Inside the World’s Most Human Workplaces: Real Stories from Teal Pioneers

True Tales of Courage, Creativity, and Healing from the Frontlines of Change

Step into the shoes of a nurse in the Netherlands. Each morning, you and your small team decide how to schedule patient visits, who will handle emergencies, and how to support each other’s growth. There’s no boss, no corporate office watching over you—just a shared purpose and deep trust. This is Buurtzorg, one of the world’s most celebrated Teal organizations. Patient satisfaction is through the roof, and nurses report feeling more fulfilled than ever.

Travel to northern France, and you’ll find FAVI, a brass foundry that transformed itself by giving power to the people on the shop floor. Workers hire new teammates, set salaries, and even decide how to invest profits. The result? Productivity soared, absenteeism dropped, and people started to love coming to work.

In the United States, a media company ditched traditional management in favor of peer-based teams. Meetings begin with mindfulness, and creativity is unleashed in every corner. Employees say they feel safer, more creative, and more connected than ever.

But it’s not all easy. Teams sometimes struggle with conflict—without a boss, they must learn to communicate honestly and resolve issues together. Scaling trust across hundreds or thousands of people is a journey. Yet, as these stories show, the rewards are profound: workplaces that heal, rather than harm; teams that innovate, rather than stagnate; and people who grow, rather than shrink. 1 2 4