From Ought to Is

What if our deepest longing for change is hindered not by inertia, but by our insistence on how things ought to be? In From Ought to Is: Catalysing Change and Movement in a Polarised World , renowned change expert Deborah Rowland invites us to reconsider our very orientation to reality, and to the process of change itself. She reveals how our desire to stay loyal to our "oughts"--our survival-baked beliefs, assumptions and codes about how to be in the world--can blind us to the realities in front of us. And when we cannot see reality clearly, we cannot lead or live effectively. In this timely, thought-provoking and heart-awakening book, Rowland challenges the prevailing belief that lasting transformation can be designed through a top-down, fix-it approach grounded in personal ideology or rigid value systems. In its place, she introduces the concept of "is-ness"--a practice of attentional presence to what is being that embraces the reality of our current experience in its entirety, however uncomfortable, uninvited or complex it may be. Drawing from the fields of leadership, moral philosophy, neuroscience, and the world's contemplative traditions, Rowland shows us how real movement to a new place is only possible when we drop our (often unwitting) attachment to what is desired or expected, and instead learn to perceive and include more fully. From Ought to Is is a deeply reflective yet practical guide that empowers us to adopt a subtle yet profound shift in orientation; moving from judgement to awareness, from prescription to description, from control to participation. Change emerges not by bending the world to our will, but by fully meeting it where it already stands.