The Orange Model: A Framework for Organizational Transformation

The organizational model that seems more dominant in today’s culture is the orange model. According to Laloux (2014), people living in the orange paradigm can question their status, as well as formulate ways to improve upon it. For instance, taking politics or governments as examples, and specifically, a country like the United Kingdom was ruled by a monarchy for a long time. The monarchy was a perfect example of the amber paradigm because of the focus on hierarchies and processes. The royal leadership would create rules and the masses were supposed to adhere to them. People were not expected to question the rule or instructions; they were simply required to obey and implement them. However, the same system can be criticized presently, and the government has even evolved into a democracy. Similarly, organizations have also moved away from just emphasizing on processes and hierarchies. Currently, there is more emphasis on innovation, skills, talent, diversity, and effective leadership. Organizations are no longer rigid like in traditional times, especially in the wake of stiff competition. I believe the COVID-19 crisis has made it difficult for co-workers to trust this model. The reason is that the coronavirus pandemic disrupted how most organizations function, and some people lost their jobs in the process. This shows that unprecedented events have the ability to disrupt processes, and consequently affect how people work. There is a need to create better models that enhance flexibility and cushion people against any unprecedented events. In modern times, there is an ongoing conversation about exploiting technological advances to allow people to work from home. However, that is not the only solution because professions that require physical presence need to also have advanced models that allow people to work even during unprecedented times like in the current wake of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Reference 

Laloux, F. (2014).  Reinventing organizations: A guide to creating organizations inspired by the next stage in human consciousness. Nelson Parker.