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Introduction to U Process: a theory of change
October 8th, 2008 by Joe Bartmann
Part 1.
At the Rural Learning Center, we talk a lot about, and try our best to practice, a method of change called the ‘U Process.’ U Process is a theory first introduced to the masses a few years ago in a book co-authored by C. Otto Scharmer, Peter Senge, Joseph Jawarski and Betty Sue Flowers, called Presence.
Scharmer, a professor at MIT in Cambridge, Mass., recently released an in-depth manual on the U Process ideas called Theory U. He worked for ten years on the book.
U Process is a point of view, a lens to look at tough problems through. Scharmer also calls it a ‘social technology,’ a method to create results differently. I see it as a way of designing new solutions to old problems we haven’t cracked yet.
Most of us follow what I call the ‘normal path’ from problem to solution. We name the trouble we’re having, then we brainstorm about ways to solve it, and charge forward fast and furious. We choose ‘solutions’ that are the quickest, most efficient, and cheap. We figure so long as we plan carefully, throw some hard work at it and never give up, we’ll make our ideas be real solutions eventually.
The problem is, we still have most of the big problems in rural communities that we’ve been fighting for decades. We keep trying the same things in different ways, and get the same results: more decline of community. It becomes a vicious cycle.
The normal path has merely skimmed the surface of our problems, and we’ve overlooked the true sources of decline and despair. Have you ever tried to lift a rock that seemed to be mostly above the ground, and found that only a small part of the stone was visible? It can be very difficult to lift that mostly hidden rock from the soil. Most of our problems in communities are like that rock–we really have to dig down to get at the whole thing.
We have a very difficult time getting over our mental models of how the world looks and works, and so rely only on the past as our guide (only the tip of that buried rock). For those really tough problems-and most rural communities are having that kind right now-more of the same will not get us to where we want to be. Sometimes the past is the thing that stands in our way.
The U process suggests a different path, one that dives deep before shifting to action. It’s a path that invites breakthrough solutions to be born from a more instinctive source, instead of the old-idea-downloading we’re used to.
The U starts with a different, deeper kind of listening; a dive into the problem. We really dig in-observe, listen, gather data and info, see new perspectives, jump way into the muck and mire of it all. It’s about seeing more and more of the whole interconnected and messy picture of the system we’re trying to change. Call it ‘focused chaos.’
The second phase is about stepping back, letting go of our old habits and ways of seeing the world, and letting those solutions bubble up within us. We need to just get out of the way a bit, or our thinking and old habits keep those great ideas in a prison. Somewhere in this quiet stillness-if we can let ourselves get there-real world-shifting ideas can come. It’s the ‘different source’ I referred to above-where in the middle of the chaotic mess, a new ‘knowing’ emerges from somewhere deep within us. You can’t always think your way to the answer, sometimes you have to feel your way.
Now, with step three, comes the action side of the U: moving back up toward the real solution to our problem. The right side is all about doing-acting swiftly from that inner source of knowing. We throw things out there and test them on the fly. We make mistakes, fast. We learn to perfect our solution by doing. And eventually we change the system.
That’s a first glance at U process:
- Slow down and let go of old thinking,
- Let breakthrough ideas emerge, and then
- Jump into doing.
It’s mostly common sense-if we think about those ‘ah-ha!’ moments in our lives, we can begin to count the little (or big) U process paths we’ve already experienced. Sometimes the whole process takes just an instant, other tiems it goes on and on for months or years or generations. I’ll lead you deeper into what I’ve learned about this theory in future posts, if you’re interested. If you can’t wait, just check out Otto Scharmer’s Presencing Institute for some free U process goodness.
Tags: change, theory, u process
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October 8th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
[...] The problem is, we still have most of the big problems in rural communities that we’ve been fighting for decades. We keep trying the same things in different ways, and get the same results: more decline of community. It becomes a vicious cycle.” read more… [...]