The Cycle of Crisis, Theory U, The Hero's Journey are all the same thing

I have never liked Joseph Campbells Hero's Journey. Not because it is not relevant but because it suggests an ability to pre-determine personal development.

The mono myth rings strangely true, not because we can recognise it in a plethora of stories, but because we sense that it is tied to our own life story. "The call to adventure", "the threshold", "death and rebirth", "the helper": In hindsight we are able to recognise the pattern and ascribe events to it. But that is part of the problem. It is an external observation of what a third party is describing after the fact. It is not at all a subjective view of events. And that is a distinct difference.

Otto Sharmer picked up on this and recognised that to be able to solve complex problems and provide innovative solutions we need to let go of preconceptions and "past patterns" and enter to the experiential field pretending to "know nothing". Allowing new information to emerge, means also letting go of the old:

Fair enough. In essence what Sharmer is doing here is recognising the artistic process of how the new is brought into the world, and gives it a rational step-by-step template on how to achieve this.

But again something is missing.

In both cases, Sharmer and less so Campbell, underestimate the aspect of psychological crisis within the cycle. And here is why this is an important factor. We don't usually subject ourselves willingly to a crisis situation. In fact our own psyche prevents us from doing that. We would much rather plan and pre-meditate situations and make sure we know the outcome beforehand.

The artistic mind is unusual because each production of an artefact means in essence a mini-crisis of not knowing what the outcome will be and how it will be attained. This includes a certain amount of anxiety, insecurity, and lack of orientation.

Imagine this now on a larger scale, let us say within your own life or a bigger project. A crisis can become quite harrowing, even life threatening, and sometimes also lead to real danger and real damage. And being much worse off than before.

And that is why The Hero's Journey is impossible to pre-mediate for oneself, and why Theory U has its limitations. Because the trials and tribulations are literally unthinkable before they emerge and are seldom sought out voluntarily.

There is one exception to this: Within liminal space, there is this possibility to project ones own crisis into the future and fore-shadow its outcome. To experience the unthinkable ask the question: "What happens if all hope is lost?"

The answer might surprise you.