The imperceptible Steps of Change
Otto Scharmer a lecturer at the Sloan School of Management at MIT seems like an unlikely candidate to raise at the beginning of a reflection. However, it is here that I begin a story today. Scharmer, an expert in change management, developed this theory after examining the behavior of 150 organizations that had been immensely successful in the development of new products and services but more particularly, had been successful in changing their direction for the better.
His theory has some very interesting outcomes. I say his theory, but the theory is the consolidated best practices of the organizations he researched. There are some incredible similarities to the changes individuals make on their own spiritual journeys, not just in outcomes but the strategies, means, and methods to achieve them. Let me explain.
The Theory of U has the following purpose, at least from a management perspective. Here is a definition of that purpose.
“The principles of Theory U are suggested to help political leaders, civil servants, and managers break through past unproductive patterns of behavior that prevent them from empathizing with their clients’ perspectives and often lock them into ineffective patterns of decision making.”
Immediately, we see the similarities here with the mystical path, or the spiritual journey. Where we are trying to break from prior behaviors and patterns and move forward in our journeys to a deeper relationship with God.
Some of the keywords in this purpose are “breakthrough past unproductive patterns of behavior that prevent them from empathizing with their clients’ perspectives and often lock them into ineffective patterns of decision making”
In Theory U, Scharmer has six steps, amazingly close to the various steps we all need to take to move to the Contemplative Way, particularly as articulated by the spiritual Masters and more recently by Fr. Thomas Keating in his book Open Mind, Open Heart. Before going there, let me spend a moment reviewing the steps in Theory U and how they relate to our journeys.
- Holding the space: listen to what life calls you to do (listen to oneself, to others and make sure that there is space where people can talk)
- Observing: Attend with your mind wide open (observe without your voice of judgment, effectively suspending past cognitive schema)
- Sensing: Connect with your heart and facilitate the opening process (i.e. see things as interconnected wholes)
- Presencing: Connect to the deepest source of your self and will and act from the emerging whole
- Crystallizing: Access the power of intention (ensure a small group of key people commits itself to the purpose and outcomes of the project)
- Prototyping: Integrating head, heart, and hand (one should act and learn by doing, avoiding the paralysis of inaction, reactive action, over-analysis, etc.)
- Performing: Playing the “macro violin” (i.e. find the right leaders, find appropriate social technology to get a multi-stakeholder project going).
If we look at the diagram on the screen. Hopefully, you can see it; you can see it documents a journey through Theory U from collecting and assessing our prior practices and at the same time changing our disposition to be able to move through the second phases of the process. When changes begin to produce changes in disposition and in results. The key elements of Open Mind, Open Heart and an Open Will provide the means for these changes to occur. Changes we can relate to in our own journeys. Now, don’t get me wrong, we cannot find a systematic path that will bring us closer to God purely by willing it, but if all the gates are open, the Heart, the Mind and our Freewill, then changes can and do occur.
Perhaps the most insightful element of this Theory U is one of explanation to me of why so many are living a faith life that seems to meet all the organizational and sacramental requirements of their religious life. Yet, they do not have a close or personal relationship with God. They are still looking over their shoulder at the past, or what others are telling them it means to be close to God. They seem to be checking all the boxes, but still have not had an experience of God. This willingness to see a future, to desire a future of a closer relationship with God, requires ditching some or all of our personal desire for God to do for us what we want. And rather just to be. We can see in Theory U that they describe this as Letting Go, and then Letting Come. I rather like that idea, and there is much evidence that it works in the Spiritual Journey just was well. What do you think?
Copyright Reflection Michael J. Cunningham 2025 with all references to Theory U from Otto Scharmer, http://www.presencing.com