Paradigms
This concept is fundamental to the journey behind the Blue Door. By regarding our world view as fixed, we limit our opportunities to learn and grow. Above all, we would not see and experience the world as others do, and fail to recognise another ‘useful’ potentailly paradigm. “Paradigms are like glasses. When you have incomplete paradigms about yourself or life in general, it’s like wearing glasses with the wrong prescription. That lens affects how you see everything else.” Stephen Covey So, what is a paradigm? A paradigm is a standard, perspective, or set of ideas. A paradigm is a normal and accepted way (to ourselves) of thinking and behaving. The word paradigm frequently appears in academic, scientific, and business literature. A new paradigm in business could mean a new way of reaching customers and making money. Alternatively, in Higher Education, relying on lectures is a paradigm: a new paradigm would be if lecturers made a shift to facilitated learning though group work activities. The Covid-19 pandemic created a whole set of new paradigms: schools that put all their material on line enabled some pupils to access material and learn at their own pace. Businesses that once relied on an extensive network of agents to connect with overseas buyers are now setting up Zoom calls to contact them directly. Understanding the definition of the word is important: the journey behind the Blue Door frequently requires a ‘paradigm shift’. When you change paradigms, you’re changing completely how you think and behave: you approach situations differently. This represents a significant development required for mastery of the RESOLVE model. E.g. the problem you are trying to solve is in fact completely different from the one you think it is. These images serve to illustrate how a paradigm shift has occurred: From thistothisA very warm, safe and controlled environment, with little to worry about.The outside world, where threats are real, food has to be found, it is noisy with huge temperature changes.
There are many links to the concept of a paradigm and other content within this development process. For instance, within the Johari Window, are you the sort of person who is open to how you think and the world view you take, or do you defend your view regardless of feedback and critique from others – do you have the capacity to make a shift?
When you conduct some background research within the RESOLVE model, is your paradigm based upon the need to find evidence that supports your view on a situation, or is it orientated towards being curious about what the real situation is?
When we learn new skills, there comes a stage where we may have to accept that a previously well-established concept is no longer valid and we have to let something go:
“What happens is consciousness operates in mysterious ways. One of those ways is that the old paradigm suddenly starts to die”. Deepak Chopra
All of which touch upon our ability to change, or use our change management skills. A contemporary challenge for those who would not claim to be a digital native is summed up by:
“The future is mobile computing – smartphones and tablets are just elements of it. The industry is on the verge of a whole new paradigm.” Thorsten Heins