Theory U - C. Otto Scharmer [pdf]

Theory U: Learning from the Future as It Emerges
C. Otto Scharmer
2009
Berrett-Koehler Publishers

Shows how leaders can access the deepest source of inspiration and vision • Includes dozens of tested exercises, practices, and real-world examples We live in a time of massive institutional failure, one that requires a new consciousness and a new collective leadership capacity. In this groundbreaking book, Otto Scharmer invites us to see the world in new ways and in so doing discover a revolutionary approach to leadership. What we pay attention to and how we pay attention is key to what we create. What prevents us from attending
to situations more effectively is that we aren’t fully aware of and in touch with the inner place from which attention and intention originate. This is what Scharmer calls our blind spot. By moving through Scharmer’s U process, we consciously access the blind spot and learn to connect to our authentic Self—the deepest source of knowledge and inspiration—in the realm of “presencing,” a term coined by Scharmer that combines the concepts of presence and sensing. Based on ten years of research and action learning and interviews with over 150 practitioners and thought leaders, Theory U offers a rich diversity of compelling stories and examples and includes dozens of exercises and practices that allow leaders, and entire organizations, to shift awareness, connect with the best future possibility, and gain the ability to realize it.

C. Otto Scharmer is a senior lecturer at MIT and the founding chair of ELIAS (Emerging Leaders for Innovation Across Sectors), a program linking twenty leading global institutions from business, government, and civil society. He has codesigned and delivered award-winning leadership programs for clients such as Daimler, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Fujitsu. He is the coauthor of Presence.