Otto Scharmer
Encyclopedia
Dr. C. Otto Scharmer is a Senior Lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) and the founding chair of the Presencing Institute. Scharmer is a core faculty member of the UN Leaders Program (at the UN Staff College) and chairs the MIT IDEAS program, which brings together key leaders from business, government, and civil society to co-create profound innovation and systems change. He introduced the concept of “presencing” – learning from the emerging future – in his books Theory U
and Presence (the latter co-authored with P. Senge, J. Jaworski, and B. S. Flowers), which have been translated into twelve languages.
Scharmer holds a Ph.D. in economics and management from Witten-Herdecke University in Germany. With his colleagues, he has used presencing to facilitate profound innovation and change in health, education, sustainability, and business systems.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
(MIT) and the founding chair of the Presencing Institute. Scharmer is a core faculty member of the UN Leaders Program (at the UN Staff College) and chairs the MIT IDEAS program, which brings together key leaders from business, government, and civil society to co-create profound innovation and systems change. He introduced the concept of “presencing” – learning from the emerging future – in his books Theory U
U-procedure and Theory U
U-procedure and Theory U is a change management method targeting leadership as process of inner knowing and social innovation developed by Dr Friedrich Glasl and Dirk Lemson of the NPI in 1968 and presented systematically from the 1980s. It has been a valuable tool in organisation development...
and Presence (the latter co-authored with P. Senge, J. Jaworski, and B. S. Flowers), which have been translated into twelve languages.
Scharmer holds a Ph.D. in economics and management from Witten-Herdecke University in Germany. With his colleagues, he has used presencing to facilitate profound innovation and change in health, education, sustainability, and business systems.