Theory U
I'd like to invite partners and colleagues to engage In this thread of thoughts and reflections about Theory U.
This invitation, long in my mind, can be finally released thanks to my sensible colleagues who experimented together in an ad hoc laboratory.
The experiment took place in Leiden, Instituut Maatschappelijke Innovatie - IMI, on November 11th between 13:00-16:00H.
We were a group of about 14 colleagues in related fields of OD (Organizational Development). We met for a master-class to be given by me.
The title I chose was: U-Turn, a dive into Theory U
I'll try to make sense of what we did, by telling the story from where it began ...
Why Theory U?
I am a member of SOL (Society of Organizational Learning) since 1999. The nature of my membership changed during the years: from active involvement, to passive engagement and back.
During the second Global Forum of SoL, in 2004 Viena, Otto Sharmer presented his Theory U. I remember myself becoming very curious waiting to read the book.
The book arrived, and I dived in ...
At a certain time, a sense of dissapointment showed up ...
It is pointless to repeat in writing all the faces and facets of my dissapointment, I shared them with many colleagues during the years.
... and still
... I kept diving deeper, as if attracted by something I couldn't tell.
Finite and Infinite Games
"A finite game is played for the purpose of winning, an infinite game for the purpose of continuing the play." writes James P. Carse on the cover of his book. This means that most of the games we play are finite games (f-games).
