Theory U is an awareness-based method for changing systems. Theory U blends systems thinking, innovation, and leading change--from the viewpoint of an evolving human consciousness. Drawing on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) tradition of action research and learning by doing, Theory U has evolved over two decades of experimentation and refinement by a global community of practitioners. At its core, Theory U comprises three main elements:

1. A framework for seeing the blind spot of leadership and systems change: the "interior condition" from which we operate.

   2. A method for implementing awareness-based change: practical methods and tools for change makers. The focus is on building the collective capacity to shift the inner place from which we operate.

   3. A new narrative for evolutionary societal change: updating our mental and institutional operating systems in all of society's sectors. What does it take to redesign societies in ways that address the pressing challenges of our time? What does it take to apply the power of mindfulness and awareness to the transformation of the collective system?

Theory U integrates these methods and lineages for effecting change:

Action research and organizational learning in the tradition of Peter Senge, Ed Schein, Donald Schoen, Chris Argyris, and Kurt Lewin;

Design Thinking in the tradition of Tim Brown and Dave Kelly;

Mindfulness, cognition science, and phenomenology in the tradition of Francisco Varela, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Tanja Singer, Arthur Zajonc, and David Bohm;

Civil society movements in the tradition of Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, and millions of others who are mobilizing change in their local contexts.

You cannot engineer creativity, you cannot engineer a generative social field (a great school, organization, team, or society), but you can cultivate the outer and the inner conditions that allow us for such a field to be activated and to be cultivated. And that is something that great teachers and great leaders have always been doing intuitively. But we need to learn now that we live in an environment that’s a lot more toxic than it used to be. So, we need to strengthen this capacity. Great leaders do that, as individuals, more out of intuition and great teachers do the same thing. But we are now moving into greater disruption and toxicity, with more mental health issues all around us, distractions, and pressing issues growing louder. This environment requires us to upgrade our capacity to create these holding spaces. And this is not only what great individuals have to do, but it is something that you do as a whole team and community.

Leadership essentially is not what a person or an individual does, that's the biggest misunderstanding. The essence of leadership is the capacity of the system, in which everyone is participating, to sense and shape the future, and to be in touch with what wants to emerge, and then step into that. That really is what leadership is all about. And that's why leadership is a distributive phenomenon. It needs to include all of us, it's not something we can delegate to the one person at the top.

Upcoming date: 08.11.2023

Time: 20 hrs Vienna - AUSTRIA

Link: click here

Password: unity

Welcome to the new upcoming live series: “U-Calls!”, presented by you and us, and the SOL Initiative. Thank you for your curiosity and willingness to be a part of the movement and become the change! Together, we will co-create generative online and in-person spaces that let us dive into authentic dialogues and experiential learning journeys.

We, and all of us, are part of the exponential transformation when we come together as one community and share experiences and resources to support one another. This is to let go of the old and take the steps forward into sensing what we are called to create individually and together as One, cultivating shared awareness, and activating ourselves in multiple disciplines to notice and nurture the seeds of change, to finally bring forth the world that we want, and love to live in.