In a fascinating book called Reinventing Organizations, Frederic Laloux identifies 5 types of management types, tied up to 5 distinct organizations. For the impatient, here's the correspondence between the colors and the type of the organization:

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And here's a brief description of their basic characteristics:

Type	Description	Breakthroughs	Examples
Wolf Pack	Constant exercise of power by chief to keep soldiers in line	Division of labor, Command and authority	organized crime, street gangs, tribal militias
Army	Highly formal roles within a hierarchical pyramid	Stable and scalable hierarchies, Replicable processes	Catholic church, military, most government organizations (public schools, police departments)
Machine	Beat competition and achieve profit and growth	Meritocracy, Innovation	Multinational companies, Investment banks
Family	Culture and empowerments as tools for motivation	Empowerment, Stakeholder model	Best practices businesses: Southwestern Airlines, Zappos
Living Organism	Organizations are seen as living entities	Self-management, Wholeness	tbd

I made these rough sketches (by the way, you can find this info in a much better form just by doing a search on the internet on "teal organizations") to come to the point of the title.

And the point is: what color Steemit is, at this moment, based on this model?

In my opinion, Steemit is balancing between red and amber. Between a street gang management and an emerging hierarchy.

I know, you're shocked. But that's the truth. Although there isn't a formally enforced hierarchy, the goal is to make money by using the tools as efficient as one can. Whales are the bosses, they can kick out anyone. In the past, this thing happened more than once. Sometimes because there was a misunderstanding between bosses, sometimes in the name of a good outcome (like the whales no voting experiment).

Every once in a while, though, Steemit is creeping in the orange area, where meritocracy, or the ability to create compelling and engaging content, is rewarded. I know, people come here because of this promise, but it's not what they get. The way social roles are established in Steemit makes for a more autocratic and rigid activity.

What Gives?

As long as there will be room for evolution and change, as long as the actual chiefs in command are courageous enough to promote people not because of their "loyalty", but because of their skills and contribution, things will change.

Time will tell.

Also, looking forward to be challenged, with arguments, obviously.

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I'm a serial entrepreneur, blogger and ultrarunner. You can find me mainly on my blog at Dragos Roua where I write about productivity, business, relationships and running. Here on Steemit you may stay updated by following me @dragosroua.

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You can also vote for me as witness here:
https://steemit.com/~witnesses

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If you're new to Steemit, you may find these articles relevant (that's also part of my witness activity to support new members of the platform):

• Rewards: Were Does The Money Come From?
• Netiquette: How To Avoid Being A Steem Douche?
• Witnesses: What Are They And Why Should You Care?
• How Can I Mine Steem And What CPU / GPU Power Do I Need For That?