U theory is a process that is profound, powerful and practical. But it seems to me that U Theory believers use so much jargon that they are in danger of turning it into a cult. One day I decided to try to explain U Theory in plain English. The is the result.
U Theory is about helping people to make change happen together. U Theory is a collaborative three-step process designed to help people dealing with change and complexity discover truly innovative solutions. U Theory is used in all sectors, from communities to businesses, to generate creative responses to both challenges and opportunities.
Where does U Theory come from?
U Theory was developed by Dr Otto C Scharmer, Senior Lecturer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and founding chair of the Presencing Institute, together with a number of colleagues including Peter Senge who pioneered the concept of a learning organisation.
U Theory may seem complex at first, but in fact it the process is simple and elegant. The language Scharmer uses to describe the different stages of U Theory can be off-putting. So what I have tried to do here is describe the key elements of the U Theory process in plain English. If you would like to learn more, you can go online and watch Scharmer himself talking about U Theory. Or read one of the recommended texts below. I highly recommend ‘Presence’ as an introduction to U Theory as a means of exploring climate change, complexity and change.
Scharmer started with the notion that most people learn from experience. We have an experience, we reflect on it, we make connections and form ideas. Then we apply our idea to a new situation and reflect again. As a result, most problem solving is based on what happened in the past. We download concepts and models, apply them to different contexts, and expect them to work. As Einstein remarked, we can’t expect to solve problems with the methods that created them (or something like that!).
As a result of spending time with inventors and innovators, Scharmer came to the conclusion that innovators learn in a completely different way. What Scharmer discovered is that innovators learn from “a future that is emerging”. In everyday language, what this means is that innovators are good a noticing what is happening and spotting emerging trends and changes. They keep an open mind, they listen and observe, they are in touch with their feelings and what really matters to them. When they get an idea, innovators try out ‘prototype’ solutions immediately. They don’t waste time writing a business plan.
Suspend the way you think. Focus on listening to people and observing what is going on around you. This might mean spending more time with your staff or your customers and clients. It could mean going into the street and talking to strangers. This stage is also called ‘Sensing’.
The third stage is about rapid prototyping of an idea. Scharmer says this is like working with designers. You take an idea and try it out quickly without getting bogged down in writing a business plan. This stage is also called ‘Realising’.
To make U Theory work for us we need to practice a number of key leadership skills and abilities. We need to be exceptional listeners and observers, able to gather information from different sources in order to deepen our understanding of the context. We need to be able to connect and work in close partnership with other people. We have to be authentic, able to use our head and our heart to decide what matters most and where we want to go. We have to be comfortable with risk, able to learn from failure, and not fear it. And we have to stop being cynical.