We’re proud to be a not-for-profit worker co-operative based on Teal principles
What is a worker co-operative?
Worker co-operatives are organisations owned and run by the people who work in them, who have an equal say in what the business does, and an equitable share in the wealth created from the products and services they provide. All worker co-ops follow seven internationally agreed principles:
Voluntary and open membership: Co-operative membership is open to all workers able and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership.
Democratic member control: Co-operatives are democratic organisations controlled by their members, setting policies and making decisions.
Member economic participation: Members contribute equitably to, and democratically control, the capital and finances of their co-operative. Members decide how to use any surpluses (profits).
Autonomy and independence: Co-operatives are independent organisations controlled by their members. If they raise capital from external sources, they maintain their co-operative autonomy.
Education, training and information: Co-operatives provide education and training for their members and employees so they can contribute effectively to the development of their co-operatives. They inform the general public about the nature and benefits of co-operation.
Co-operation among co-operatives: Co-operatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the co-operative movement by working together through local, regional, national and international structures.
Concern for community: Co-operatives work for the sustainable development of their communities, through working according to policies approved by their members.
Read the Worker Co-operative Code by Co-ops UK
What is a Teal organisation?
Teal organisations are based on the work of Frederic Laloux in Reinventing Organizations. Teal organisations allow for higher employee engagement, individuality, interconnection, and authenticity—all without the need for traditional management structures. They are guided by the principles of self-management, wholeness and evolutionary purpose:
Self-management: Distributed authority and collective intelligence instead of rigid hierarchical management structures – natural hierarchies emerge and dissipate depending on situational context.
Wholeness: Individuals are allowed to “drop the mask,” and express all of who they are at work as and when they want to, not just those characteristics traditionally deemed to be professional.
Evolutionary purpose: The organisation has a purpose of its own. Instead of attempting to predict and control the direction of the organisation, members strive to listen and understand where the organisation is naturally drawn to go.
A common metaphor for Teal organisations is a living organism or living system. Life, in all its evolutionary wisdom, manages ecosystems of unfathomable beauty, ever evolving toward more wholeness, complexity, and consciousness. Change in nature happens everywhere, all the time, in a self-organising urge that comes from every cell and every organism, with no need for central command and control to give orders or pull the levers.
Read more at the Reinventing Organisations Wiki
