An operationalization of Teal

Abstract

The public sector must reinvent itself as modern complexities require governance and management styles, enabling more agile and network-based collaboration. The Teal paradigm (Laloux 2014) has self-management (coordinated local autonomy), evolutionary purpose (a sense of meaning), and wholeness (trust enabling being present as a ‘whole’ human being) can foster innovation, agility, and effectiveness in the private sector. This raises an intriguing question: Can the Teal paradigm be operationalized, describing Teal-public governance and leadership and thereby supporting the public sector’s efforts to produce welfare in a complex society? First, the article makes a theoretical contribution by operationalizing the three Teal characteristics into 12 variable specifications. Subsequently, examples from a trust experiment in a Danish municipality illustrate how Teal-operationalization can facilitate the development of a teal praxis. Finally, the pertinences of the operationalizations for research and praxis are discussed.

Keywords

• Teal, selvorganisering, formålsdrevet frisættelse, tillid, afbureaukratisering