At a workshop on leadership, Otto Scharmer shared an analogy about visual art and emerging leadership.
He spoke of three perspectives on painting and what we can learn about leadership from them. The three perspectives are….
1) The completed painting – the thing that has been created, the OUTCOME or finished product.
2) As the artist paints the image – the PROCESS or technique.
3) What happens while the artist stands in front of the blank canvas – the SOURCE or place from which creativity /passion/images originates.
“In other words,” he said, “we can look at the work of art after it has been created (the thing), during its creation (the process) or before creation begins (the source).”
The source, he said, is the inner place from where human being create. The source can be reached through a process he describes as willingness, deepening, and creating or “being inspired and acting in an instant!” In Scharmer’s written work, he describes this process as “opening up a deeper space of silence and listening.” It is about shifting our attention and deepening the process of becoming aware”
We tend to look at what leaders do or the processes and techniques they use. But we rarely focus on the process of tapping into creativity or the source of innovation and meaning.
Scharmer continued to explain his message about emerging leadership.
a) We can learn WHAT leaders do (the outcome or product)
or
b) We can study the PROCESS leaders use (skills and techniques)
or
c) We can pay attention to the inner condition or PLACE from where the leader operates – the SOURCE.
