Presence: An Exploration of Profound Change in People, Organizations, and Society
This book provides an intimate look at the development of a new theory about change and learning. In wide-ranging conversations held over a year and a half, organizational learning pioneers Peter Senge, C. Otto Scharmer, Joseph Jaworski, and Betty Sue Flowers explored the nature of transformational change—how it arises, and the fresh possibilities it offers a world dangerously out of balance. The book introduces the idea of “presence”—a concept borrowed from the natural world that the whole is entirely present in any of its parts—to the worlds of business, education, government, and leadership. Too often, the authors found, we remain stuck in old patterns of seeing and acting. By encouraging deeper levels of learning, we create an awareness of the larger whole, leading to actions that can help to shape its evolution and our future.
C. Otto Scharmer
More information about C. Otto Scharmer, Theory U, and Presencing is available at www.ottoscharmer.com
SoL's Presencing CourseBased on the “u-model” featured in the book
Presence: An Exploration of Profound Change in People, Organizations, and Society, this experiential workshop for teams and leaders at all levels introduces individual and collective methodologies for sensing and facilitating profound change both within organizations and across societal systems. The workshop is based on findings from interviews with 150 scientists and social and business entrepreneurs in the areas of creativity, high performance, and leadership.
The Presencing Institute
The Presencing Institute was founded to develop and advance the social technology of presencing, a set of practices and tools for collectively leading profound innovation change. The Institute is working to form a Global Action Research University that integrates science, consciousness, and profound social change.
SoL's Second Global Forum
Building on the success of SoL's First Global Forum held in Helsinki in 2003, SoL convened the Second SoL Global Forum, A Symphony of Innovation: Leveraging Complexity to Create Knowledge and Confidence, in Vienna, Austria, 13-16 September 2005. Select resources from this meeting are available to the public.
Dialog on Leadership
Many of the interviews that are quoted or referred to in Presence are available at www.dialogonleadership.org. The site includes interviews with dozens of thought leaders (free pdf downloads) and a set of papers documenting an ongoing inquiry into leadership and social change.
