If your workplace feels oppressive and dysfunctional to the point where you are ready to disengage, it may help to know that your organization itself has a level of consciousness that is probably limiting your ability to make an impact. This organizational consciousness is an ecosystem of dynamics dictated by its structure, or the rules and expectations of its leaders and processes. The resulting culture these dynamics produce creates the limits and boundaries within which everybody operates. Understanding your organization’s level of consciousness gives you the ability to help it evolve toward a more purposeful way of operating and empower you and your colleagues to make a greater impact.

For example, if your organization has a strong hierarchical structure, with layers of managers over individual contributors, decisions are likely made at the top and trickled down. This kind of structure concentrates power in its authoritative roles. While some of the people who hold those roles may share their power through delegation or assignment, the organization itself sets expectations that the people who hold the most power are responsible, and accountable, for making decisions. This kind of structure minimizes or downright ignores many voices in the organization that don’t have the power to make decisions or even voice ideas. With this lack of inclusion, the company is likely losing opportunities to make a bigger impact.

This level of organizational consciousness might also treat people like cogs in a machine, in which they have job descriptions and fill very specific functions. If they deviate from the description, they might be viewed as invading somebody else’s domain or turf. Don’t you dare architect a solution if you are supposed to be the person administering it, that’s the architect’s role! This kind of structure limits individual growth and development and creates silos, making it hard for people and teams to be collaborative.

Now imagine you work in a place where you don’t have a boss. Your accountabilities and responsibilities are defined in a role that you have selected and chosen to commit to, and you know exactly what the organization and your peers expect from you. It is completely up to you to motivate yourself to fulfill your accountabilities, but you are also working alongside other people who have made similar commitments to their roles, with accountabilities they need to fulfill. Together you have a shared understanding of the value that needs to be delivered, and you move bodies of work forward through collaboration and coordination. All achievements are celebrated, all accomplishments are recognized and shared. This kind of organization expects people to trust each other, to work together to make decisions, and to collaborate on pursuing what is best for the business and its clients.

This is a more people-positive organization that sees its people more like a family or a pluralistic society working together for a shared greater good. It is, in essence, a higher level of organizational consciousness than the one that treats its people like cogs in a machine.

These differences might seem merely like different operational structures, and to a degree they are, but the real differences are in how leadership weaves power, information and culture into the operational structures. Leaders who are used to working in strong hierarchical organizations will limit the ability for the organization to achieve a higher level of consciousness by reinforcing practices that limit power sharing, create knowledge silos, and create a culture of fear.

To be clear, this idea of organizational consciousness is not something I’m making up. In his book Reinventing Organizations, Frederic Laloux did the pioneering work to define a trajectory of growth for organizations through the lens of management and leadership styles. In his work, he gives each level of organizational development, or consciousness, a color and a central operating paradigm, as well as an accompanying metaphor. The lowest level of organizational consciousness is Red in color and impulsive in paradigm, with a metaphor of Wolf Pack, or Mafia. In this organization, there is one leader who gives commands and no real planning per se, just a lot of reactive and opportunistic action.

The next level up is Amber, or Conformist, and the metaphor is Army. This is the level that some people may be experiencing at work today, as it still thrives in the military, religious organizations, and any highly institutional setting with a lot of rules and bureaucracy. In an amber organization, rank is how people progress by following the rules, and authority is concentrated in rank. Command and control is the dominant leadership style in Amber.

The next level is where more than half, and possibly two-thirds of organizations operate, and that is the Orange level, or the level of Achievement. The metaphor here is the Machine, and it implies a well-oiled operation that is predictable and measurable. All that talk of metrics, innovation, competition, and performance all come from the Orange organization mindset, and it has permeated corporate life for decades. In fact, it is hard to convince many people that there is a more effective way to operate, because it tends to provide results. Those results, however, are more geared toward revenue and sales, without consideration for the people doing the work and the resources often being exploited.

For those who are seeking a more people-positive way of working, Laloux posits two more levels of consciousness to strive for. The next level is Green, or Pluralistic in how it operates. The metaphor here is Family, and it is an environment that values culture, empowerment and belonging. These are often buzzwords used today to help bring more awareness to the importance of wellness and diversity in a workplace, and Orange organizations that strive to be more people-positive often work to integrate these concepts into their workforce, creating cuspy Orange-Green models that many of us work in today.

True Green organizations are usually much more democratic or consensus-driven in decision-making, and more cognizant of people’s need for growth, providing opportunities that go beyond a job description. They may still have a hierarchy, but it is there to serve and share power rather than to wield it.

The ultimate level of organizational consciousness is Teal, or Evolutionary, which operates as a living Organism. In the Teal organization, the main goal is to not have goals. Instead, it follows an evolutionary purpose that changes over time, and is served by the people in the organization. These people operate by sharing authority and making decisions through distributed accountability structures. Sense-and-respond is the dominant leadership style in Teal, and one that everyone is able to practice.

Very few organizations have reached the Teal level, and many of the ones who do only maintain it temporarily, finding that it is very hard to break the conditioning that people bring from the lower levels of organizational consciousness. They come in with expectations of how to define work and roles, measure progress, and make decisions, and while they may have the best of intent, it ultimately comes down to an ability to trust. This means that an organization cannot function at a level higher than the lowest level of consciousness in its people, especially those in leadership roles.

Understanding your organization’s level of consciousness gives you a way to frame a more positive and supportive work environment and grow out of the practices that limit impact and dehumanize the workplace. By shifting toward practices that share power, foster collaboration and build a culture of trust, you can achieve higher levels of organizational consciousness and take steps toward building a more people-positive workplace to grow and thrive in.