Otto Scharmer Explained

Otto Scharmer
Citizenship:Germany
Alma Mater:Witten/Herdecke University
Known For:Theory U
Website:www.ottoscharmer.com

Otto Scharmer (born 1961) is a senior lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and co-founder of the Presencing Institute and its u-school for Transformation.[1] [2] [3] He focuses on awareness-based action research with leaders across various sectors,[3] [4] anchored in the concept of, a method of "learning from the emerging future", which he introduced in his books Theory U (2007) and Presence (2004, co-authored with Peter Senge and others).

Early life and education

Otto Scharmer was born and raised near Hamburg, Germany, where his experiences on his family's farm significantly influenced his future work. The principles of regenerative farming, as practiced by his father, laid the foundation for Scharmer's later concepts of social fields and systems change.[5] Scharmer earned his diploma and PhD in economics from Witten/Herdecke University.[6]

Career

Throughout his career, Scharmer has focused on cross-sector systems transformation, introducing the concept of presencing in his books Theory U (2007, 2nd edition 2016) and Presence: Exploring Profound Change in People, Organizations, and Society (2004, co-authored with Peter Senge and others). In Leading from the Emerging Future (2013, co-authored with Katrin Kaufer), Scharmer explored the transition from egocentric to ecocentric economic systems, identifying key leverage points for systemic change.

Scharmer co-founded the MITx u-lab, a platform that has engaged over 250,000 participants from 186 countries in transformational learning and change initiatives.[7] His work extends to designing action learning labs for UN agencies and SDG leadership labs for UN country teams in 26 countries, aiming to foster cross-sector collaboration in addressing global challenges.[8] [9] [10] [11] [12] He serves as a consulting editor for the Journal of Awareness-Based Systems Change, a peer-reviewed platform focusing on the integration of research and practice in awareness-based systems change.[13]

Awards and honors

He received the Jamieson Prize for Excellence in Teaching at MIT (2015),[14] and the EU Leonardo Corporate Learning Award for the contributions of Theory U to the future of management (2016).[15] In 2017 he was ranked #1 of the world's top 30 education professionals by globalgurus.org.[16]

Selected publications

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: People – Presencing Institute . presencing.com . 2017-05-03 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160412201952/https://www.presencing.com/about/people . 2016-04-12 . dead.
  2. Web site: Otto Scharmer MIT Sloan. mitsloan.mit.edu. 2024-02-23. en.
  3. Book: Scharmer . Otto . Kaufer . Katrin . 2015 . Awareness-based action research: catching social reality creation in flight . Bradbury . Hilary . The Sage Handbook of Action Research: Participative Inquiry and Practice . 3rd . London; Thousand Oaks, CA . Sage Publications . 199–210 . 9781446294543 . 915115903 . 10.4135/9781473921290.
  4. In his own words: Otto Scharmer – Theory U: Emerging Futures . . circa 6m00 . 2021-12-15 . 2023-02-21.
  5. , event occurs around 7:30
  6. Web site: About – Otto Scharmer . 2024-02-23 . en-US.
  7. Web site: u-lab: Leading From the Emerging Future MITx Online . 2024-02-23 . mitxonline.mit.edu.
  8. Web site: EPH Conference. 2019. ephconference.eu. 2019-10-07.
  9. Web site: Hentsch . Rachel . SDG Leadership Labs: Supporting UN Country Teams to Achieve Agenda 2030 . Feb 23, 2024.
  10. Web site: SDG Leadership Labs: Supporting UN Country Teams to Achieve Agenda 2030 Presencing Institute . 2024-02-23 . u-school for Transformation by Presencing Institute . en.
  11. Web site: Presencing Institute. 2019-11-09 . SDG Leadership Labs: Leading Transformative Change in the United Nations . 2024-02-23 . Field of the Future Blog . en.
  12. Web site: Shifting Mindsets to Shift Development Systems (part 1) . 2024-02-23 . SDG Integration . en.
  13. Web site: Journal of Awareness-Based Systems Change Editorial Team . Feb 27, 2024 . Journal of Awareness-Based Systems Change.
  14. Web site: Photos: Instructors in accounting and operations management recognized at annual teaching awards – MIT Sloan School of Management . mitsloan.mit.edu . 2017-02-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170503174137/http://mitsloan.mit.edu/newsroom/articles/photos-instructors-in-accounting-and-operations-management-recognized-at-annual-teaching-awards/ . 2017-05-03.
  15. Web site: Thought Leadership » Leonardo Award 2016 » Leonardo . leonardo-award.eu . 2017-02-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170215100108/http://www.leonardo-award.eu/content/e2251/e2670/index_eng.html . 2017-02-15.
  16. News: Education Gurus 30 – Global Gurus . globalgurus.org . 2017-02-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170503174231/http://globalgurus.org/education-gurus-30/ . 2017-05-03.

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