Presence: Human Purpose and the Field of the Future [Paperback]

Presence is reflective and discursive, with a lot of forays into philosophical thinking and developments in scientific theory. It is probably well pitched to its primary audience of members of the Society for Organizational Learning and the organizational learning community generally. Others, who are more used to a diet of "how to's", sidebars, summaries and highlighted key points are likely to find it hard going.

However, these are probably precisely the people who most need to absorb the ideas in the book. I have a feeling that, just as the ideas in The Fifth Discipline did not really gain wide acceptance until after the companion The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook appeared, we may need some sort of Presence Fieldbook to support Presence. That would also allow inclusion of material by other authors that seems to be highly relevant, for example Howard Gardner's concept of stories and counter-stories (set out in Leading Minds) and some of the ideas in Malcolm Gladwell's Tipping Point on what it is that makes new ideas catch on and his more recent Blink on intuition.

The authors' central question is "How do we individually and collectively bring about useful change in circumstances where the past, and established ways of thinking, are not good guides to the future?" If, as the authors believe, globalization, the exponentially growing impact of humans on the environment, and the overwhelming power and influence of a small number of global corporations have produced a situation in which accepted ways of thinking and acting are no longer appropriate, what are the appropriate ways of thinking and acting and how do we learn them, get them accepted and promote their widespread adoption? Is this an issue only for those in 'positions of power', or can all of us make a difference?

The book takes the form of passages of narrative interspersed with conversations in symposium form. The result is a discursive, but valuable, journey into identifying the right questions and approaches to achieving sustainable answers. The subject is overwhelmingly important and the way it is treated is useful and illuminating. Much of its appeal derives from the fact that the four authors are skilled in the art of dialogue and wide-ranging conversation and have complementary skills and experiences.

Many of the conversations build on themes that have been attracting growing attention. The themes can be grouped broadly as:

* those concerned with identifying the issues, why they are matters of concern and what it is about current thinking and approaches to solving them that makes them worse rather than better. These centre on impacts on the environment and the disparities of wealth around the world and the limitations of the analytical and linear approach to problem identification and solutions;

* those concerned with the implications of systemicity and complexity, in particular the need to perceive the whole rather than focusing on parts. These elements of the conversations draw extensively on insights of the economist W. Brian Lewis, and broader aspects of complexity theory; and

* those concerned with holistic ways of perceiving, reflecting on and responding to issues and the conditions necessary for emergence among an empowered group of a radical new understanding of an issue, and shared enthusiasm for concerted action. These themes draw heavily on Eastern philosophies, on systems theory and our growing experience of deliberate use of dialogue, reflection and democratic forms of group process and networking.

The authors build up a picture of an idea - a way of 'seeing the world anew' and a process that will help individuals and groups to move through the profound shifts in ways of thinking and communicating needed to move forward. This is expressed in the theory of the "U Movement", the development and exposition of which forms the central organizing principle for the book, particularly Parts 2 through 4. The elements of the theory are most concisely shown in a chart on page 225. It is a process in three stages.

The first stage, Sensing, is concerned with standing back from our accustomed way of seeing and dealing with issues, through processes of profound reflection and a focus on the whole.

The second (Presencing) is identified as the most difficult both to explain and to experience: it is (at least in part) a profound transformation from the deeply inbuilt Western view of the self as operator on an external world to an understanding of our role as one agent in the emergence of an unfolding future. Chapter 7 contains a number of examples and anecdotes to try to convey the feeling of this transformation: it is not surprising that the printed word is not wholly successful in conveying something which really has to be experienced.

The third (Realizing) is based on the thesis that it is the profound (collective) change in stage 2 that results in shared clarity as to how to move forward through three sub-stages towards full implementation.

The argument of the book as a whole asserts that total reliance on dispassionate analytical rationalism is a sure path to the wrong answer and that we (individually and collectively) need to find ways to see the wholeness of life and to use our hearts and our intuition to become "part of a future that is seeking to unfold". The authors contrive to bring together a good deal of evidence that such a transformation has valuable practical consequences as well as providing for a much more satisfying personal life for those who can make the transformation.

While this world view is still radical, at least in business circles, it is not new but is rather a part of a growing movement. The authors take a valuable further step both in explaining why a change is necessary and in sketching an approach to learning the profound transformations in perspective that are needed.

Presence is a most unusual book. If you have read Synchronicity by Joseph Jaworski (one of the co-authors of Presence), that will give you a hint of what's to come. The book is much different than Peter Senge's usual fare so fasten your seat belt and get ready for a soulful ride to places and thoughts that you have probably never considered before.

The book is built around a series of conversations that the four co-authors had in the home of co-author C. Otto Scharmer in Cambridge, Massachusetts over a little more than a year that covered their mutual concern that humanity is headed for a bad end. They first explored whether focusing people on a lose-lose scenario in which everything goes kaput would help solve the problem. Gradually, they came to realize that there seems to be a better method for redirecting humanity through a form of collective deep learning that groups can do to grasp a more meaningful and pertinent direction for their organizations and themselves.

Much of the book then develops a theory of a process for group learning called the theory of the U. The process has three basic steps: 1. observing, observing, and observing until you begin to see your situation from being deeply connected to it so that you sense its true nature 2. presencing, which is being with the situation until a deeper form of knowing evolves (think of this as creating the epiphany) and 3. realizing, which is moving to make your epiphany real.

The book has several powerful stories of how this process has worked with groups. I especially liked the story about how the medical personnel and the patients described medical care as being "quick fix" oriented while both sets of people really wanted to provide and experience deeper counseling and coaching care with one another. The group seemed to instantly coalesce about making the common desire real.

I felt like I could relate to the process and the supporting examples having seen a similar response in groups over my career. There's an unspoken consensus in every organization that is often invisible to the participants because their relationships exist on only a superficial basis. If you ask them individually about their deepest desires and hopes for the organization and themselves, another reality emerges. If you then expose that reality in a group meeting to each other, they immediately begin to act on that new reality. I've been running sessions like this for more than 25 years and find it to be a profoundly moving experience. I was glad to see the work that The Society for Organizational Learning is doing to expand upon this form of change management.

If you are interested in learning another way to apply this process, you might want to look at a book I co-authored, The 2,000 Percent Solution and the 8 step process in part two. The first four steps relate to observing. The second two steps relate to presencing. The final two steps are about realizing. This process can be applied by either an individual or a group.

Presence is filled with many other wonderful stories and questions. I particularly enjoyed the part about the future of science and how that discipline needs to expand to encompass the spiritual . . . and how many scientists are privately doing this.

As I read the book, I was reminded also of a novel I just read and reviewed, Diving the Seamount, that develops many of the same themes as in this book: We are increasingly living our lives separate from one another and from nature. We can only heal our society, ourselves and our world when we reconnect with one another and nature. Interestingly, both books talk about Baja California as a physical source for this learning.

The book also describes some wonderful places to visit and I quickly added them to my list. I'm sure you will, too.

Presence ends up with a consideration of how the gorilla will do after man is gone. I took that question differently than the authors did. They seemed to miss the full impact of the question. First, man may replace himself with something new through biotechnology and evolution related to space exploration. How will the gorilla do with the replacement? Second, if man is gone, will the gorilla evolve to have all of our bad habits . . . and doom themselves?

If you like powerful books about being, what learning is and important questions about existence, you will love Presence. The authors take a nonsectarian view toward spiritual questions, drawing on many different traditions. I felt like I was reading The Golden Bough in places.

If you like your perspectives neatly tied into a bow with specific action prescriptions, this book will annoy you. But perhaps the annoyance will help you learn. The authors don't feel they know the answers, so they have just revealed the journey that took them to where they are. I recommend the journey to you.

In these times of negative job creation, CEOs in handcuffs, morally bankrupt managers, and administration-sanctioned environmental debacles, it is refreshing to read something as hopeful as this book. The four co-authors bring their own unique viewpoints to this exploration of human potential, and I don't think there's been anything like it since Margaret Wheatley's "Leadership and the New Science," which was easily the most important business book of the 1990s.

I have long admired Peter Senge and his various books. Not one word ever seems excessive, not one book offers anything less than thought-provoking, rigorous argument.

This is not a book to skim; one has to read it straight through to get the most out of this thoughtful, immediately engaging book. I would love to see corporations buy it in quantity and INSIST that their managers read it, discuss it, and post reviews on their intranets -- just as they do in Japan.