At the crossroads with you and "U"

By Julie Andersen, CORE Program Director
May 2016
CORE is at a crossroads – a place that evokes excitement, curiosity, potential, and vulnerability for me as CORE’s Program Director for the last three years. The timing of this journey is due to Becca Krantz’, CORE’s founder and Lead Organizer, “dance with cancer” during the past year (Becca is doing well now – read her blog to learn more) and also because it is CORE’s nature to create space for what is emerging.
To open ourselves to the emergent, CORE is in the midst of, along with you to the degree you want to be involved, an exploratory journey to discover what aspirations live in the our network and community and how we might co-create transformation towards equity and resilience. Many of you have already been involved through responses to our online survey and through face-to-face interviews – thank you! We would also love to have you participate in our CORE Community Conversations on May 25th as a part of this process.
A critical lens that has inspired and given shape to CORE from the time people and ideas were originally beginning to coalesce more than seven years ago to the planning of our most recent exploratory journey is Theory U. Theory U can be understood in three principle ways: as a framework for understanding challenges and change, as a method for transformation, and, most profoundly, as a way of being – connecting to the most authentic core of our collective and individual selves.
A key inspirational element for me in Theory U has been the idea of “turning the camera back on ourselves”. As Otto Scharmer and Katrin Kaufer explain it in their executive summary of Leading from the emerging future: from ego-system to eco-system economies, “The essence of that view is that we cannot transform the behavior of systems unless we transform the quality of awareness and attention that people apply to their actions within these systems, both individually and collectively.” Theory U is providing inspiration to a variety of entities worldwide and in Madison includes Edgewood College, Promega Corporation, and the Center for Healthy Minds, as well as CORE[1].
The U of the theory, refers to the shape of the process. The journey starts down the left side of the U with observing with open hearts, open minds, and open wills to let go of past patterns and see with fresh eyes. CORE’s one-on-one interviews, survey responses, our participation in community events (such as Greater Madison Engaged, Stand Up Against Racism, etc.), and intentional deep listening at CORE gatherings have all been part of our journey down the U.
The bottom of the U is a place for deep reflection and connection to our inner selves. The May 25th CORE Community Conversations will offer some space to collectively reflect on what, as a community and network, we are yearning for; how CORE’s contributions and strengths relate to those yearnings; and what resulting paths are emerging for CORE.
These conversations will also open the door for CORE to begin our journey up the right side of the U. This part of the U includes “letting come” that which wants to emerge, prototyping the ideas, and embodying what that means. To do this, CORE is opening up to a whole range of possibilities. Perhaps CORE as an entity will cease to exist and will find ways to share our experience and models with more natural homes somewhere else. Or, we may find new ways of being in partnership with other entities, identify new paths for addressing the yearnings of our community, and/or develop new methods for some of our previous programs.
CORE and Theory U are more than frameworks, programs, or networks. Both are essentially ways of being – ways of connecting with self and with others. We have heard that from those of you who participated in the interviews and surveys: CORE provides opportunities to connect and learn in spaces with qualities that are uniquely “CORE-like”. These qualities include: being mindful; opportunity to reflect; shared respect, space, leadership, ownership, and support; trust; and commitment to justice and sustainability. These qualities are co-created and sustained in relationship with all of you in our network. Whatever form CORE takes in the future, these qualities will be at its heart.
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[1] If you’d like to learn more about Theory U and connect with others who are exploring how to apply it in Madison (in addition to CORE), you can sign up for the Fall 2016 MOOC (massive open online course) through MIT and join a learning hub in Madison. To connect with the Madison Hub, contact Steve Gilchrist or Lyn McMurray at Edgewood College.
May 2016
CORE is at a crossroads – a place that evokes excitement, curiosity, potential, and vulnerability for me as CORE’s Program Director for the last three years. The timing of this journey is due to Becca Krantz’, CORE’s founder and Lead Organizer, “dance with cancer” during the past year (Becca is doing well now – read her blog to learn more) and also because it is CORE’s nature to create space for what is emerging.
To open ourselves to the emergent, CORE is in the midst of, along with you to the degree you want to be involved, an exploratory journey to discover what aspirations live in the our network and community and how we might co-create transformation towards equity and resilience. Many of you have already been involved through responses to our online survey and through face-to-face interviews – thank you! We would also love to have you participate in our CORE Community Conversations on May 25th as a part of this process.
A critical lens that has inspired and given shape to CORE from the time people and ideas were originally beginning to coalesce more than seven years ago to the planning of our most recent exploratory journey is Theory U. Theory U can be understood in three principle ways: as a framework for understanding challenges and change, as a method for transformation, and, most profoundly, as a way of being – connecting to the most authentic core of our collective and individual selves.
A key inspirational element for me in Theory U has been the idea of “turning the camera back on ourselves”. As Otto Scharmer and Katrin Kaufer explain it in their executive summary of Leading from the emerging future: from ego-system to eco-system economies, “The essence of that view is that we cannot transform the behavior of systems unless we transform the quality of awareness and attention that people apply to their actions within these systems, both individually and collectively.” Theory U is providing inspiration to a variety of entities worldwide and in Madison includes Edgewood College, Promega Corporation, and the Center for Healthy Minds, as well as CORE[1].
The U of the theory, refers to the shape of the process. The journey starts down the left side of the U with observing with open hearts, open minds, and open wills to let go of past patterns and see with fresh eyes. CORE’s one-on-one interviews, survey responses, our participation in community events (such as Greater Madison Engaged, Stand Up Against Racism, etc.), and intentional deep listening at CORE gatherings have all been part of our journey down the U.
The bottom of the U is a place for deep reflection and connection to our inner selves. The May 25th CORE Community Conversations will offer some space to collectively reflect on what, as a community and network, we are yearning for; how CORE’s contributions and strengths relate to those yearnings; and what resulting paths are emerging for CORE.
These conversations will also open the door for CORE to begin our journey up the right side of the U. This part of the U includes “letting come” that which wants to emerge, prototyping the ideas, and embodying what that means. To do this, CORE is opening up to a whole range of possibilities. Perhaps CORE as an entity will cease to exist and will find ways to share our experience and models with more natural homes somewhere else. Or, we may find new ways of being in partnership with other entities, identify new paths for addressing the yearnings of our community, and/or develop new methods for some of our previous programs.
CORE and Theory U are more than frameworks, programs, or networks. Both are essentially ways of being – ways of connecting with self and with others. We have heard that from those of you who participated in the interviews and surveys: CORE provides opportunities to connect and learn in spaces with qualities that are uniquely “CORE-like”. These qualities include: being mindful; opportunity to reflect; shared respect, space, leadership, ownership, and support; trust; and commitment to justice and sustainability. These qualities are co-created and sustained in relationship with all of you in our network. Whatever form CORE takes in the future, these qualities will be at its heart.
_____
[1] If you’d like to learn more about Theory U and connect with others who are exploring how to apply it in Madison (in addition to CORE), you can sign up for the Fall 2016 MOOC (massive open online course) through MIT and join a learning hub in Madison. To connect with the Madison Hub, contact Steve Gilchrist or Lyn McMurray at Edgewood College.