Sunday, March 14, 2010

Theory U: Illustrated through a silly game with kids

My last post, included a diagram and some examples of how I have been using "Theory U," a model for "leading from the future as it emerges." In this post, I'd like to show you a silly 2 minute video that I made with my kids, showing some aspects of the Theory U process, as illustrated in a game the kids and I made up.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

What makes profound change possible?

"Presencing," a blend of the words "presence" and "sensing," refers to the ability to sense and bring into the present one's highest future potential—as an individual and as a group.
- Otto Scharmer
In the last few months, Ive been increasing drawn to a model called "Presencing" or Theory U, as articulated by Otto Scharmer, Peter Senge, and others. It is used to facilitate change in large corporations, health care systems, individuals, and many other settings. The model helps me bring together my interest in discernment and contemplative practices with organizational and systemic change. I am increasingly using it as a way to frame work I am doing. The diagram below is an adaptation of Scharmer's work. In each section, I also added examples of some related consulting work that I've done recently. I'm also organizing some gatherings of people in the Twin Cities who are using Theory U. If you have questions about it, or you want to collaborate in practicing it, please let me know!


Click on the image to see the full size.