Inform CEOs about Teal? Why not. Convince? No.
Many people are inspired by Teal and can’t wait to experience the magic in their organizations. They try to convince the CEO (and the board) to move towards it. That’s a great intention but convincing the CEO before he is emotionally ready isn’t a good idea.
The first and foremost condition of moving towards Teal is that the owner(s) are fully committed and supportive for the long-term. Exchange short-term shareholder profit for long-term stakeholder benefit is a noble act. It is a big step out of the comfort zone and into the unknown. Putting anyone in those shoes, most of us will find it challenging.
The second condition is that the CEO must let go of the old way of doing business. Asking a CEO who is comfortable leading a hierarchical organization to lead the journey to Teal is like asking a city tour guide of London to be the adventure tour guide of the Amazon. The mindset (or action logics), knowledge, skills, and experience required are completely different.
Some organizations approach Teal with an old fashioned non-Teal approach by hiring consultants to take over the initiative as if it is some kind of side project, such as a kitchen renovation, that can be outsourced. Just like a startup founder would not hire a consultant to build his company, going Teal is an inside job (There are many things outside specialists can help with, but more on this later). Going Teal is not a project about a system or a methodology. It is a mutation of the organization’s DNA. Teal is a way of being – who we are on the inside and how we relate to the world around us determine the way we think, feel and act.
The path to Teal is full of chaos, unknown, and short-term defeats. The ready CEO is not the smartest, the most experienced, or the most accomplished, but the one who is curious, resilient, authentic and vulnerable. With the right mindset, the journey can be an adventure that is exhilarating, fun and magnificent.
