If you understand that a paradigm is like a game (see “What’s a Paradigm?”), then a paradigm shift can be simply described as “a change to a new game, a new set of rules.”

“That’s it?!?,” you ask. Yes! It’s this simple. (And, at the same time, much more complex. But for now, let’s stay with this simplicity.) As kids, we loved to play games! If you had a particular game that was your favorite, but also knew how to play other games, pat yourself on the back! You already know how to shift paradigms! (It’s not necessarily a big or arduous undertaking!)

“Ok,” you might be saying. “If Paradigm Shifting is really this simple ~ something kids do all the time ~ why is Laureen making a big deal about this topic?” 

Consider this: 

We all know how to live in the “game” of gravity. But imagine, you wake up tomorrow and the gravitational rules have started to change. You go to put something down but instead of staying where you put it, the object floats away. “Strange!” you think. But, believing gravitational rules are a given, you dismiss this aberration. “Must be me,” you think, and go grab another cup of coffee. You head off to work as if things were business as usual. Your boss tells you to deliver a file to a colleague’s desk. This small task was a “no brainer” before. Yet now, no matter how hard you try, the file just won’t stay on the desk. Your boss grows impatient when she learns that the file was never delivered. “What’s wrong with this employee?” she wonders. And to make matters worse, even you are starting to question, “What’s wrong with me?” Why can’t I do something as simple as ____.” 

Can you see how infuriating this could be? Can you see how people might blame others or themselves for a phenomenon that is beyond the scope of any individual? This is the danger of not understanding paradigms. (And let’s be fair: How can any of us really be expected to understand them? The set of rules for how we operate is often implicit. Paradigms are not yet part of our common vernacular. We don’t talk about them. They are taken as a given. And that makes it easy to assume, “This is just “the way” things are done.”)

Now, think about the pandemic and how much “business as usual” has been disrupted. Multiple major paradigms are shifting at once in business, education, shopping, gathering, and so on! We know firsthand, that when the rules change ~ especially when we’re not aware of what the set of rules was or is now ~  it can be bewildering. 

Over 30 years ago Joel Barker expressed,

It is my belief that changes in paradigms are behind much of society’s turbulence…We had a set of rules we knew well, then someone changed the rules. We understood the boundaries, then we had to learn new boundaries and those changes dramatically upset our worlds…”

People like to feel successful. So it’s natural for us to assume that we might be successful again if we only try harder. But time and attention invested in doing what worked in a different game won’t help you succeed in a new game. So part of the Art & Science of Paradigm Shifting is this: Instead of buckling down and trying harder to do what you know, pause and get curious about how this new game is played.

It is my belief that paradigm shifts are challenging ~ not because humans are unable to learn a new set of rules ~ but because so few of us are aware of the sets of rules (paradigms) we are operating within. 

Key Takeaways:

  • “A paradigm shift is a change to a new game, a new set of rules.” ~Joel Barker
  • As children, many of us got experience shifting between games, so we already have experience in Paradigm Shifting. (It’s not necessarily a big or arduous undertaking!)
  • However, the paradigm (set of rules) for how we operate in a context are often implicit and taken as a given ~ “It’s just the way things are done.”
  • When we’re oblivious to paradigms and the paradigm shifts, attention and energy ~ that could be invested in learning the rules of the new game ~ often gets ensnared in conflict within and between people.
  • Paradigm shifts are challenging not because humans are unable to learn a new set of rules, but because so few of us are operating with an awareness of these sets of rules (paradigms) and an understanding of how to work with them when they shift.
  • When experiencing a paradigm shift, resist the tendency to buckle down and try harder doing what you know. Instead, pause and get curious about how this new game is played.

Works Referenced: