How do we find a good future?

Today, let’s return to my review of Theory-U, a new system of leadership and professional development developed by Otto Scharmer. I am fascinated by what Otto has to say but also see a lot of applicable aspects for our coaching and development system at AMC LCC.

The aspect we are looking at this time is the way organizations work in this 21st century, - or better- how they should work. The first aspect of this point is the way modern western societies act versus what would be desirable.

Do you recall cases where you knew things weren’t going well, where you felt something needed to change or your superiors should actually realize that continuing what has been done for years is not leading to success? If you do, you will find a lot of familiar thoughts in what Otto writes:

“In all of the key areas of society, we collectively produce results that few people (if anyone) want: schools that prevent our children from unfolding their capacity for deeper learning; health care systems that fight symptoms rather than address the root causes of health problems; industrial production systems that are out of sync with the principles and laws of our planetary ecosystem; an approach to world politics that focuses on issues such as terrorism by reacting to the symptoms rather than addressing the systematic causes.”(Scharmer, 2007, p.50)

I believe nobody can deny the fact that all these things happen and that we are not really learning what to do about them. The media is constantly feeding us quick fix solutions, especially regarding our health buy suggesting taking a pill. Nobody ever looks at all the side effects, especially those generated by all the different medicines we are asked to take as soon as we detect a symptom.

A similar situation has been developing in industry for the last decade. While many people speak about internationalization, globalization, outsourcing and world wide competition, the actual processes inside many organizations haven’t really changed. This has consequences on the internal leadership, as the world around the organization changes faster than the internal structures.

Otto Scharmer describes a process regarding this change-situation that breaks down into four steps or levels:

Level 1 is reacting: to respond by operating on existing habits and routines.
Level 2 is redesigning: changing the underlying structure and process.
Level 3 is reframing: Changing the underlying pattern of thought.
Level 4 is presencing: Learning from the future as it emerges
(Scharmer, 2007, p.51)

He points out that most companies stay on levels 1 or 2, reacting to issues that come up or reorganizing how they do things. The same is true for re-engineering, which is really only another way of putting a process or product together. To support these efforts we use change management to overcome the inherent resistance to change the vast majority of people have. Different methods of reflection help us analyze what we are doing and how well the changes are progressing. This in turn allows managers and leaders to intervene when things don’t find the acceptance they were hoping for before something has changed in a way or to a degree that is undesirable.

When we look at level 3, we are actually admitting that a fundamental change in the way we think about something is needed. A good example would be globalization itself. For several years organizations and nations have observed the changes and began to realize that it is more advantageous to participate than to close the borders and implement protectionist measures. This change of thought has lead to many new opportunities but also to new structures that are still unfamiliar and bear the risk of giving authority and power to regions and individuals who might use them differently than we would like to see them used.

A good example would be the countries rich in natural resources, like Russia. The evolving democratic structures have not succeeded and many people now believe that a mix of socialism and democracy is taking hold, often leaving huge amounts of wealth in the hands of very few while keeping many at the very lowest end of the economic scale. With an enormous amount of oil, gas, gold, minerals, etc. in the ground and prices for commodities at record highs, Russia has taken a different path than was anticipated when the dependence on the Western democracies was significantly higher.

The level 4 process of presencing is comparable to the creation of art. When getting ready to draw a picture, sculpt something, developing a new, never before seen piece, there is a reflection period before the artist is actually beginning to take action. During that period thoughts, desires, intentions, goals, etc. are applied together with a silence and stillness that precedes the manifestation of the new creation. This manifestation initially occurs in the artists mind.

You don’t need to be a painter to recall such a process. When a challenge, problem, issue, or something for which there is no precedence is presented, we all go through this evolution. We sit back, get quiet, think about what has been presented, and then, at some point, often unexpected, an idea or solution or shape for the artistic object emerges in our mind. We may not have all the exact shapes and details in clear view, but we have a feeling and the knowledge of a solution. In some cases people say: “I believe I know what I need to do”; or “I have the feeling we are on the right track and should do …next. In these situation we trust what we call ‘intuition’ to guide us. Otto Scharmer, to some extent, calls it being guided by the emerging future.

For the coaching process we apply at AMC LLC, we want to learn to be open to this emerging future. That includes becoming aware of the things that cause stress, identify the issues that manifest fear in our minds, and develop ourselves into individuals with real independence, good ambition and confidence, and a well developed ability to interact with others while forming resonating relationships. We want to be organized and structures where needed, but not shy to show our emotions and feeling, where appropriate.

The first step in this improvement process is the identification of the status quo. We do this by offering a free assessment. It will allow us to discover where a person stands and which areas are best suited to apply the level of change and receive the most improvement with the least amount of effort.

I hope you will act to discover your own status of performance and leadership by visiting our sites at www.Myperformanceiq.com or www.meierhoefer.net/welcome.htm and start the path towards your discovery.

Axel Meierhoefer, President AMC LLC