Roanoke's U.Lab 2.0 Hub
A Brief Pre-Course Overview
The U.Lab 2.0 will be an eight-week journey through the "U" (see image above) beginning Thursday, September 3rd (6 pm) at the city's main library for Roanoke participants enrolled in edX's free online course. In addition to completing the online coursework, local learners will also meet weekly (either Monday, Tuesday, or Thursday) in coaching circles for group support.
"Our "key learnings" at this juncture entail familiarizing ourselves with the foundational tenets of U Theory in route to together, adopting a meditative" or "contemplative" framework to further explore collective mindfulness" from the "Pilot Project" page at the Presencing Institute.
Using a "case clinic" format for the weekly meetings, and in addition to completing their (individual) coursework, coaching circle members will have an opportunity of contributing to the design of prototypes in various stages of early development.
Mindfulness in an "Age of Disruption": From Ego-System to Eco-System Economies
A recent blog article ("A Challenge for Local Leaders") published to support Roanoke's U.Lab Hub in December, contained a quote (see below) from Scharmer and Kaufer's, "Introduction: Breathing Life into a Dying System" (pg 18) reflecting a particularly relevant conclusion involving decades of work and experience at MIT with organizational learning:
"The gist of this framework is simple: The quality of results produced by any system depends on the quality of awareness from which people in the system operate. The formula for a successful change process is not "form follows function," but "form follows consciousness." The structure of awareness and attention determines the pathway along which a situation unfolds"
Consequently, but in other words, "Senge and his colleagues noticed that the (given) tools worked very well in the hands of some practitioners, but that in other cases the application of the same tools resulted in no significant change" (pg 17). In this same way then, the image above reflects how "the quality of awareness" (or "attention") of the first column subsequently translates (horizontally) across a varied scaling of operations (i.e. micro, meso, macro, and mundo).
This revelation, derived in part from the insightful efforts of those like Robert Kegan and Susanne Cook-Greuter, heralds exhilarating prospects for the role of collective, contemplative (i.e. meditative) practice involving mindfulness. Similarly, both "Toward Integral Economic Democracy" and "A Challenge for Local Leaders" appear to reflect how crucial freedom, liberation, and autonomy are to sustaining the quality of global democracy and the vibrancy of respective ecosystems. Not coincidentally then, but as life would have it, these respective dimensions and elements comprise the integrally woven field U.Lab 2.0 practitioners will be venturing in their work together. We hope you'll join us!
If you'd like additional information for free registration in Roanoke's U.Lab 2.0 Hub, please see our event page.
This revelation, derived in part from the insightful efforts of those like Robert Kegan and Susanne Cook-Greuter, heralds exhilarating prospects for the role of collective, contemplative (i.e. meditative) practice involving mindfulness. Similarly, both "Toward Integral Economic Democracy" and "A Challenge for Local Leaders" appear to reflect how crucial freedom, liberation, and autonomy are to sustaining the quality of global democracy and the vibrancy of respective ecosystems. Not coincidentally then, but as life would have it, these respective dimensions and elements comprise the integrally woven field U.Lab 2.0 practitioners will be venturing in their work together. We hope you'll join us!
If you'd like additional information for free registration in Roanoke's U.Lab 2.0 Hub, please see our event page.