Theory U

Draft

Definition

The Theory U (also called "U" methodology) is a change management method targeting leadership as process of inner knowing and social innovation. It is developed by Otto Scharmer.

The principles of Theory U can help political leaders, civil servants, and managers break through past unproductive patterns of behavior that prevent them from empathizing with their clients' perspectives and often lock them into ineffective patterns of decision making. (Frannie Léautier, retrieved 15:53, 27 July 2007 (MEST))

Some notes about the theory

Fields of attention

• thinking (individual),
• conversing (group),
• structuring (institutions)
• ecosystem coordination (global systems).

Presencing

At the core of the "U" Theory is presencing: sensing + presence.

According to Learning Exchange (retrieved 15:53, 27 July 2007 (MEST)), Presencing is a journey with five movements:

We move down one side of the U (connecting us to the world that is outside of our institutional bubble) to the bottom of the U (connecting us to the world that emerges from within) and up the other side of the U (bringing forth the new into the world).
On that journey, at the bottom of the U, lies an inner gate that requires us to drop everything that isn't essential. This process of letting-go (of our old ego and self) and letting-come (our highest future possibility: our Self) establishes a subtle connection to a deeper source of knowing. The essence of presencing is that these two selves-our current self and our best future Self-meet at the bottom of the U and begin to listen and resonate with each other.

Once a group crosses this threshold, nothing remains the same. Individual members and the group as a whole begin to operate with a heightened level of energy and sense of future possibility. Often they then begin to function as an intentional vehicle for an emerging future.

Various variants of "U" pictures can be found in on-line publications (see below). Since they are strongly copyrighted (a bit strange if one looks at the political aims of this theory) we just produce an ugly ASCII graph for now, hoping that you can perceive the "U" form :)

1. Co-initiating common intent:                  5. Co-evolving through innovations:
Stop and listen to others and to                 ecosystems that facilitate seeing 
what life calls you to do                        and acting from the whole

   2. Co-sensing the field of change:      4. Co-creating strategic microcosms: 
   Go to the places of most potential      Prototype the new to explore 
   and listen with your mind and           the future by doing
   heart wide open

                   3. Presencing inspiration and common will: 
                   Go to the threshold and allow 
                   the inner knowing to emerge

Leadership Capacities

The point of journeying through the "U" is to develop seven essential leadership capacities:

1. Holding the Space: Listen to What Life Calls You to Do (listen to oneself, to others and make sure that there is space where people can talk ...)
2. Observing: Attend with Your Mind Wide Open (observe without your voice of judgment, basically means to get rid of pas cognitive schema)
3. Sensing: Connect with Your Heart (facilitate the opening process, i.e. look interconnected wholes)
4. Presencing: Connect to the Deepest Source of Your Self and Will (act from the emerging whole)
5. Crystallizing: Access the Power of Intention (e.g. make sure to find a very small group of key persons commits itself to the purpose and outcomes of the project.)
6. Prototyping: Integrating Head, Heart, and Hand (basically, it means that one should act and not let various sources of paralysis like reactive action, too much analysis, etc. interfere)
7. Performing: Playing the Macro Violin. (e.g. find the right leaders, find good social technology to get a multi-stakeholder project going)

“Moving down the left side of the U is about opening up and dealing with the resistance of thought, emotion, and will; moving up the right side is about intentionally reintegrating the intelligence of the head, the heart, and the hand in the context of practical applications” (Scharner, 2007).

Discussion

Daniel K. Schneider thinks that there are some interesting ideas, however from texts I have seen I find that language used lacks precision. Also many concepts were not related to other relevant knowledge (I may have a going down the "U" problem here....)

Links

• Theory U Home Page

• C. Otto Scharmer Home Page (includes print and podcasts to download)

• Presencing Home Page

• Change Management Blog's Theory U entries.

• Theory U: Leading from the Future as It Emerges

• Society for Organizational Learning / Theory U (just a short blurb).

References

• Scharner, C. Otto (2007), Addressing The Blind Spot Of Our Time. An executive summary of the new book by Otto Scharmer Theory U: Leading from the Future as It Emerges. HTML, retrieved 15:53, 27 July 2007 (MEST).

• Scharner, C. Otto (2006), Theory U: Learning from the Future as it Emerges, Fieldnotes: An online Newsletter of the Sahmbhala Institute for Authentic Leadership. PDF. Can be found at http://www.ottoscharmer.com/ (how I hate these Flash sites ...)

• Scharner, C. Otto (2006), Excerpt from: THEORY U: Leading from the Emerging Future. Presencing as a Social Technology of Freedom: Introduction. (DRAFT). Can be found at http://www.ottoscharmer.com/