Posts Tagged ‘C. Otto Scharmer’

U Process Part 5: Enacting Change

April 6th, 2009

Part of a series on the U Process. Read the others here.

A while back, I started a series of posts on a change model called the U Process, developed by C. Otto Scharmer. Before picking up where I left off, I want to give you a quick review.

Three Steps in the U Process

U Process is a lens to look at tough problems through-a different, deeper path from problem to true solution. Most rural communities are in the thick of some long, very tough problems, and the U can be a model for designing a better planning process. Mike has written about the ups and downs of planning for change in Miner County, South Dakota using a method like this.

At a basic level, U Process has three verses:

  1. Uncovering the current reality. This is the journey down the left side of the “U,” a practice in suspending our own subconscious judgment long enough to truly listen and observe the whole with new eyes and ears. It’s a deep dive into seeing the tangled mess and roots of our problems by inviting more people and perspectives into the question.
  2. Letting deeper solutions emerge. The bottom of the “U” is where shared purpose emerges as a better solution-if we allow ourselves to let go of seeking, and let answers bubble up. Uncovering this kind of solution is not about making a decision, but about surrendering to an inner knowing about what needs to be done and opening our hearts and will to that challenge.  It’s much like, as we immerse ourselves in the questions of the left side of the U, there are hundreds of fragmented pieces. But then, suddenly, all those pieces come together as one and we see that it is a beautiful vase. The pieces of the whole become one as we dig in.
  3. Enacting a new reality with transformational action. Once we’ve committed to being the change we want to create, we move up the right side of the “U” in a curious, determined manner. It’s this third segment that I’ll pick up on with this post.

Prototyping

When we find ourselves at the bottom of that U, where we’ve had an “Ah-ha!” about the problems we seem stuck in, there are two choices.

  1. The first choice is to accept it and live with it.
  2. The second, is to say, “I will be a host for this change!”

Nothing gets better until you change.  Otto Scharmer describes that ah-ha as something new that wants to be born through us. It really is that kind of feeling sometimes-we’ve all experienced it, I think.

So, assuming you choose to be the change, moving up the right side of the U is mostly about trial and error-failing fast and forward while we experiment with the future as it comes. “Do not put yourself in a box of your past failures,: explains Scharmer, “Reflect on your failure, and get up and keep going.”
This is about just doing it. Not worrying about getting things perfect or planning everything to death. Just find the courage to do something toward making that new reality that you can now see more clearly. Move it forward. Start now. Test it and gather feedback and adjust. Then test it again.

The Doers Know It

This part of the U Process is very familiar to rural communities, especially the “do-ers” in your community who seem to be in the middle of every project or effort. What’s different about the U is having the patience and discipline to travel that path down and through the bottom before tackling things head on. It’s the difference between surface level answers (that often become bigger problems later) and real solutions.

As you continue to practice this, and connect up with others who are interested in the same change, you build a powerful network and community. At some point, the things that seemed odd and unconventional before, suddenly become normal. People begin behaving in ways that serve the whole community. Things get better because the root of the problem is dug out over time. This is a sign that you’ve travelled the U.

Practicing the U is not really learning a process, it’s just recognizing how you’ve already journeyed through the U so often in your life, and applying that wisdom to solving tough problems. When you forget how.

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U Process Part 4: The Big ‘Ah-Ha!’

December 1st, 2008

This is the fourth post in a series on the U Process (read parts 1, 2 or 3)

So far, I’ve argued that it’s worth taking the time and effort to follow a different path from tough problem to solution. But why? What are we working toward? The answer, to that question and to the tough problem you’re trying to solve, is found at the “bottom of the U.”

The journey through the U begins as we dive into the problem on the left side. We’re here to observe, to learn, to see the whole picture. We Immerse ourselves in the muck and mire, working to see the tangled mess with more clarity.

After really digging into the system we’re trying to change, it’s important to step back and reflect. Get quiet and still, stop doing a bit. This is the bottom of that left side of the U, where we let go of trying to solve the problem, and let the solution come.

Letting Go

Let go…and let come. It’s surely worked for you many times, without you even thinking about it. You’re eyeball-deep in some work, trying to solve some issue. Then you take a break, maybe a little walk or grabbing a snack or throwing some clothes in the washing machine. You give your mind a rest, and suddenly–whammo! It all comes together and the answer you’ve been digging for smacks you in the face. “Ah ha! That’s it!”

You’ve just found the bottom of the U. The example I used happens (usually) by accident, but the theory of the U is based on finding that “Ah-ha” on purpose. That doesn’t mean it works on call, like a schedule or anything. It just means that if you can hone your skills at practicing ‘presence,’ you have a much better shot at finding a truly innovative and trans formative solution.

Presencing

So what is this ‘presencing’ stuff? It’s a word made by combining ‘present’ and ’sensing.’ As in being fully present in the moment, and opening up your senses to the future that is bubbling up right now. You see, there are two sources of learning: from past experiences, or from the future as it emerges. Presencing is about sitting in that space where the two (past and future) collide right now. It’s learning to see our own seeing (remember those mental model prisons?), and then see the whole of our situation, recognizing how everything is interconnected while we learn more and more. And finally, it’s listening from a place of quiet and openness to the stuff that wants to be born.

Presencing is not a journey of the mind, but one of opening your mind, heart and will to see the future solution that is emerging right now, and choose to be a vehicle for it.

I’ll share more thoughts on this Presencing idea in my next U process post, and then fill in the right side of the U: All About Action. In the mean time, please share your thoughts or questions with the Reimagine Rural community by clicking on “Comments” below.

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U Process Part 3: Radical Listening

November 13th, 2008

This is the third post in a series on the U Process (read the first two here and here).

In a couple of previous posts, I began to outline a social change technology called “U Process.” I gave a quick overview of the three movements of the U (deep learning dive, inner knowing, and swift action), and I shared a bit about mental models and the role they play as blinders to new ideas.

If learning to recognize your own mental models and setting them aside is the first step down the left side of the U, then learning how to listen deeply is the second.

Levels of Listening

Listening isn’t quite as simple as just sitting down while someone else is talking to you. We’ve all had a conversation with someone when it feels like they aren’t really there with us, and we’ve all drifted off somewhere else when we were meaning to really listen to someone, right? Below is a concept of four deepening levels of listening outlined by C. Otto Scharmer in his book about the U Process.

Level 1: This is the way, unfortunately, I believe most “listening” takes place. Level one is really not listening at all, it’s reacting from old habits and mental models. It’s when we’re thinking about what we want to say next instead of listening to the other person. Level one is like downloading old ideas and habits of judgment from some database in our heads, reconfirming old opinions and positions.

Level 2: If Level One downloading is really being stuck inside ourselves and our old ideas, the next level is like stepping outside to the edge of yourself, and observing what’s really going on. The difference is being open-minded enough to see new data, see more of the picture. This level isn’t too hard to reach.

Level 3: Taking another step deeper into listening is like observing from within the person you are listening to. It’s opening your heart enough to see through another’s eyes, to see and hear what they see and hear. It’s a major shift in perspective.

Level 4: The fourth, quite radical level of listening that Scharmer proposes is more tricky to explain, and achieve. It’s listening from a different ’source,’ a place where you open your spirit and will to let the future emerge through you. It’s not really about what you hear another person say, but more about trusting the inner knowing that bubbles up inside you from somewhere.

Voices in the Way

So, there are deeper levels of listening that most of us don’t tap into very often. The deeper you go, the more radical the listening is. So why don’t we all listen at level 4?

Our mental models get in the way of hearing or seeing the whole picture, and so do little voices in our heads. The voices I’m referring to aren’t evidence of insanity or anything like that, they are the tricks our mind plays on us sometimes. There are voices of judgment, of cynicism and of fear that become serious obstacles to deep listening.

To get to a place of true listening, we have to create a safe space for it within ourselves. We have to recognize and acknowledge the mental models, the judgment, cynicism and fear that become roadblocks to really listening. And then set them aside and continue the journey. They don’t go away, we just learn to ignore them as much as we can.

Overcoming the roadblocks lets us climb down that ladder of deep, radical listening. Give it a try, and please share your thoughts or experiences in the comments.

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U Process Part 2: Those pesky mental models

October 27th, 2008

This is the second post in a series on the U Process (read the first post here).

A big part of practicing the U process as a method to solve tough problems is learning to recognize the “mental models” that impact our every perception. These mental models are like images or preconceived notions we have formed about the world or people or ideas. They just lurk in our subconscious minds most of the time, and step in to influence our decisions and judgments. 

My Example: a calendar

Here’s a personal example. When I was in the second grade in Canistota, SD, Mrs. Cooper taught me to read a calendar. The entire south wall of the classroom was a twelve month calendar, and the months were arranged in three columns, beginning with August in the upper left corner. So, having learned the twelve month calendar by studying that wall, I still today “see” twelve months in that arrangement in my mind’s eye. When someone talks about December, I automatically think of the top of the second column, not the end of the year. Imagine my trouble in Business School when I had to think of the year in terms of quarters–three columns just don’t divide into four parts very easily! 

That’s a silly example, but the point is that I’ve had to recognize that mental model that was influencing the way I “see” a year. And I often have to put it aside, and open my mind to other ways of arranging 12 months in my head. That’s the thing about mental models: it’s not so much about whether they are right or wrong, or even about changing them (which is very hard to do), the trick is to just recognize those blinders that your mind and past experiences are putting in your way. Wide zoom the lens and see more of the whole picture.

 

Mental Models as Blinders

Now imagine all the different experiences and bits and pieces of information in your past that form mental models about people or places or notions. Mental models are blinders to new ideas. They “help” us form pre-conceived judgments and prejudices. They become a prison, and block the way–prevent us from listening from a place of quiet and openness.

That’s why it’s so key, if we want to see the whole of whatever tough problem we intend to solve, that we learn to recognize more and more of the mental models that are blocking the view. Once we “see our own seeing,” as Otto Scharmer often calls it, then we can kind of set those blinders aside one by one and widen our view.

There’s more to come about the U Process in future posts. If you have personal mental model examples, or any thoughts about this post, please share them in the comments.

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