What we pay attention to, and how we pay attention is the key to what we create. What often prevents us from 'being present, ' is what Scharmer calls our blind spot, the inner place from which each of us operates. Becoming aware of our blind spot is critical to bringing forth the profound systemic changes so needed in business and society today.

First introduced in Presence, the U methodology of leading profound change is expanded and deepened in Theory U. By moving through the "U" process we learn to connect to our essential Self in the realm of ’presencing’ - a term coined by Scharmer. When ’presencing’ we are able to see our own blind spot and pay attention in a way that allows us to experience the opening of our minds, our hearts, and our wills. Through this process we are able to shift our awareness to allow us to connect with our best future possibility—and to realize it.

Table of Contents :


Part I Bumping into Our Blind Spot
Chapter 1 Facing the Fire 23
Chapter 2 The Journey to "U" 27
Chapter 3 Fourfold Learning and Change 49
Chapter 4 Organizational Complexity 59
Chapter 5 Shifts in Society 81
Chapter 6 Philosophical Grounding 105
Chapter 7 On the Threshold 111

Part II Entering the U Field
Chapter 8 Downloading 119
Chapter 9 Seeing 129
Chapter 10 Sensing 143
Chapter 11 Presencing 163
Chapter 12 Crystallizing 191
Chapter 13 Prototyping 203
Chapter 14 Performing 215

Part III Presencing: A Social Technology for Leading Profound Innovation and Change
Chapter 15 The Grammar of the Social Field 231
Chapter 16 Individual Actions 261
Chapter 17 Conversational Actions 271
Chapter 18 Organizational Actions 301
Chapter 19 Global Actions 327
Chapter 20 Catching Social Reality Creation in Flight 355
Chapter 21 Principles and Practices of Presencing for Leading Profound Innovation and Change 377
Epilogue: Birthing a Global Presencing-in-Action University 443