Masculine/Feminine Organizations

Image by Dan Carter
(https://www.flickr.com/photos/dannylakeboy/)

I was chatting with some friends, yesterday, about the different kinds of energies that we bring to our work and how organizations often expect us to put on a "professional" mask. That often manifests as conversations having a distinctly masculine, goal oriented tone: stick the landing, win the contract, close the sale, make the touchdown.

I also shared that Teal organizations  aspire to let people bring their whole selves to work.

That got me to thinking: Are Teal organizations more feminine? That's not to say people can't be masculine in Teal orgs, but does everybody have to be masculine? Does the feminine have to be suppressed? Is there a Yin/Yang dynamic, where organizations are not wholly one or the other, but always in tension?

I know that I, for one, need to get more in touch with my feminine side. I want to tap my intuition and creativity, attributes that I associate with a less masculine (therefore more feminine) mindset, more often.

Google prides itself on being a data-driven, focused on objectives, and achievement-oriented. Very Orange, I think, and distinctly masculine.

Google also strives to empower team members, adhere to core values, cultivate a sense of shared purpose, and collaborate through consensus. Very Green and more feminine.

This Green/Orange duality is why I call Google "Green with Orange stripes." It strives for harmony, tolerance and equality, yet clings to the achievement paradigms. (Which might be primarily motivated by capitalist profit motives, but I don't want to muddy those waters today. The Divine Right of Capital has informed my most recent thinking in that space.)

But I digress. I was observing that organizational cultures are often dominated by a masculine tone.

Can we call organizations more masculine or more feminine? Do such labels promote appreciative conversations? I think so, if only to underscore the fact that distortions one way or the other will dissuade people from bringing their whole selves to work, expecting them to don that "professional" mask and leave their souls at the door.

What do you think? Can organizations be put somewhere on a masculine/feminine spectrum or two-dimensional plane? Does this help? I'd love to hear your thoughts: bkh@briankhaney.com or facebook.com/briankhaney.