The core social technology of Change Labs is the U-Process. For the following description of Change Labs we are indebted to our colleagues at Generon Consulting.

The U-Process provides a rigorous method for teams made up of highly diverse individuals to achieve greater clarity and connection, a new operating consensus, and breakthrough innovations and solutions to previously stuck problems.

The U-Process is designed to enable practitioners to pay attention to, and learn from, emerging realities or opportunities. The process comprises three major stages: observing the current reality carefully and in depth; retreating and reflecting to allow “inner knowing” to emerge; and acting swiftly in order to bring forth the new reality.

 

More than just a problem-solving tool, the U-Process involves a fundamentally different approach to co-creation, in which we recognize that the self and the world are inescapably linked.

The process of moving down the left-hand side of the U involves a change of perception, from experiencing the world as something “out there” to one of seeing from inside the living processes underlying reality. Then, as we move up the right side of the U, we start to experience the world as unfolding through us. The most profound work, however, occurs at the bottom of the U, in which we reach a state of clarity and connection to what is emerging. This experience has been termed presencing because it is about becoming totally present—to the larger space or field around us, to an expanded sense of self, and, ultimately, to what is emerging through us. Once we have achieved that stance, as individuals and as a team, moving up the U involves acting in service of bringing that emerging reality into being.

The Change Lab is undertaken by a Lab Team that, as a group, is a microcosm of the social system they intend to understand and influence. They are diverse enough—sectorally, socially, demographically, politically, geographically, professionally, etc.—to be able to see the whole system, and for most stakeholders to be able to see their own views reflected in the team. The Lab Team is supported by a group of senior Executive Champions, who provide feedback, credibility, and resources, and by a Lab Secretariat.

SI is currently leading two Change Labs:

Resources

The theory behind change labs is articulated in three books:

  • Peter Senge, Claus Otto Scharmer, Joseph Jaworski, and Betty Sue Flowers, Presence: Human Purpose and the Field of the Future
  • Claus Otto Scharmer, Presencing: Illuminating The Blind Spot of Leadership
  • Adam Kahane, Solving Tough Problems: An Open Way of Talking, Listening, and Creating New Realities

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