Meaning
Purpose
Financial Success
We bring together people seeking meaning and purpose in their work, so we can create organisations that:
Are deeply meaningful, fulfilling and inclusive - places people want to be a part of.
Are guided by an inspiring purpose that contributes to society and nature.
Achieve financial success with integrity and grace.
Meaning & Fulfilment
The desire for genuine meaning and fulfilment in work has never been stronger. Yet many struggle to find it, leading to widespread disengagement, burnout and high turnover.
Fortunately the next evolution of organisations is here, capable of fostering these attributes and more.
The Evolutionary Organizations Community is driving this shift because it supports small professional organisations (up to 30 people) to embed meaning and fulfilment into every aspect of their work.
Meaning and fulfilment are personal, guided by the question, "What is important to me?" See below for a brief enquiry into what meaning in the workplace is.
A Purpose that Inspires
As well as seeking individual meaning and fulfilment, people increasingly want to contribute to something bigger than themselves.
In an Evolutionary Organisation, the Purpose (and Vison and Mission) are that bigger thing because they unite the team and serve as a genuine guiding compass. They are more than just words. Here is why:
They are built on a commitment to create positive change for society and the environment.
Everyone in the organisation can be a part of creating them.
They are regularly referred to in decision making to see how they align.
Self managing teams are an important aspect of an Evolutionary Organisation. A clear and effective Purpose, Vision and Mission enable these teams to operate effectively and cohesively within the broader organisation.
Additionally, in an Evolutionary Organisation each person is encouraged and supported in discovering their own purpose and sources of fulfilment, adding a deeper layer of personal connection to their work.
Financial Success & Integrity
Evolutionary Organisations are financially successful because:
Higher level human capacities such as meaning, fulfillment, purpose, inclusivity, connection, transparency and shared decision making nurturing the collective intelligence of the team.
The collective intelligence allows effective adaptability to opportunities, changes and challenges, enhancing competitiveness.
Minimal time and energy is wasted on office politics and gossip. Disengagement, burnout, sick days and high turnover are all substantial reduced.
This financial success embodies integrity and grace because it is guided by a purpose that benefits society and nature, and driven by a unified and fulfilled team.
What is Meaning & Fulfilment?
What do meaning and fulfilment actually mean? And how do we support organisations to do it? This is a complex topic which we briefly discuss here.
Meaning and fulfilment are deeply personal, varying based on life experience, current life circumstances, capacities and perspectives. Common elements include:
Respect and Recognition: Feeling valued for one’s contributions.
Alignment with Values: How aligned are personal and organisational values.
Fair Compensation: Fair and competitive pay, benefits and overtime.
Work-life balance: Flexibility, work location including working from home;
Connection and Joy: Fostering camaraderie and enjoyment at work.
Acceptance of our “humanness”: Our strengths, weaknesses, quirks, blind spots, beliefs and how we see and engage with life.
To accommodate these diverse needs, we support organisations in cultivating attributes such as:
Inclusion: Allowing people to have a genuine say in issues and decisions that affect them;
Connection: Valuing and supporting the need for connection with other people;
Authenticity: Nurturing a culture where people are able to be true to themselves, speak honestly and with compassion, to self reflect, allow themselves to be vulnerable, and not have that used against them later on. Nurture people’s capacity to do this. The leadership must lead by example, and be open to feedback from the team.
Purpose: (See above)
Emotional safety: This one is vitally important, and one that many workplaces do not do well. We provide guidance and practical experience for your team, to learn the skills to make it a safe place for people to be themselves, to talk honestly, to share their vulnerabilities, and to embed this in the organisation’s culture. And it is essential that this is modelled by the leadership of the organisation.
Collective Intelligence: A sense of knowing and ideas that come from people being aligned in thought and action, that is greater than what comes from people acting independently.
These attributes are interdependent. When one is strengthened, others naturally benefit. The opposite is also true, that if one is missing or weak, then the others naturally become weaker.
By nurturing these attributes your team will feel more engaged, creating a workplace people want to be a part of.
Teal - The Latest Evolutionary Stage of Organisations
Our community is inspired by the latest evolutionary stage of organisations, Teal Organisations. This concept, introduced in Frederick Laloux's groundbreaking book Reinventing Organizations (2014), represents a paradigm shift in how organisations can operate and thrive.
Our community provides a structured framework for everyone in your organisation to grow and learn about the Teal concepts in an interactive way with each other and everyone else in the community.
To participate in and learn from the Evolutionary Organisations Community, it is not necessary for everyone in the organisation to specifically learn about Teal Organisations. However it is recommended for those leading the bringing of these concepts into your organisation, and for those who wanting a deeper understanding. A good place to start is the Reinventing Organizations Website. We provide some further guidance on this in the EO community.
Who is Evolutionary Organisations For?
The EO community is designed for small professional organisations (up to 30 people) that want to evolve and bring deeper meaning and purpose into the organisation.
There is still much that can be gained for organisation with more than 30 people. However the larger an organisation is, the more careful the planning that is required. and the more guidance will be needed from someone already familiar and experienced with the concepts. This could come from someone already in the team or a Consultant. We have a Consultants and Trainers Directory in the EO Community to help you with finding assistance if needed.
Non professional organisations are also welcome to join. The reason for saying it is for professional organisations is that there it does require a reasonable level of literacy to participate. However there are plenty of highly literate people not working in a profession, and also people with lower levels of literacy who could participate if provided with support, and get transformative outcomes as good as anyone else.
Evolutionary Organisations draw upon the collective intelligence of the team, encouraging everyone to participate, take responsibility and have a voice. This is why our community is designed for everyone in your organisation - staff members, leaders, owners, entrepreneurs, board members, and volunteers.
Some people in the organisation may not want to join the EO Community. If that is the case then it is best to not pressure them to do more than they want. This would be contrary to what an Evolutionary Organisation is about. It is recommended however that they still participate in discussions about EO within the organisation, and ask if they are willing to join the EO Community and only interact with the parts of it that most interest them.
Ultimately the EO Community is for any organisation where there is a genuine desire for deeper meaning and fulfilment etc, and the leadership and the team are willing to put in the effort to learn, grow, soften and transform.
Who is Evolutionary Organisations Not For?
In the EO Community, our practices are founded on transparency, open communication, shared decision-making, and a willingness to embrace vulnerability.
If the leadership of an organisation is unwilling to embody and support these principles, it can hinder their effectiveness and may lead to harm and distress within the organisation.
If there is significant opposition from staff members, efforts to impose these practices from a top-down approach would initiate from a place of conflict. This approach runs counter to EO’s values and will make it difficult to foster openness, clear communication, teamwork, and vulnerability, and likely cause harm and distress.
Government bodies and similar organisations are generally be incompatible with EO’s concepts.
However, selected elements of EO can be adapted within otherwise incompatible organisations. For example, semi-autonomous teams may successfully adopt EO principles if led by a strong, supportive leader. While we currently do not offer specific guidance for these adaptations, we plan to provide such resources in the future.
Where did Evolutionary Organisations come from?
Hear the story of where the idea and inspiration for Evolutionary Organisations came from.
Meet the Team
Stephen Cole
Founder and Host, Evolutionary Organisations.
Stephen built his own successful Teal Organisation, Integral Consulting Engineers Inspired by its impact, Stephen sought a way to support this to happen for more organisations. The result is the Evolutionary Organisations Community.
Stephen leads mens groups and has participated in mens work for 20 years. He actively nurtures a deep connection with and reverence for nature, and loves to explore how humans are evolving and how that enables us to meet the pressing challenges facing humanity and the earth.
Here is a highly personal story of Stephen's journey: https://youtu.be/bYaib0j2kr8?feature=shared
Janine Beck
Co-host, Evolutionary Organisations
Janine has 25 years’ experience as a consultant, working with a diverse range of organisations in systems development, knowledge management, and technology solutions. She has leadership experience in transformational growth environments, managing small teams, and facilitating trainings, and was an early participant in the Teal Organizations community in Europe
Janine has also guided hundreds of individuals through transformational inner work. She is passionate about creating environments that foster authentic connection and help organisations evolve toward more conscious and collaborative ways of working.