Theory U: Leading from the Future as it Emerges is a dense and thought-provoking read. It took me an entire summer to tackle this thick-as-a-brick book as every ten pages or so I caught myself staring at the floor deep in thought.
Author Otto Scharmer developed a transformational leadership process that applies to individuals, teams, institutions, corporations, community initiatives and global challenges.
He begins by describing the great divides of our time: cultural, social, economic, ecological and spiritual. Despite the decades spent attempting to bridge these gaps; society cannot solve issues when we have blind spots due to our voices of judgement, our voices of cynicism and our voices of fear. Scharmer says unless we shift to a new way of solving problems, we are collectively colluding in creating a future nobody wants.
Our blind spots come from our limited levels of attention (seeing and listening). Many leaders cannot recognize the limited habits of attention in our organizations, never mind have the courage and skill to improve them. Sadly, in some cases, people prefer to stay at surface levels of leadership rather than dig deep for real transformation in self, others or the problems we are paid to solve. It takes courage because our blind spots of judgement, cynicism and fear and our limited ability to see and hear differently originate from our interiority—who we are at our core.
Scharmer also describes how our habits of listening, seeing and conversation limit our ability to collaborate and co-create something better.
In receiving information, we often only notice the familiar; we hear or see only that which confirms what we already know. This is called downloading. At this stage, our conversations are surface-level, small talk, telling people what they want to hear or only what we want them to know. To improve listening, we need to switch off our voice of judgement and develop an open mind.
By advancing our attention through an open mind, we will start to recognize something different. We’ll notice the unfamiliar. We might appreciate the novelty and may learn something new but sadly we often either ignore disconfirming ideas or debate with what we disagree with or dislike. We “talk tough” and defend our positions. In this state we need to shift our voice of cynicism to developing an open heart.
When we open our heart, we listen empathetically, feeling with another. In nonprofit work, many believe they operate from empathy and authentic care, but even with the best of intentions, empathy may be from the outside looking in (or down) rather than seeing from inside the other’s experience. Scharmer describes empathic listening where we actually see what others are experiencing through their eyes or worldview, not through our own worldview. Here, we may find ourselves in productive dialogue, but that is not enough.
Scharmer encourages us to go even deeper where we shift from a voice of fear to developing an open will where we become willing to immerse ourselves in real connection with others and notice the best in multiple ideas. We have mutual sharing and mutual shifting to something better.
At this deepest level of the Theory U model, we move beyond our mind and heart to a place of “Presencing” (being present and sensing). We attend to ourselves and others, while listening for our “Source” and for the best future as it wants to emerge. Scharmer calls this generative listening.
Each participant does this deep work and joins in the co-creativity and co-generation that emerges from the collective, but includes inspiration from another field or source. We acknowledge that we’re all interconnected to each other and something bigger. Some of us might have had glimpses of that when we are “in the flow” and something magical happens seemingly out of no where. Theory U provides a map where this can happen by intention and design, not by accident.
From this place of presencing and co-sensing we co-generate prototypes for solutions—prototypes no one could have conceived of without this unique way of being together. The co-creation is essential. If this is to be a worthwhile process, we need to move from ideating to action where we are performing at a macro level with deep connections for profound change.
The processes to get here are not merely external tactics: these are internal transformations. It all comes back to us—who we are at our core and how we believe we are called forth to be in the world. In my opinion, regardless of a person’s belief system, that work is spiritual.
As someone who believes that leadership begins with inner work, higher purpose and deep listening, this book resonated with me and gives me hope, especially if these ideas and practices can become contagious.
This review only scratches the surface of this book.
It is not only challenging in its thought-provoking content, but once you read it and understand its power, you cannot un-know it. It becomes our responsibility to do something with the knowledge. Written in 2007, Theory U was ahead of its time and is possibly needed even more today than ever before.
Theory U is available for purchase.
Kathy MacFarlane has an MA in Leadership, CFRE, and is a Leadership Consultant, a Certified Spiritual Intelligence coach, an MBTI practitioner and a Resilience @cWork Coach. Kathy is passionate about healthy leadership so people can thrive at work. She aims to maximize creativity and innovation by inviting people to bring their souls to the workplace. Kathy spent 30 years leading fundraising in children’s services, health care, college and university settings. She has extensive experience in legacy giving, major gifts, capital campaigns, annual giving, grant writing, and special events. https://kathymacfarlane.com/
