Product Description

Radical and hopeful - Presence synthesises cutting-edge thinking, firsthand knowledge and ancient wisdom Presence: Human Purpose and the Field of the Future gives the reader an intimate look at the development of a new theory about change and learning. A book built around a series of wide-ranging conversations over a year and a half, Senge, Scharmer, Jaworski, and Flowers explore their own experiences and those of one hundred and fifty scientists and social and business entrepreneurs in an effort to explain how profound collective change occurs. Their journey of discovery articulates a new way of seeing the world, and of understanding our part in creating it - as it is and as it might be. Presence explores the living fields that connect us to one another, to life more broadly, and, potentially, to what is "seeking to emerge." Seven capacities underlie our ability to see, sense, and realize new possibilities. Developing these capacities accesses a deeper level of learning that is the key to creating change that services the whole - ourselves, our organizations and the communities of which we are a part.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21436 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-26
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Review
"Presence is a timely and altogether important book. Drawing on a leading-edge understanding of human learning and awareness, it offers a simple but effective gateway to our capacity to become change agents of the future - in business, work and relationships. Finding our presence is finding the key to creative change and to our own future." Ken Wilber, A Theory of Everything: An Integral Vision for Business, Politics, Science, and Spirituality "A remarkable book, Presence is a journey from the present to an unknown future, a journey of exploration rather than dogma, and a journey toward a vision of humanity at its highest. Like a good documentary, Presence is a book with "emotional truth," a wonderful combination of intellectual and visceral experience" Robert Fritz, The Path of Least Resistance "At this turbulent juncture in human history, a whole new set of social innovations promises to shift humanity away from its destructive path towards a brighter planetary civilization. Presencing and its U process is one of the most profound. It provides all who want to change the world not only with profound hope, but with a systematic and effective way to birth a sustainable planetary society. Nicanor Perlas, Recipient of the 2003 Alternative Nobel Prize and the U.N. Environmental Program Global 500 Award "Collective inner knowing allows the future to speak to the present - if we allow ourselves to be in the "flow" of knowledge as it emerges. It is perhaps the one source of sustained innovation of the character and scale needed to redesign human communities." Roger Saillant, CEO, Plug Power (former executive, Ford Motor Company)"

From the Inside Flap
"Presence is a timely and altogether important book. Drawing on a leading-edge understanding of human learning and awareness, it offers a simple but effective gateway to our capacity to become change agents of the future - in business, work and relationships. Finding our presence is finding the key to creative change and to our own future."
Ken Wilber, A Theory of Everything: An Integral Vision for Business, Politics, Science, and Spirituality

"A remarkable book, Presence is a journey from the present to an unknown future, a journey of exploration rather than dogma, and a journey toward a vision of humanity at its highest.
Like a good documentary, Presence is a book with "emotional truth," a wonderful combination
of intellectual and visceral experience"
Robert Fritz, The Path of Least Resistance

"At this turbulent juncture in human history, a whole new set of social innovations promises to shift humanity away from its destructive path towards a brighter planetary civilization. Presencing and its U process is one of the most profound. It provides all who want to change the world not only with profound hope, but with a systematic and effective way to birth a sustainable planetary society.
Nicanor Perlas, Recipient of the 2003 Alternative Nobel Prize and the U.N. Environmental Program Global 500 Award

"Collective inner knowing allows the future to speak to the present - if we allow ourselves to be in the "flow"
of knowledge as it emerges. It is perhaps the one source of sustained innovation of the character and scale needed
to redesign human communities."
Roger Saillant, CEO, Plug Power (former executive, Ford Motor Company)

About the Author
Peter Senge is a senior lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, and the founding chair of the Society for Organizational Learning. He is the author of the widely acclaimed Fifth Discipline series. Senge is globally recognized as one of the most innovative thinkers about management and leadership, translating the abstract ideas of systems theory into tools for better understanding economic and organizational change. His work today focuses on fostering collaboration among diverse business, governmental, and nongovernmental organizations in order to address long-term systemic change that is beyond the reach of individual organizations. C. Otto Scharmer is a lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management, a Visiting Professor at the Helsinki School of Economics and an international action researcher. Joseph Jaworski is the chairman of Generon Consulting, cofounder of the Global Leadership Initiative, and author of the critically acclaimed Synchronicity: The Inner Path of Leadership. Betty Sue Flowers is the director of the Johnson Presidential Library and Museum having previously held a professorship of English at the University of Texas. SoL (The Society for Organizational Learning, Inc.) an outgrowth of the former MIT Center for Organizational Learning, is a nonprofit international membership organization that connects researchers, organizations, and consultants in over thirty countries in building knowledge for systemic change.

Customer Reviews

Lots of newagian / jungian sychronism
I was recommended this book as a serious book on new types of management practises. The Theory U, one of the main themes of the book, may turn out to be so. However, unfortunately the explanation of the Theory U is intervened in the book with lots of personal stories, many referring to their alledged personal experiences of various kinds of sychronicity experiences; quite jungian or new age in my opinion.

Most of the personal stories, like dancing whales or communicating with sea lions if something that you cannot touch. They can be true or not. However, on the second last page of Chapter 15, Joseph Jaworski describes his encounter with Carlos Barrios, a Mayan priest. This Barrios told Jaworski about "Perhaps the most famous of [Mayan Calendar] cycles, the Bolopumi", which according to the book started in 1518 and lasted for 468 years. Then, after that, there was several "different shorter cycles", last of which "signals that 'a new child is born'", and that last cycle "began on August 17, 2001." Now, on August 17 2001 there was apparently an important spiritual meeting that Jaworski participated to. "Carlos said that this was not surprising -- that all around the world generative choices were being made on that day."

Now, I went to google, wikipedia, etc, and searched for "Bolopumi". The only hit I found looked like a Chinese translation of that part of the Presence book. The right term for the period might have been "Bolomtikus", though. Looking at various sources on Mayan calendars, I couldn't find any evidence that Mayan calendar experts would consider August 17, 2001 as an important date. Apparently August 16, 1987 was an important date, at least according to Carlos Barrios, though.

So, I am personally very sceptical towards all the "stories" in the book that tell about the "synchronous" or world-opening personal experiences of the authors, and especially sceptical towards those told by Jaworski. He doesn't seem to get even his details right.

Hence, while the Theory U, mostly developed by Scharmer, may represent something remarkable, in general I'm pretty sceptical about the rest of the material included in this book.

a wonderful and practical book
This inspiring book, written by four authorities on management and leadership, takes the reader on a journey of self-discovery and engagement with issues of change, in organisations, society at large and individuals. Its basic premise is that change involves not only elements external to a situation but, also, or perhaps even more so, the people involved. The authors offer insights into the interrelationships between parts and wholes, inviting us to change our outlook, no longer looking at parts for the solution to a problem but at the complete picture ("the whole"). The ideas in this book draw upon ideas of the physicist Bohm (the implicate order) and psychologist Jung (synchronicity).

Describing the process of change they have been tentatively exploring, the authors make the case for a new method of learning. They argue that increasing awareness of the whole, as it is and as it is evolving, will allow insights into solutions to come forward. This requires a new type of listening that goes well beyond our usual methods of hearing what someone has to say. On the basis of these solutions that "emerge" from the "field" (yes, here it does become a little metaphysical), they argue that humans are able to suspend their initial responses and open up to answers that are unexpected. They invite us to see with the heart, as well. The authors call this process a "U" curve: going deep down into reflection, sensing the potential solutions and then, coming up, exploring the actions that present themselves as possible ways forward to effect change.

I highly recommend the book, wonderfully describing the authors' joint journey into uncharted waters, also to the sceptical mind.

Senge's best work yet
In this excellent book, Peter Senge and his colleagues have produced an inspiring and thought-provoking read that explains many of the barriers to progress experienced by both society and business. Their explanation of 'presence' as the combination of past and future, spirit and practical intervention is superb. I strongly recommend this read to anyone who is interested in creating profound change, whether for themselves or others.