Presence by definition refers to awareness—being present in the moment as opposed to our habitual ways of doing. It allows one to let go of habitual ways of understanding and our own fixed sense of identity. It leads us towards “making choices to serve the evolution of life.” (Senge, 2008). A shift in our awareness can lead to the manifestation of an emerging and desirable future.” (Rome, 2008).
Senge and Scharmer (2007) developed the following theoretical framework that proposes a three-stage model for deep change, with the letter “U” serving as a simple device (“Theory of the U”). The lefthand, downward stroke of the U is called “sensing,” the turn at the bottom is “presencing,” and the upward stroke is “realizing.”
- “Sensing”: This is a deeper kind of observation that involves a specific set of innate capacities that must be developed, namely: suspending, redirecting, and letting go.
“Suspending” is the ability to pause one’s habitual flow of ideation and mental models built up in the past, in the service of opening up a space of consciousness that is free from already-formed concepts.
“Redirecting” refers to the ability to “see from the whole to the part”. It requires one to dissolve the boundaries between seer and seen, subject and object. “
“Letting go” is the capacity to “surrender our perceived need to control.” In contrast to fixed views and attachments, the gesture of letting go brings us back to the present moment as both concrete reality and an endless open field of fresh possibility.
- “Presencing:” This refers to the transformative moment of “a paradigm shift in which in accordance with the arising of new, previously unimaginable options for action, one’s sense of being is altered.
- “Realizing”: A three-stage process of operationalizing the radical learning achieved in “sensing” and “presencing.” After the slowing down and deepening of the earlier stages, realizing must be executed with swiftness and courage.
It is only through a rapid cycle of self-observation and correction in real-time that one can come to a new realization. A flow of improvisation in which the particulars inspire the evolution of the whole and vice versa is essential to this process.
The capacity to do all of this depends on personal mastery, and on the ability for reflective awareness. As Senge says:
“Western culture’s growing reliance on reductionist science and technology over the past 200 years fits the revealing a play of forces that create growing technological power and diminishing human development and wisdom. . . . By giving us perceived power, modern technology reduces the felt need to cultivate our own sources of power.”
