Otto Scharmer is a Senior Lecturer in the MIT Management Sloan School and co-founder of the Presencing Institute. He chairs the MIT IDEAS program for cross-sector innovation and introduced the concept of “presencing”—learning from the emerging future—in his bestselling books Theory U and Presence (the latter co-authored with P. Senge et al). He is co-author of Leading from the Emerging Future, which outlines eight acupuncture points for transforming capitalism. His most recent book, The Essentials of Theory U, summarizes the core principles and applications of awareness-based systems change.
In 2015, Otto co-founded the MITx u.lab, a massive open online course (MOOC) for leading profound change, which has since activated a global eco-system of transformational change involving more than 160,000 users from 185 countries. In March 2020, Otto and his colleagues at the Presencing Institute launched GAIA (Global Activation of Intention and Action), a free, online, deep learning journey, geared toward profound personal, societal, and planetary renewal.
The purpose of REGENERATE is exactly that – to help speed up the transition from an extractive to a regenerative economy. REGENERATE starts with the soil. It borrows from the natural principles of regenerative farming to inspire decision makers on how to move their organizations to a regenerative stage in tune with our living ecosystem. Through both its online content and its offline retreats at pioneering regenerative farms around the world, REGENERATE will connect decision makers with regenerative pioneers. A new generation of leaders will become part of the broader economic, political, and cultural power of regeneration. Find out more at www.regenerateforum.org.
REGENERATE: Otto Scharmer on Seeing Our Blind Spots as a Source for Transformation