Illuminating The Levels of Listening
For me, the levels of listening are the heart of Theory U. They are a simple core idea that you can grab and run with even if you have no intention of working with a group or going through the U-based prototyping cycle.
There are four levels of listening. Following the U pattern, the deepest levels are where personal and organizational transformation becomes possible. Each level relates to a different place from which we can listen which enables us to unlock a corresponding capacity. To go beyond downloading also requires us to confront an inner guardian at each subsequent level.
Otto Scharmer is fond of quoting Bill O'Brien who said that “The success of an intervention depends on the interior condition of the intervenor”. That is why it is important for leaders of any change effort, massive or minuscule, to become aware of the inner place from which their intentions and actions spring. And it is equally important that they are able to consciously shift this inner source to better align with their highest future potential, and not just what is expedient in the moment. When you think of it this way, the levels of listening are like modes of paying attention.
Now, let’s explore each level, its place, guardian and capacity in detail.
Level 1: Downloading
Downloading is where we all start. It is our default habitual setting and pattern of thinking and perceiving. Cognitive science tells us that human beings have very many cognitive biases and distortions to which we are susceptible. At any given moment, a number of these are likely in operation within each of us.
This is not necessarily a bad thing. We have cognitive biases and distortions for adaptive reasons. The brain takes shortcuts to enable us to get things done in daily life without being overwhelmed and paralyzed by the infinite volume of information swirling around us every second of every day. Where we run into issues with downloading is when we inhabit this state unconsciously and near permanently, only ever slipping into a deeper level by accident or when involuntarily activated by circumstance.
Because our mental filters are firmly in place when downloading, we are not open to new information. The operating assumption is that we know what we need to know and we go about our business applying existing mental models and doing just fine. For example, Sue is the VP of operations at a large chain of stores. Her day-to-day is stacked with meetings: product managers, operations managers, large vendors, the CEO. When not in meetings Sue is using spreadsheets and gantt charts to track and manage the flow of goods, supplies and labour within her company. Most of the time, she can do all this in a state of downloading because she has a good mental model of the company, her role and what needs to be done at any given time.
Now let’s say, the company goes through re-structuring resulting in fewer operations managers under Sue and a new CEO, if Sue continues to make day-to-day decisions based on her old mental model, problems will soon arise and compound. She needs a new mental model and that cannot be achieved while downloading.
Level 2: Factual
The first step beyond downloading is factual listening. Whereas downloading is listening or acting from habit, to listen factually is to listen from outside. That could be outside oneself or outside of a system. In this mode, our mental models can be updated because new information is allowed to flow in: especially information that conflicts with or disconfirms our existing opinions or beliefs.
At the gate between downloading and factual listening is where we meet the first guardian or internal voice. It is the voice of judgment (VoJ). The VoJ is the inner voice that pre-judges information, people and situations. It has an instant opinion on what is right or wrong, good or bad, helpful or useless. When the VoJ is active, the mind is closed. Again, this does not mean that the VoJ is bad and needs to be permanently silenced or banished from the system of self. Instead the invitation is to suspend judgment when the moment calls for it, so that we may see with fresh eyes in order to begin finding our way in a new context.
Blues musician Daryl Davis is famous for deprogramming neo-nazis and white supremacists. When asked how he achieves a feat that many would think impossible, he replies that he does it through open conversation and questions. By approaching these extremists with an open mind and open heart, Davis is able to pull them outside of their rigidly held beliefs. They are then able to notice the discrepancies between the individual they are interacting with and the boogey man black guy that they have been made to hate and fear.
In Theory U terms, the white supremacists are drawn by Davis to the factual level of listening (from outside) and once new data gets into their system, it is only a matter of time before they can no longer hold the worldview that demonizes Davis and people like him.
Level 3: Empathetic
Empathic listening is not about facts or propositional knowledge but about perspective. It requires that we listen from within. What am I feeling in response to this? What sensations and emotions are called up by this situation? Are these originating within or me or am I picking them up from the environment or others?This is not the same as listening sympathetically, which involves reacting or judging in a way that sides with the subject. Empathy in this case only requires that you accurately sense and reflect feelings and sensations. Judgement remains suspended.
To listen empathetically requires an open heart. And to open the heart requires a confrontation with the voice of cynicism (VoC). This inner guardian takes the form of stories or pointed questions about the motives, truthfulness or trustworthiness of others. It protects the heart from manipulation and being constantly overwhelmed by the feelings of others. However, if it becomes overactive, deep interpersonal connection becomes difficult to establish and maintain.
The way to move past the VoC is redirection. This can look like rephrasing the skeptical questions it offers to deepen rather than tamp down connection. Suppose you are hosting a staff meeting about changes being rolled out in your organization and one mid-level manager keeps interrupting you with questions you think were already answered in the documents you sent out beforehand or will be answered in the presentation you are currently making. Your VoC might sound something like this:
Why is this guy trying to derail the meeting? Is he that much of an attention whore? Everyone is probably annoyed with him too but they want me to be the bad guy and tell him to knock it off. He’s making it impossible to get anything done
And a successful redirection of that same theme of questioning could sound like:
Why would this person be asking so many seemingly basic questions? Was the documentation I sent out beforehand not adequate? Has it perhaps caused more confusion than clarification for this guy? No one else is saying anything… could he be speaking for the group?
If you act from the first pattern of thoughts, you are likely to do something like ask the guy to hold his questions till the end, refer him to the documents or even get a little snippy (“if you’d properly prepared by reading the documents I emailed…). But if you can redirect and act from the second thought pattern, you might ask the whole group whether they too had similar questions. If they did, you might consider shifting the meeting format away from a presentation that assumes a shared baseline understanding. You might also seek feedback on the documentation and how it could be improved.
Notice how in the first scenario, the questions are defensive and assumes negative motivation of the part of others and there’s a bit of a victim narrative for the self. These shut down any chance of connection and if left unchecked would lead to frustration and conflict which could potentially go beyond this single meeting and impact the success of the overarching organizational change.
In the second scenario, the questions are based on genuine curiosity and seeing through the eyes of the disruptive manager and the rest of the group. There’s also an implicit acknowledgement of one’s own potential shortcomings and uncomfortable feelings about that. By taking the empathetic approach, the frustrating disruptive situation can flip to yield a fruitful dialogue that could deepen trust and help ease the rest of the change process.
Level 4: Generative
The final and deepest level is generative listening. At this level, there is an openness to change and transformation of identity because the will or capacity for action is open. To listen generatively is to listen beyond the present and attune to a positive future that could be brought into being with decisive action on your part. Generative listening is not a kind of blue sky thinking. Instead, it occurs after lots of information gathering and sense-making at the previous levels. A deep understanding of the factual and emotional terrain is a prerequisite for accessing this level of receptivity which takes you from seeing through the eyes of another to seeing from the whole (from SOURCE). In this sense, it is similar to being in a flow state, where you are both sensing and (co-)creating the emergent.
The other prerequisite is letting go of fear. The voice of fear (VoF) guards the will. It offers bad news stories about what could go wrong if you take actions different from what you’ve already been doing. Want to start and grow a small business to replace your 9-5 job? The VoF has a story about the economy, the failure rate of new businesses, and your limited free time. Want to finally have a frank conversation with your spouse about your dissatisfaction in the relationship? The VoF has a story about a huge shouting match, getting divorced, having nowhere to live, moving back in with your parents and dying alone.
These stories, as catastrophic and unhelpful as they seem, are actually meant to be protective. By preventing you from stepping outside of the status quo and into the unknown, the VoF is keeping you safe from any number of unknown negative outcomes. And it will make the stories as drastic as they need to be to prevent you moving outside what it sees as your safe/comfort zone. This becomes an issue in situations were “safe” is not the same as happy, thriving or adaptive in the long-term; where what is safe and familiar now will yield ever diminishing returns as time goes on.
Moving past the voice of fear is a matter of letting go. Rather than cling to the narratives it spins as real possibilities, we simply say “I hear you, thank you” and move forward. It is an exercise of courage. And when done correctly, that fearful, anxious energy gets transformed into the kind of excitement that can fuel your next steps.
Here’s an example from my own life. When I took the u.lab course for the first time in 2015, the questions “Who is my self and what is my work?” yielded some answers that truly scared the crap out of me. I recalled a deeply held intension from my youth to do some great work in my home country, Antigua & Barbuda. The ebb and flow of my life in Canada had taken me so far away from the intention that I had all but forgotten about it. When I felt the call again, my VoF piped up very loudly:
No one would ever take you seriously. You were such an embarrassing loser in high school, that is the only way people will ever see you. No one will follow you or help you. You’ll be laughed at. You’ll get in trouble. Antiguans are not interested in change anyway, there would be no point.
And I believed that voice, so much so that the idea that I would ever go back to Antigua became a personal worst case scenario. My letting go did not come for another two years. I was listening to an interview with an entrepreneur who talked about living on friends’ couches for a year while he attempted to get his business off the ground. It was something so outside of what I thought to be an acceptable sacrifice for success. And then I looked around myself, seeing a full 360 view of my position in life and where my current trajectory was taking me. I was working a job I hated. I was living in a place I hated with people I hated. And then the calling came back to me. This time, the idea that going to Antigua and failing could be any worse than what I was currently experiencing was absurd. I called my parents that night and I was on a plane the next week.
The outcome from that leap was that I launched The New Grassroots, and found a partner in that venture who has become one of my dearest friends. We held events, gave talks, hosted online discussions and launched the first podcast on the island. Soon other groups and organizations were either copying our online tactics or seeking our assistance to spread their own messages. The prime minister even tried to get himself featured on our platform. The New Grassroots was raising the standard for how social purpose groups engaged their audiences online. It was a hub for the most influential and creative young people in the country.
We wrapped the project in 2020 after 3 years but the legacy remains strong. Opening my will to that terrifying call did indeed require a transformation of my identity. I have vey little in common with the young woman who boarded a plane in 2017 with barely a clue about what I was going to do, never mind how.
This is part of why I have such an interest in sharing Theory U with others. It is not because I think it is the way, truth and light or even the best system for prototyping and bringing new ideas into being. It is simply because it has touched my life in a major way for the better, and I believe it can do the same for others even if they don’t have the time or interest in getting into the technical nitty-gritty of it all.
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