Covid 19 as a Catalyst – Enacting your emerging future

30 Apr Covid 19 as a Catalyst – Enacting your emerging future

When the ‘flood gates’ re-open, the current to take you back – the classic ‘download’ of what was before March 2020, will be strong. Resist the downloading! It is time to suspend, to see with fresh eyes, to redirect your attention, and to feel what is around you; notice what you need to let go of, and connect with your core vision. The following steps and questions, known as the left side of the ‘U’ from Otto Scharmer’s Theory U, will guide your journey and shape your emerging future.

We have all hobbled and navigated the strong currents that Covid19 has created in our personal and professional lives. Indeed, these two lives have merged into one as never before. Our experience is now a blend of everything that we might have previously kept somehow separate. We officially have one big integrated life. The implications of this new pattern continue to destabilize us. The constellation of challenges appears in new clusters every day.

Amidst the chaos, there is light, although it might seem pretty faint. Being destabilized represents an opportunity for us, individually and collectively, to be intentional in how we want to shape our future. Scharmer refers to such times as ‘a crack in the system’ – an opportunity for profound change.

Otto Scharmer is a Senior Lecturer in the MIT Management Sloan School and co-founder of the Presencing Institute. Over the last 25 years, he has developed and applied Theory U, which is an awareness-based system change methodology. In addition to the free u.lab.Leading from the Emerging Future on the EDX platform which has now developed into a U.School, he recently launched the GAIA journey, (Global Activation of Intention and Action), that hosts 150,00 change-makers from 190 countries who prototype societal, business and educational initiatives.

In one of his recent live sessions, Scharmer spoke about crucial questions that we must ask ourselves as we set to create our future during this crisis. One of the ‘anchors’ to his questions reads as follows:

“The future we ENACT is determined by the inner place from which we act.” That inner place from where we operate is defined by “turning toward and opening up or turning away and closing down.”

“The investigation of that inner place is one of the most important activities of our time.”

At Tekara, we have been advocating for the investigation of that inner place for years. The quality and success of any strategic plan or leadership development program will only ever be as good as the elements that you chose to focus on from the beliefs, values and experiences that inhabit your inner place. The same applies to the quality of your relationships with staff, vendors, partners, peers and family members.
Ultimately, your results have a direct connection with your individual and collective inner places. We often refer to this connection in the See – Do – Get model. How you see the world impacts what you choose to do and the results that you achieve.

We have no doubt that you have already observed and set in motion a shift in the ‘See’ as you adapt to your new COVID 19 realities. It is a fair statement to say that ‘How we see the world’ has changed for all of us. COVID 19 kicked us in the plexus when it comes to beliefs we may have held just a few months ago about public health for example.

With all the changes that you have already set in motion, you have the unusual benefit of a ‘running start’ in shaping what comes next, post-crisis.

COVID 19’s storm of uncertainty is an unparalleled opportunity to be intentional in the shifts that we want to create. We have just had a big ‘crack in our system; how we choose to explore what is next depends on whether we will turn toward and open up, or turn away and close down, aka ‘go back to normal.’

Normal may have been good, but if your focus is on restoring things to normal, you miss out on what is possible. Notice the language that you use and hear around you – is it peppered with ‘if only we could go back’ types of statements, or infused with future focused questions? More than ever, language matters.

If you think that your inner place is right, and if you could only shift the inner place from those around you, well, your first opportunity is to challenge your inner place! Here are three questions that Scharmer offers as a reflection to get you started:

1. What am I being called to let go of?
2. What am I noticing about my inner place and response?
3. What is beginning to emerge now?

Reflect on these questions individually, with your teams, and with your families. Discover what is emerging for you.

Tekara’s aspiration has always been to be the ‘Guide on your side.’ We are more than ever committed to that role. There has never been a better time to explore what is beginning to emerge for you and your organization.

In a recent interview, Brene Brown reminds us, “A crisis highlights all of our fault lines. We can pretend that we have nothing to learn, or we can take this opportunity to own the truth and make a better future for ourselves and others.” We at Tekara are committed to your success and eager to walk along your side in this journey.