U-procedure and Theory U
Encyclopedia
U-procedure and Theory U is a change management
method targeting leadership as process of inner knowing and social innovation developed by Dr Friedrich (Fritz) Glasl and Dirk Lemson of the NPI (Netherlands Pedagogical Institute) in 1968 and presented systematically from the 1980s. It has been a valuable tool in organisation development and social development since that time,,. Following Dr Glasl's special interest in conflict issues, the method has also been explicitly developed to handle to the consciousness and process issues associated with relational dynamics and conflict resolution.
Since the early 2000s it has been elaborated as Theory U (also called "U" methodology) by C. Otto Scharmer
, incorporating also his theories of presencing and capitalism 3.0. This work itself draws on collaboration between Scharmer and his colleagues Peter Senge
, Joseph Jaworski and Betty Sue Flowers.
The U-procedure was used extensively in projects in at least USA, Brazil, Europe (including the UK), South Africa and New Zealand by members and associates of the NPI and other consultants, and subsequently by members of the Association for Social Development (see for example Büchele, 1997), where it was discussed in the 1997 Conference in Spring Valley, USA. Dr Glasl, later Professor Glasl, published the method in Dutch (1975), German (1975, 1994) and English (1997). Fr
The seven stages consist of:
1. (Factual/phenomenal level, technical and instrumental subsystem) Observation of phenomena. How do processes and workflows function? Instruments, resources.
2. (Imaginative level, social subsystem) Forming a picture of how the organisation works. Understanding the social subsystem and how functions, roles and management are distributed.
3. ("Inspirational" level; cultural subsystem) Idea. Understanding the implicit/actual values, rules and policies that shape the organisation. How and why things happen.
4. Is this what we want?
5. (This maps onto 3.) What values and guidelines do we want for the future?
6. (This maps onto 2.) What does that mean for new functions and roles? How should the organisation of the future be visioned?
7. (This maps onto 1.) How can processes be developed in future? What phenomena and facts will characterise the organisation of the future?
, Claus Otto Scharmer studied the method in classes taught by Dr Glasl and also interviewed Glasl. He also attended the 1997 ASD conference where practitioners discussed their use. He then took the basic principles of this process and extended and enriched it into a significant theory of learning and management, which he calls Theory U. The principles of Theory U are suggested to help political leaders, civil servants, and managers break through past unproductive patterns of behavior that prevent them from empathizing with their clients' perspectives and often lock them into ineffective patterns of decision making,.
At the core of the "U" Theory is presencing: sensing + presence. According to The Learning Exchange, Presencing is a journey with five movements:
The core elements are:
1. Co-initiating common intent: 5. Co-evolving through innovations:
Stop and listen to others and to ecosystems that facilitate seeing
what life calls you to do and acting from the whole
2. Co-sensing the field of change: 4. Co-creating strategic microcosms:
Go to the places of most potential Prototype the new to explore
and listen with your mind and the future by doing
heart wide open
3. Presencing inspiration and common will:
Go to the threshold and allow the inner knowing to emerge
(Scharmer, 2007).
Change management
Change management is a structured approach to shifting/transitioning individuals, teams, and organizations from a current state to a desired future state. It is an organizational process aimed at helping employees to accept and embrace changes in their current business environment....
method targeting leadership as process of inner knowing and social innovation developed by Dr Friedrich (Fritz) Glasl and Dirk Lemson of the NPI (Netherlands Pedagogical Institute) in 1968 and presented systematically from the 1980s. It has been a valuable tool in organisation development and social development since that time,,. Following Dr Glasl's special interest in conflict issues, the method has also been explicitly developed to handle to the consciousness and process issues associated with relational dynamics and conflict resolution.
Since the early 2000s it has been elaborated as Theory U (also called "U" methodology) by C. Otto Scharmer
Otto Scharmer
Dr. C. Otto Scharmer is a Senior Lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the founding chair of the Presencing Institute...
, incorporating also his theories of presencing and capitalism 3.0. This work itself draws on collaboration between Scharmer and his colleagues Peter Senge
Peter Senge
Peter Michael Senge is an American scientist and director of the Center for Organizational Learning at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He is known as author of the book The Fifth Discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization from 1990...
, Joseph Jaworski and Betty Sue Flowers.
U-procedure or U-process
The initial method developed by Glasl and Lemson involved a social technology process involving a few or many co-workers, managers and/or policymakers proceeding from diagnosis of the present state of the organisation plans for the future. They described a process in a U formation consisting of three levels (technical and instrumental subsystem, social subsystem and cultural subsystem) and seven stages beginning with the observation of organisational phenomena, workflows, resources etc., and concluding with specific decisions about desired future processes and phenomena. The method draws on the Goethean techniques described by Dr. Rudolf Steiner, transforming observations into intuitions and judgements about the present state of the organisation and decisions about the future.The U-procedure was used extensively in projects in at least USA, Brazil, Europe (including the UK), South Africa and New Zealand by members and associates of the NPI and other consultants, and subsequently by members of the Association for Social Development (see for example Büchele, 1997), where it was discussed in the 1997 Conference in Spring Valley, USA. Dr Glasl, later Professor Glasl, published the method in Dutch (1975), German (1975, 1994) and English (1997). Fr
The seven stages consist of:
1. (Factual/phenomenal level, technical and instrumental subsystem) Observation of phenomena. How do processes and workflows function? Instruments, resources.
2. (Imaginative level, social subsystem) Forming a picture of how the organisation works. Understanding the social subsystem and how functions, roles and management are distributed.
3. ("Inspirational" level; cultural subsystem) Idea. Understanding the implicit/actual values, rules and policies that shape the organisation. How and why things happen.
4. Is this what we want?
5. (This maps onto 3.) What values and guidelines do we want for the future?
6. (This maps onto 2.) What does that mean for new functions and roles? How should the organisation of the future be visioned?
7. (This maps onto 1.) How can processes be developed in future? What phenomena and facts will characterise the organisation of the future?
Theory U
During his doctoral studies at Witten/Herdecke UniversityWitten/Herdecke University
Witten/Herdecke University is a private university in Witten, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Unlike most other German universities, it is a private enterprise with about 1100 students and 400 employees...
, Claus Otto Scharmer studied the method in classes taught by Dr Glasl and also interviewed Glasl. He also attended the 1997 ASD conference where practitioners discussed their use. He then took the basic principles of this process and extended and enriched it into a significant theory of learning and management, which he calls Theory U. The principles of Theory U are suggested to help political leaders, civil servants, and managers break through past unproductive patterns of behavior that prevent them from empathizing with their clients' perspectives and often lock them into ineffective patterns of decision making,.
Fields of attention
- thinking (individual),
- conversing (group),
- structuring (institutions)
- ecosystem coordination (global systems).
Presencing
The author of the Theory U concept expresses it as a process or journey, which is also described as Presencing, as indicated in the diagram (for which there are numerous variants).At the core of the "U" Theory is presencing: sensing + presence. According to The Learning Exchange, Presencing is a journey with five movements:
The core elements are:
1. Co-initiating common intent: 5. Co-evolving through innovations:
Stop and listen to others and to ecosystems that facilitate seeing
what life calls you to do and acting from the whole
2. Co-sensing the field of change: 4. Co-creating strategic microcosms:
Go to the places of most potential Prototype the new to explore
and listen with your mind and the future by doing
heart wide open
3. Presencing inspiration and common will:
Go to the threshold and allow the inner knowing to emerge
(Scharmer, 2007).
Leadership Capacities
According to Scharmer, a value created by journeying through the "U" is to develop seven essential leadership capacities:- Holding the Space: Listen to What Life Calls You to Do (listen to oneself, to others and make sure that there is space where people can talk ...)
- Observing: Attend with Your Mind Wide Open (observe without your voice of judgment, basically means to get rid of pas cognitive schema)
- Sensing: Connect with Your Heart (facilitate the opening process, i.e. look interconnected wholes)
- Presencing: Connect to the Deepest Source of Your Self and Will (act from the emerging whole)
- Crystallizing: Access the Power of Intention (e.g. make sure to find a very small group of key persons commits itself to the purpose and outcomes of the project.)
- Prototyping: Integrating Head, Heart, and Hand (basically, it means that one should act and not let various sources of paralysis like reactive action, too much analysis, etc. interfere)
- Performing: Playing the Macro Violin. (e.g. find the right leaders, find good social technology to get a multi-stakeholder project going)
Discussion
Theory U now constitutes a major body of leadership and management praxis drawing from the original work of Glasl and Lemson, the contribution of organization development consultants over several decades and more than 10 years work by C. Otto Scharmer. Key attributes of this praxis include:- Specific linkage of the consciousness of the leader/leadership team with the results of their work.
- Individuals and teams move through a whole system integrated planning process involving observation, knowing and visualized decision-making.
- Innovation is integral.
- Policy making (as the elaboration of conscious design principles for the organization) is connected and integrated with the vision of what is to be brought about.
- Relevant to both individual development and practice and organization development and practice, and indeed explicitly connecting these.
- A social technology that contributes to either or both of conflict resolution and social engineering.
Links
- C. Otto Scharmer Home Page (includes print and podcasts to download)
- Presencing Home Page
- Change Management Blog's Theory U entries
- Society for Organizational Learning / Theory U (just a short blurb)
- The U-Process for Heuristic Discovery