Laloux

Laloux colour, on the mantra side (dreamlab adaptation)

The Laloux colour is our own quick reflection on how your organisation tends to operate. Five colour stages, under a minute. There are no right answers and no better direction; it is a mirror for your current context. Based on the framework in Reinventing Organizations.

Five short sketches of how an organisation tends to operate. Rate how much each one sounds like the place you are in. There are no right answers. Answer based on how things have actually been.

0/5

  1. 1. Red: The strong lead and others follow. Decisions are fast and personal. Loyalty is earned through fear or respect. The cost is burnout: turnover is high and trust is thin.

  2. 2. Amber: Roles are clear, hierarchy is respected and change is slow. You know where you stand because the rules are written. The cost is rigidity: innovation gets buried and authority is rarely questioned.

  3. 3. Orange: Goals drive everything. Competition, metrics and merit matter. The best idea wins and the market is the judge. The cost is loneliness: people become resources and meaning gets traded for output.

  4. 4. Green: Culture and values come first. Decisions need consensus, inclusion is sacred and feelings are data. The cost is paralysis: hard choices get delayed and accountability can dissolve into endless process.

  5. 5. Teal: Self-managing teams and purpose guide the work. Wholeness matters: you bring all of yourself, not just the professional mask. The cost is ambiguity: without a boss to tell you, you must hold yourself and others to what matters.

A dreamlab construction. The Laloux colour framework is described in Reinventing Organizations (Laloux, 2014); this wording, selection and scoring are our own, not copied from any copyrighted instrument. Free for us to use and change.