a leading manufacturer of outdoor clothing. The basic rule of Patagonia is to work only with suppliers who adhere to environmental standards in the production of materials. In fact, this is their evolutionary goal. Relations in the company are built on trust and understanding of the needs of employees. The office has gyms for sports, yoga, a developing children's center for the children of employees, anyone can have a peaceful lunch with their daughter or son.

A great example of the transition to turquoise management is Buurtzorg, a nursing home company. Founder Jos de Blok himself worked as a nurse in an organization that put employees in tight limits, prescribed minute-by-minute regulations and did not encourage any deviations. In an area where clients are sick elderly people, it is impossible without human participation and attention.

Yos founded his own company, in which health workers and patients become friends. The goal of the company was not only quality service, but also customer satisfaction, and the goal was to help sick and elderly patients live as independent and fulfilling lives as possible. The company consists of self-organizing teams of 10-12 health workers who have no leaders and no plans. Each group solves the current tasks by itself and hires colleagues. As a result: the company's staff has grown from 10 people to 9500. New employees bring customers with them, with whom they worked in their previous places.

Turquoise management in Russia

The Askona company Russian manufacturer mattresses in Russia and one of the market leaders, is a supplier of products for IKEA stores and produces goods under private labels of retailers: Ashana, Hoff, Lazurit, Lots of Furniture. The main principle of the company, according to its founder Vladimir Sedov, is: "Money is a by-product of a job well done." And this is one of the pillars of turquoise management: profit is not the end in itself of the business, it is not even the second or third most important goal.

The previously mentioned example of "turquoise" is "VkusVill". The company shows stable growth. In 2016, according to Infoline-Analytics, the company entered the top ten retail chains Moscow and Moscow region with a revenue of 20.8 billion rubles. A year later, the figure grew by more than 80%, and in 2018 it could reach 50 billion rubles. At the same time, there are no KPIs in the company, and the most important thing is people and customers. The company spends its money on the implementation of new standards: for example, the development of a method for checking the identification of cow's milk in goat's. Such a method did not exist in GOST, but it was necessary: ​​unscrupulous manufacturers reduce the cost of the product by diluting goat's milk with cow's.

Cultivating "sincere service" has led Fabrika Window to a customer satisfaction rate (NPS) of 94%: 9 out of 10 customers are ready to actively recommend the company to friends and acquaintances. By words the owner of the company, a business can show amazing results if employees are close in values ​​and charged with the same idea. The company says that "the product is secondary."

Turquoise can be not only companies, but also investors. Ruben Vardanyan, philanthropist, serial entrepreneur and investor, sees transformation as a worthy mission for the company social institutions the whole society. It seeks to invest in projects that allow the territory, community and country to open up.

Myths about "turquoise"

The turquoise management model is often described as utopian and unsustainable. Entrepreneurs are not ready to entrust the processes to the team and stop controlling it. Employees, in turn, are afraid of the seemingly exorbitant responsibility that has fallen on them.

From critics of "turquoise" you can hear that in companies of this type there are no regulations. In fact, they exist, but unlike classical organizations, they are not a tool for monitoring the performance of work. The rules are written by the workers themselves.

Another misconception: "Since everyone is equal, there is no structure." The structure in turquoise organizations here does not affect the scope of the employee's responsibility: an IT director can be engaged in development, and a simple developer can be involved in business processes. Roles may change depending on circumstances and arrangements within the company.

Another myth: there are no conflicts and layoffs in turquoise companies. But they do not happen only where there are no people. Since each employee is responsible for the result, everyone strives to find a solution and optimize the “place” that caused the controversial situation. Those who constantly let the team down without any reason are fired.

Some people think that only highly qualified specialists can work in such companies. But remember: a student can also take on obligations if they are within his competence. The key difference from a traditional company is the transparency of business processes. Each employee sees everything that is happening, can make suggestions for optimization and take responsibility where he feels the strength to do so.

Finally, another misconception: turquoise management style suits everyone. Unfortunately, this is not so. Employees or investors may not share this approach to business. Not always, for example, tops are ready to go down to ordinary employees and be on the same plane with them. In Tochka Bank, which was originally created in turquoise, about 20% of managers could not accept this model of organization and left the company. There are those who are ready to change the world around them.

When hiring new employees, it is important to be careful: it is better to refuse a person who suits you than to hire someone who does not share the company's values. An employee of a turquoise organization must have curiosity and be ready to learn and absorb new things. Such people are able to quickly change in a changing world, but at the same time remain true to their values.