Leading from the Emerging Future: From Ego-System to Eco-System Economies, July/2013

By The Bestselling Author Of Theory U

We have entered an age of disruption. Financial collapse, climate change, resource depletion, and a growing gap between rich and poor are but a few of the signs. Collectively, despite our best efforts, we are producing results that nobody wants.

Having worked in hot spots of societal innovation and conducted interviews with thought leaders, innovators, and change makers worldwide, Otto Scharmer and Katrin Kaufer argue that we need to jettison the old frames and habits of thought left over from the 19th and 20th centuries. Meeting the challenges of this century requires updating our economic logic and operating system.

We must move away from an obsolete “ego-system” awareness that focuses entirely on the well-being of the individual—be it a single person, group, organization, or country—to an eco-system awareness that emphasizes the well-being of the whole. To free ourselves from outmoded ways of perceiving the world, we need the capacity to sense and actualize emerging future possibilities, both individually and collectively. Scharmer and Kaufer here describe a method they call presencing (a combination of the words presence and sensing). It enables the development of institutional innovation and new leadership capacities so leaders can connect to the highest future possibility and become part of what brings it about.

Scharmer and Kaufer take readers on a thought-provoking journey filled with real-world examples that will help leaders and change makers transform and renew business, society, and the self. They present a proven program for developing leadership skills that will bring about innovation in all sectors and create an economy that works in more intentional, inclusive, sustainable, and inspired ways.

About The Authors:
Dr. Otto Scharmer, author of Theory U and co-author of Presence, is a senior lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the founding chair of the Presencing Institute. He also is faculty chair of MIT’s IDEAS program and a visiting professor at Tsinghua University, Beijing. In 2012 he co-founded the Global Well-Being and Gross National Happiness (GNH) Lab, which links innovators from Bhutan, India, China, Brazil, Europe, and the United States in order to prototype profound innovations in government, business, education, and civil society. He has worked with governments, UN organizations, companies, and NGOs in Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Europe, and he has delivered award-winning leadership and innovation programs for clients including Alibaba, Daimler, Eileen Fisher, Fujitsu, Google, Natura, and PriceWaterhouse. Scharmer is currently a vice-chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on New Leadership Models. He holds a PhD in economics and management from Witten-Herdecke University in Germany. He lives with his family in the Boston area.

Dr. Katrin Kaufer is co-founder and research director at the Presencing Institute and research fellow at the Community Innovators Lab (CoLab) at MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning. Her research focuses on leadership, social transformation, and socially responsible banking. She has consulted with midsized and global companies, nonprofit organizations, the World Bank, and the United Nations Development Programme. She currently works with the Global Alliance for Banking on Values, a network of twenty financial institutions that focus on relinking finance with a shared intention for positive social change. She also co-developed the Global Classroom concept at the Presencing Institute, an online learning platform that links live-streamed virtual classroom interaction with small-group dialogue and local action. Kaufer earned her MBA and PhD from Witten-Herdecke University in Germany. Her dissertation focused on socially responsible banking. She lives with her family in the Boston area.