Product Description

In this ground-breaking book, Otto Scharmer invites us to see the world in new ways. Fundamental problems, as Einstein once noted, cannot be solved at the same level of thought that created them. What we pay attention to, and how we pay attention - both individually and collectively - is key to what we create. What often prevents us from attending is what Scharmer calls our blind spot, the inner place from which each of us operates. Learning to become aware of our blind spot is critical to bringing forth the profound systemic changes so needed in business and society today. First introduced in Presence, the U methodology of leading profound change is expanded and deepened in Theory U. By moving through the "U" process we learn to connect to our essential Self in the realm of presencing - a term coined by Scharmer that combines the present with sensing. Here we are able to see our own blind spot and pay attention in a way that allows us to experience the opening of our minds, our hearts, and our wills. This wholistic opening constitutes a shift in awareness that allows us to learn from the future as it emerges, and to realize that future in the world. Theory U explores a new territory of scientific research and personal leadership, one that is grounded in real life experience and shared practices. Scharmer shares much from his own personal and professional development, and draws from a rich diversity of compelling stories and examples. Readers will find themselves drawn to new ways of thinking and acting as they read, completing a parallel journey of exploration and discovery. The final chapters lay out principles and practices that allow everyone to participate fully in co-creating and bringing forth the desired future that is working to emerge through us.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8127 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05-02
• Binding: Hardcover
• 560 pages

Review
In a world burdened with too much information, we are occasionally blessed with a genuinely new idea about how to perceive, think about, and act on our overly complex world. Scharmer's Theory U model of how to open our mind, emotions, and will to moments of discovery and mutual understanding is profound and much needed. Readers will be impressed not only by the depth of theory in this volume but also by the very practical approach that Scharmer provides us for enlarging our human capacity for growth. This will be an important book --Edgar Schein, Sloan Fellows Professor of Management Emeritus, MIT Sloan School of Management

Otto Scharmer has given us a brilliant, provocative, and important book on the leading-edge of the "next big thing": integral thought. Highly recommended. --Ken Wilber, author, A Theory of Everything: An Integral Vision for Business, Politics, Science, and Spirituality

This book is a must-read for all who are interested in the emerging future of leadership theory and practice. Otto Scharmer´s Theory U takes you on an exciting deep dive into the true center of leadership as a process of inner knowing and social innovation. With many tested and practical exercises drawn from a rich background of disciplines, this book will help you to discover and follow the path towards mastery on your own leadership journey. It pushes the envelope of current leadership wisdom and invites you to explore the strongest leadership tool there is: yourself. --Ralf Schneider, Head of Global Talent Management, PricewaterhouseCoopers

About the Author
Dr. C. Otto Scharmer is a Senior Lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the founding chair of ELIAS (Emerging Leaders for Innovation Across Sectors), an initiative focused on developing profound system innovations for a more sustainable world. ELIAS links twenty leading global institutions across the three sectors of business, government, and civil society. He also is a visiting professor at the Center for Innovation and Knowledge Research, Helsinki School of Economics, and the founding chair of the Presencing Institute, a research initiative on developing and advancing social technologies for leading innovation and change. Scharmer has consulted with global companies, international institutions, and cross-sector change initiatives in North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. He has co-designed and delivered award-winning leadership programs for client organizations including DaimlerChrysler, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Fujitsu. Scharmer holds a Ph.D. in economics and management from Witten-Herdecke University, Germany. His article Strategic Leadership within the Triad Growth-Employment-Ecology won the McKinsey Research Award in 1991. A synthesis of his most recent research has resulted in a theoretical framework and practice called presencing, which he elaborates in Theory U: Leading from the Future as It Emerges, (2007) and in Presence: An Exploration of Profound Change in People, Organizations and Society (2005), co-authored with Peter Senge, Joseph Jaworski, and Betty Sue Flowers. With his colleagues, Scharmer has used presencing to facilitate profound innovation and change processes both within companies and across societal systems. He lives with his wife and their two children in Boston, Massachusetts.

Customer Reviews

Brilliant!
If you are considering whether or not to buy this book- just do it!!! Its easy to read. It presents ideas using multiple methods- tables, visual maps, stories, interviews, explanations and so on. A nice blend of practical and theoretical. Always thought provoking- a good book to continually go back to re-read sections as the need arises. Very very well researched.

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.

Analytical Depth
As CEO Coach, Poet and author of a book that helps leaders unleash their genius and the genius of their teams and coroprations, I find this book very helpful. It breaks down what is often an intutive process that great leaders unconsciously use. Read this one. Paul David Walker Unleashing Genius: Leading Yourself, Teams and Corporations