Book Review: Leading from the Emerging Future
by Otto Scharmer and Katrin Kaufer
By Richard and Gail West
 Otto Scharmer’s earlier book, Theory U, was about a U-shaped conversation process. It begins on the left arm of the U. People download their thinking, then listen and exchange thoughts and perhaps even debate. The dialogue deepens at the bottom of the U, the “Source”. Here they process and integrate, and then, when ready, move up the right arm of the U to create prototypes “from the future” for a “New Society”.
In his latest book, Leading from the Emerging Future (From Ego-System to Eco-System Economics: Applying Theory U to Transforming Business, Society, and Self), Scharmer and co-author Katrin Kaufer document this process in several locations around the world.
They write about the process in the introduction: “Transforming our current ego-system economy into an emerging eco-system economy...means... reconnecting our economic thinking with... the well-being of the ‘whole house’ rather than money-making or the well-being of just a few of its inhabitants”.
Their book tries to answer three questions:
- In the face of disruption, how do we lead from the emerging future?
- What evolutionary economic framework can guide our journey forward?
- What strategies can help us function as vehicles for shifting the whole?
It refers to the following levels of consciousness:
1.0
The state-centric model, characterized by coordinating through hierarchy and control in a single-sector society. A strong central actor holds the decision-making power of the whole.
2.0
The free-market model characterized by the rise of the second (private) sector and coordinated through the mechanisms of market and competition. There is an awakening ego-system awareness in which the self-interest of economic players acts as the animating or driving force.
3.0
The social-market model, characterized by the rise of a third (NGO) sector and by negotiated coordination among interest groups. It is characterized by a limiting of the unfettered market mechanism in areas where negative externalities are dysfunctional and unacceptable.
4.0
The co-creative eco-system model, characterized by the rise of a fourth sector that creates platforms and holds the space for cross-sector innovation that engages stakeholders from all sectors. This kind of economy innovates at the scale of the whole system.
The aim of the book is to provide “tools to enable groups to shift from lower consciousness states to 4.0 consciousness”. Some of its insights:
- Success does not depend on what we do or how we do it but on the inner place from which we operate.
- “Presencing” combines sensing (feeling the future possibility) and presence (the state of being).
- In presencing, energy follows attention. So shift attention from what we are trying to avoid to what we want to bring into reality.
- Go to the edge of the self by opening hearts, minds and will, let go and let the new come.
- Pass through the “eye of the needle” to bring the new into reality.
- Act in an instant; explore the future by doing; develop a prototype, something small, speedy and spontaneous.
- The future shows up first in our feelings and through our hands.
- Dialogue and collective creativity requires higher-quality containers and holding spaces.
- Strengthen presencing to avoid being trapped in the destructive dynamics of “absencing”. The latter comes through our “blind spot” of not being aware.
The book describes “Theory U” applied in a district in Java, Indonesia. I was overwhelmed by how it worked! The trigger for writing this review was an exchange of e-mail messages with Mr Soedjai Kartismita, 87, a top government plantation consultant, who took Gail and me under his wing when we worked there from 1979 to 1981.
The following is Sharmer’s account of how the district regent (“bupati”) of Bojonegoro used “Theory U” to deal with corruption. Mr Suyoto led his core team in a process of inventing from the future: entering into dialogue, then into source, and then creating a series of prototypes from this heightened consciousness. Some snippets:
In a move from Government 1.0 to 2.0 in 2005, Indonesia shifted from centralized decision-making to a decentralized model that empowered the 400 regencies in the country and their directly elected bupatis.
Bojonegoro was known for high levels of corruption and low service quality but in 2011 and 2012, it emerged as one of the 10 best regencies nationwide.
The new bupati, a 2010 graduate of the MIT IDEAS Indonesia program, came into power without support from established interest groups. While running for election, he went to the villages and listened. In a surprise victory, he replaced the incumbent. In 2012, he was re-elected by a greater margin against heavy financial odds.
On his first day in office, he called for an assembly of all government employees in the regency. Many had worked against him in the election, so they were expecting the worst.
He delivered two messages: First, everyone could keep their jobs. Next, there were three things he did not want them to do: don’t take money; don’t complain about your job; don't say: “This is not my job” or “This is not my responsibility.”
He made three moves: He continued to communicate the three don’ts and observed them himself. He developed a series of offsite leadership retreats. This facilitated the letting go of old mindsets and tuning in to new inspirations, intentions and identities. He enhanced feedback between people and government through the following mechanisms:
Text messaging: He gave his cell phone number to citizens and told them they could text him at any time. Some he answers and some he refers to others. All messages are expected to be responded to within two days.
Open door: Anyone can walk into his office at any time.
Town Hall: Every Friday afternoon he conducts a town hall meeting. All citizens are invited and all top civil servants are required to attend. And he backs up to see that things get done.
Village visits: Every day, he takes key officials to villages, where they conduct a similar dialogue.
What was different about his administration? Listening, listening and listening. Sharmer says a shift happened from consciousness 1.0 to what may have been 3.0, with the first elements of 4.0. That “deepened democratic forms by making government more direct, distributed, digital, dialogic” he writes.
I have waited for a book like this for a long time! I recommend it highly.
Richard and Gail West are members of ICA Taiwan
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