Theory U: Leading from the Future as It Emerges

by C. Otto Scharmer

Book Overview

Access the deepest source of inspiration and vision We live in a time of massive institutional failure that manifests in the form of three major divides: the ecological, the social, and the spiritual.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1576757633
• ISBN13: 9781576757635
• Release Date: January 2009
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
• Length: 533 Pages
• Weight: 2.12 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 7.0" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Theory U: A means for a better future ... if we open our eyes to it

Having completed my own reading of "Theory U" by Easter '08, I gladly lent it to my boss 'three floors' above myself. I now understand why a professor of management in DK last year claimed this book the most important book of leadership in this decade. To a non-professional like myself, the completeness of the social theory of the U field seems to be somewhat comparable to Darwin's theory of Evolution, Maxwell's equations of electrodynamics, or Einstein's theory of general relativity just to mention some well know (by name :). The common characteristics that I have in mind is the connection of studies by different scientists, explaining all earlier observations in one whole theory and bringing our understanding to a higher level. Once having understood Scharmer's numerous new ideas of social technology, I realized that for many modern (Western?) companies, mastering the difficulties of empathy is one important next step towards true innovation. That is innovation comprehended as creating what is needed, which is not necessarily what is wanted. This book applies to managers, but not being a manager myself I still had more benefit from this treasury of thaughts than from many other books that I've ever read. Leading is not just a question of management. It is also a question of leading your life in the direction, which is meant for you. You find that direction by listening to and acting from the source of your true self that needs to develop. Your motivation to do so is the wonderful idea that what is truly good for you is good for your local environment, for your society, and for the world. I whish you a pleasant journey through the U field.

crystal clear

A clear and concise view about leadership. A scientist who dares to incorporate spirtuality in his findings. It builds bridges between the businese world and the spiritual world. This is the way of the future and gives you the possibilty of really understanding the way to enrich your life in a corporate jungle. Every one, especially leaders should read this book.

This is an extraordinary work

I was at a conference where Otto spoke just a few weeks ago and hearing him speak about Theory U and seeing his passion for the field was inspiring. I would say that this was not a book that I read, I studied it. Presence was an extraordinary conversation and this work helped me understand the depth and the power of the U framework in creating our future drawn from insights from the future. This is not one of those fad books or consumer business books based on here is what I did so you should do it to. Understanding the U process is a journey and not something you read and go "do". I have a lot of learning and trying to do to start to realize the power of this framework. And there in lies the beauty of this work. I can revisit over and over again and I will never stop learning from the nuances contained within the book. I highly recommend this book and Otto's other works if you are looking to help create sustainable changes in our world.

A must-read and a treasury

In his pioneering and brilliant book Theory U, C. Otto Scharmer, senior lecturer at the renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is taking us on a journey to discover and fully use our sometimes hidden inner sources of generative power, creativity and freedom in order to address the current challenges and emerging complexities in the age of globalization. His book is a synthesis of more than a decade of diligent and in-depth research in the field of management and leadership asking how profound innovation and change comes into our lives, into working teams, organisations and even whole systems. Scharmer proposes a new model for understanding and conducting profound change and deep learning. Instead of analyzing and referring to old patterns of the past which are often inadequate in addressing the current challenges of our time and which might be even part of the problem itself, his new focus rather is on learning from and bringing into life the best of all future possibilities - a process that he calls presencing. The leverage and starting point of the journey are less a question of what we do or how we do something - it is much more a question of how we approach or attend to a situation before we actually do something: it is our interior condition, the so-called inner place where any social action is generated and comes into being. This inner place or source is decisive in shaping the quality and result of any social action. It is exactly that perspective which is missing in our daily perception of the world, in management and leadership literature or even in science in general which is the reason why Scharmer calls it the blind spot of our time. However, becoming aware of our blind spot we at the same time discover an untapped resource and power potential in every one of us that can be used in order to find innovative solutions to current problems and to live up to the best future potential - be it in your personal or professional life, be it in management or even globalization processes. There are several ways of reading this book. Scharmer`s Theory U can be read as a multi-step process template with the shape of a U in order to fully understand how these innovation and deep learning processes work. Moreover, this book offers a range of principles and practices for individuals, teams and organisations for nurturing our various senses for attending to the world and for bringing the process alive in sensing and implementing the best of all future possibilities. Finally, it might work as an inspiration for your personal and professional journey in sensing what life is calling you to do and in discovering that there might be an even higher and greater future possibility for every one of us that we could not have imagined before. Scharmer`s Theory U is a treasury full of analytic vigour and empowering inspiration. It is sure to make a great contribution to not only the current discourse on (change) management and leadership theory but al

A Great book - Inspiring, Awakening, Heart Touching

I received the book a few days ago. I have ben reading for hours and hours, with just a few necessary breaks for digesting, reflecting, accepting and bringing my own thoughts together. This is one of the few books that is not just interesting when it comes to theory and methods. What makes it special is the mixture of theories and the authors own thoughts, experiences and break through thinking. It has ben hard to lay the book aside, because it is so intense. And I know this is a book that I will read over and over again - with longer breaks under way - in order to have time for my own thinking. Soon it is time for summer vacation - then I will have lots of time to read the book again - at a lower pace - with the time to let my thougts wander. This is the kind of book that easily trap ones mind up to its own thinking. To be more precise, what I found so interesting about this book: - The Blind Spot - our unability to see our own weaknesses, what we do not understand and what we hide from. - And, what is even more interesting: How to illuminate thr Blind Spot and make it clear to us how it stands in our way of dealing with life in a constructive way. We all have these Blind Spots - and we are unaware about them. Otto Scharmers openness in reveling his own Blind Spots through true life anecdotes made me see some of my own Blind Spots and gave me the will, the commitment and the power to face them. Facing them and seeing how they stand in the way of my True Self gave me the Willpower and Leverage to Confront them without hesitation or fear. - Behind the Blind Spot lies possibilites to understand what we may be - what kind of a future we can create - in our Full Potential. Otto Scharmer calls this Presencing, which is a good descrption for the process the book led me into. If you are working with development of organsizations, employees or leaders this book gives you the understanding of the limited outcomes of "Downloading" - which is the most common way of teaching - and what you get out of bringing people through experiences of opening, mind, heart and start to presence the possible future. This book will probably be a milestone for understanding more of how teaching, laerning happens and that there is more to working with of people, organizations and social systems than we have understood so far.