Key facts

Types	Day and Weekend Professional Development
Location	Oxford
Address	Rewley House 1 Wellington Square Oxford OX1 2JA
Dates	Fri 24 to Sun 26 May 2013
Subject area(s)	Biological Sciences Environmental Sciences
Fees	From £120.00
Application status	Closed to new applications
Course code	O12P131BIR
Course contact	If you have any questions about this course, please email ppdayweek@conted.ox.ac.uk.

Overview

Facilitating innovation and profound change at the individual, organisational or societal level with the U theory approach

What is the human story in the 21st century calling us to do as we live through times of turbulence, uncertainty and challenge across many social, economic and ecological dimensions? How do we steer ourselves and our organisations or communities through complex challenges? Who are we when we are at our most creative, collaborative and innovative?

Theory U is a method of learning from the future as it emerges and growing the capacity for deep innovation and collaborative practice. But it’s more than a method for innovation: it’s also a learning journey for personal and professional capacity building to keep our ground in times of increasing complexity and uncertainty. And it’s also a set of principles that invite us to design our work processes and relationships in a different way and use deeper sources of knowing.

It involves practices for leading self and others, including listening and acting generatively to see the systems we are part of and what needs to shift. It offers a five stage process to move from being stuck or unclear to co-creating the new.

Participants will learn and apply four levels of responding to change and seven Theory U leadership capacities. We will work with a mix of interactive presentations, experiential learning and reflective practice; including practical exercises, dialogue and embodiment practices and a prototyping workshop. No previous experience is needed to take part.

Theory U is being applied to innovation around the world by individuals, organisations and in multi-sector initiatives.

Programme details

Friday 24 May 2013
7.00pm Dinner
8.15pm Introduction to Theory U and the complex times we live in
21st century contexts for innovation and change at the personal, organisational and societal level

Saturday 25 May 2013
10.00am Co-Initiating change
Four levels of responding to change and Four types of listening and conversation
11.15am Coffee / tea
11.45am Becoming present and the structure of our attention
Practices for developing our personal and collective presence and working from a deeper place of knowing
1.00pm Lunch
2.00pm Co-sensing for change and innovation
The capacity for collaboration and seeing the whole picture
3.15pm Tea / coffee
3.45pm Presencing: our relationship to the future and realising new possibilities
5.15pm Break
7.00pm Dinner

Sunday 26 May 2013
8.15am Breakfast (residents only)
10.00am Prototyping workshop: crystallising and co-creating
11.15am Coffee / tea
11.45am Case clinic: working with live examples
1.00pm Lunch
2.00pm Co-evolving: integration and embedding innovation.
Final reflections and next steps
3.30pm Course closes

Staff

Recommended reading

Scharmer, O. ‘Theory U: Leading from the future as it emerges’ Berrett-Koehler Publishers, San Francisco, USA (2009).

Senge, P. Scharmer, O., Jaworski, J. and B. Flowers 'Presence: exploring profound change in people, organisations and society' Nicholas Brealey Publishing: London UK (2005).

Also see Presencing Institute website http://www.presencing.com.

Fee options

Programme Fee

Tuition fee (includes tea and coffee): £120.00

Catering

Baguette lunches: £6.50

Full meals (excludes breakfast): £56.00

Other

Single B&B (Fri and Sat): £129.00

Apply for this course