Chapter 10: Sensing
Chapter ten discussed the next step of the "U," which is sensing, which is basically when the observer begins to see the system from a profoundly different view. This is a step farther than the previous step, which is seeing. I particularly enjoyed the story about Parsifal's Holy Grail. Parsifal's challenge was to act from authentic presence of his open heart versus what he was told, and what social norms expected him to do. I feel like this was a good example of sensing, and actually has that realization to change. Sharmer also discussed two different types of wholeness, as discussed in Henri Bortoft's The Wholeness of Nature." They are counterfeit whole, which is when the mind is moving away from the concrete part to get an overview, and authentic whole, which is based on when the mind operates by moving into the concrete parts in order to encounter the whole. Finally, the three principles of sensing discussed was diving into the sensory experience, redirecting your attention, and activating deeper capacities of cognition.
Chapter 11: Presencing
Presencing is the blending of sensing and presence, which means to connect with the source of the highest future possibility and bring it into the new. It is the movement in which we approach our self from the emerging future. The two root questions of creativity were: Who is my Self? (one's highest self), and What is my Worth? (one's purpose, what they were put on the earth to do). I particularly found it helpful to know the three different types of presence in terms of my own life. They are: presence of the past (current field), presence of the future (emerging field of the future), and presence of one's authentic Self. When all three collapse, there is a profound shift from which we operate. The diary entry titled I'm Falling Apart was very powerful, and I feel gave an excellent real life account versus Sharmer's numerous adventures. I enjoyed the reference of giving birth to breaking through the membrane, which is how good can can come out of pain and frustration. This is very true for giving birth, because a woman can go through a lot of pain, but once the child is born just that simple first look at your child makes all the pain worth it.
Chapter 12: Crystallizing
This chapter discussed the next step in the "U", which is sustaining connection from presencing and beginning to operate from it. Crystallizing clarifies vision and intent of the emerging future. The principles of crystallizing are: Power of Intention, Letting Come, Grand Will, and Venues for Waking Up. All these are basically ways of letting go of the old and digging into the new in order to change the world and learn from the emerging future.
Chapter 13: Prototyping
When I first read the title of this chapter, I immediately thought of app or website page prototypes, and had no idea of the different context Sharmer puts them in this chapter. It has basically the same concept of presenting a concept before you're done, and allows fast-cycle feedback learning and adaptation as any prototype for an app or website would have. The field structure of prototyping takes the movement from presencing and crystallizing to its next stage by deepening the holding space and advancing the letting come process in the center of the figure from envisioning to enacting. An effective prototype includes three types of intelligence is head, heart, and hand. I found the phrase "mindless actions and action-less minds", which are major dangers and pitfalls, to be very useful, because they are both ineffective when progressing through a process. I particularly enjoyed the principle 0.8: fail early to learn quickly. It's not quite version 1.0, but regardless of how much you have done, you need to present a prototype preferably within 3-4 months in order to get feedback which will ultimately make your first version even better in the end.
Chapter 14: Performing
Chapter 14 was pretty much straightforward with performing, and operating from a larger field that emerges from our deep connection with the audience and place around us. Sharmer also touched on the Evolutionary View of the Modern Health Care System, which was discussed about needing to be changed for the future. The four stages of development are: Institutional Care, Managed Care, Integrative Care, and Integral Health.
One of the things in chapter ten that I think you should have mentioned is the concept of things being "just the way they are". The author puts an emphasis on companies having to come to the realization that the "they" who is controlling the system is themselves. There is no "they" hurting them, they are doing it to themselves. When they come to that realization, then they can begin to change.
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