Instrumentation of the Creative Economy Under the Theory U Concepts

The West Amazon peoples show a low economic and social development pattern, even when there are plenty of natural resources. It looks like there is a huge gap between these resources, the investments, the knowledge, and the public policies able to create a better life quality for the Amazonians. This work looks forward to promoting the development of the Amazon according to ways shown by the creative economy and the U Theory, special attention will be given to the Amazonian situation and the path to its cognitive development and subsequent economic development. The work is in the academia and communities that search for a viable alternative to creative and sustainable development. From this standpoint, the proposed general objective is to study the instrumentation of the creative economy with input from the U theory. As specific objectives: to perform a critical analysis of the raised concepts (1); to point towards the circularity elements of the creative economy in the community (2); and refer to the acknowledged instrumentation in this study in support to the creative economy, having as baseline the U Theory (3). Hence, the problem proposed is: how the concepts brought up by the creative economy with the support of the U Theory can contribute to the West Amazon’s economic, social and sustainable development promotion. It is meant as qualitative research with a content analysis method, in which the data was gathered through bibliographic search and interviews. In the results, it is proposed a competence and ability management space to the leaderships, beginning at the Amazonian home. It is due to capacitating and training these producers under innovation, entrepreneurship, and sustainability concepts. It is requested the attendance to rules and techniques be respected by the producer of products elaborated with the available raw material.

Striving for Justice

Black ministry has historically found itself at the intersection of theology and racial justice. In this dialogue, a group of people, both ordained and lay, discuss their work in the Methodist Church in Great Britain, taking a deep look at self and system through the lens of justice and inclusion. The Methodist Church has a long history of grappling with issues of (racial) justice. In 2019, at a Racial Justice Symposium convened by the Methodist Church, participants engaged in an awareness-based systems change process to take a deep dive into what it means to shape inclusive community. Theory U (Scharmer 2016, 2018; Scharmer & Kaufer, 2013) provided the overarching framework and key principles for this journey of co-inquiry.

Awareness Based Systems Change and Racial Justice

In my years working as a racial justice lawyer I came to realize that the law, while an incredibly important part of the work, is too blunt an instrument for the work of opening people’s hearts. What awareness-based systems change, and Theory U in particular, has to offer is a framework and method for doing this subtle work. In this piece I describe the ways in which this approach can serve as a powerful tool in the transformation of systemic and structural violence through its core movement of turning the beam of observation back on self and system with open-mind (curiosity), open-heart (compassion) and open-will (courage). If structural violence is a series of societal agreements to not pay attention to a set of people we deem less human than ourselves, as I believe it is, then what does it mean to cultivate a quality of attention that redresses these agreements? Not averting our eyes from the systemic racism that shapes our collective existence is core, as is witnessing with a tender heart. Then connecting the tender heart to effective action means acting with understanding of the urgent need to see from the whole, which cannot exclude anyone, especially people who have been marginalized. While you do not unmake centuries of injustice and violence by paying attention with an open-mind, heart, and will, you do help the social body in the room become more effective at the thing they are trying to do - beginning to address centuries of injustice and violence. That is the potential of awareness-based systems change.

The New Paradigm Is Already Here

This paper explores how abstract concepts of alignment, such as moving between different levels of attention, were made visible and concrete in a case study carried out in the context of nature tourism. The alignment practices were mapped from a design research project, where the aim was to construct and explore a prototype of future culture based on care and awareness-based co-creation. The paper combines literature form care ethics and ontology of becoming to support the alignment concepts form awareness-based systems change approach, Theory U. In addition, the collaborative and dialogical tradition of constructive design research is being introduced as a potential sense-making approach to explore the deeper meanings of experiences and events in the development process together with local stakeholders. Later, the research findings are discussed in the light of the individual and collective capacity building needs, which aim to change our inner mindset and posture of being and becoming with the world. Finally, the paper argues that the potential for change and the choice to bring about that change can be found within us as a willingness and readiness to re-invent ourselves in every moment, every encounter, and interaction.

Unlocking the Potential of a Team: Appreciative Inquiry to Open a Team’s Mind, Heart, and Will to Co-Create its Future Words

En este artículo comparto mi experiencia sobre cómo ayudé a una compañía de la gran minería en Chile en su proceso transformación organizacional. Y les mostraré cómo actúo en cada una de las seis fases del modelo que propongo; integrando prácticas de la Teoría U en el proceso de la Intervención Apreciativa. In this article I share my experience of how helping a large mining company in Chile with its organisational transformation process. I also show what I do in each of the six phases of the model, where I propose integrating practices of Theory U with the Appreciative Inquiry process.

Shared strategic reflection process by a higher education institution: A case study

Business schools face social, economic, cultural, and technological changes that require constant rethinking not only of teaching and learning, but also of leadership and management. In contrast to traditional strategic planning models, this article proposes a new participatory approach for the university community, arriving at a common story and visualizing an exciting future for the school. Applying case study methodology, the paper describes a process of shared strategic reflection at a century-old European business school by following Otto Scharmer's Theory U. The process enabled achievement of shared definitions of vision, values, lines of progress, and strategic projects, and the study itself improved the participants’ perception of the process and its impact on a shared vision's generation. After process implementation, and as a general conclusion, Theory U contributed to promoting shared strategic reflection, with results that are very valuable in the highly uncertain, challenging environment in which business schools are immersed.

The Queen’s Nurses collaborative inquiry - understanding individual and collective experiences of transformative learning

Background: In contemporary health and social care services and systems, there is a critical need for nursing care that is agile in its delivery, integrated across sectors, responsive to complex need, and focused on prevention, self-care and wellbeing. Community nurses are at the centre of these services, working in and across a variety of complex systems that depend on the expertise they bring to individuals, communities and populations. However, ensuring this capability is brought to the forefront of quality frameworks is a challenge as care practices are often reduced to moments of interaction or intervention that are tangible and objectively measured. We know, though, that community nurses bring vital and wide-ranging expertise to the health of populations. The Queen’s Nursing Institute Scotland has re-established the Queen’s Nurse Development Programme to address these contemporary agendas and ensure the potential of expert community nursing is demonstrated and recognised. Aim: To engage in a participatory evaluation of the experience of the nine-month development journey of the 2019 Queen’s Nurse Development Programme participants. Methods: A Collaborative Critical Creative Inquiry (CCCI) methodology was used, operationalised through a five-phase inquiry process, informed by Theory U ‘presencing ’and its five movements for attending to and co-shaping reality to achieve presencing. Our embedded and embodied data-collection methods drew specifically on participants ’creative expressions, reflective diaries and journals, and project notes. Findings: The results of each phase of inquiry informed subsequent phases, culminating in a final phase (synthesis) where key themes representing the findings from all phases were derived. These themes were self-growth, community and practical impacts. Conclusion and implications for practice: The importance of slowing and stillness, linked to the spaces created for creative reflective learning and development has been significant in this programme. Being present to listen to self, and engage in self-care and self-growth is something the programme provides and that is highly valued. We would argue that if health systems are serious about the transformation of services and people, then these kinds of programmes are critical to success.

Presencing with Soul

In his outline of Theory U, an awareness-based social change methodology, Scharmer (2018) depicts seven stages of presencing which he suggests can enable deeper modes of perception and knowing, to help us actualise our highest potential for social, economic, and cultural renewal. In this paper I attempt to shine a deeper light into the seven stages of presencing, by drawing from the fields of transpersonal psychology, quantum physics, and consciousness studies. In doing so, my objective is to operationalise in psychological terms key processes in presencing, such as “letting go”, letting come”, “connecting to source”, and “dialoguing with the universe”. I explore what such processes may involve and what they may demand of presencing practitioners. In the first half of the paper, I map Scharmer’s (2018) seven stages onto three core streams of consciousness which inform the human experience, reflecting on the features and qualities of each stream, and considering what psychosomatic dynamics may be at play as we enact the trajectory of the U. In depicting the three streams of consciousness, I highlight some of the challenges which presencing presents, suggesting that it is, in essence, a depth-psychological and spiritual approach. In the second half of the paper, I explore the practical and ethical implications of presencing, considering what capacities and attitudes may need to be nurtured in practitioners to support skilful facilitation and enactment of the U process. I also consider what frameworks could be deployed to facilitate safe and effective practice.

Grasping the Context

Nothing happens in isolation and there is always history and spatiality that mediate the present state of affairs. Social conflicts are historical and geographical in nature, and in order to explore them and transform them, it is necessary to have a method. This chapter offers such a method. Drawing from ethnographic approaches from anthropology, and from practical methods such as Theory U and dynamical systems theory (DST), this chapter offers a dedicated study of a conflict area (Medellin, Colombia), and of how peace knowledge emerges from it. By peace knowledge the authors refer to contextual knowledge of specific peacebuilding and peacekeeping strategies that are rooted and specific to particular cultures and societies. This chapter discusses the method that they have developed to engage with social contexts to both identify the ways communities respond peacefully to conflicts, and to elicit culturally sensitive practices that have the potential to transform violent conflicts.