Management Glossaries

What is "Paradigm"?

Paradigm is any set of rules or regulations that will do two things - (a) they establish boundaries; and (b) these rules and regulations tell us how to be successful by solving problems within these boundaries.

Paradigms dramatically affect our judgments and our decision making by influencing our perceptions. They filter incoming experience. We constantly select from the world the data that best fit our rules and regulations and try to ignore the rest. This is the paradigm effect.

A paradigm shift is a revolutionary new way of thinking about old problems - a dramatic collective change in our perception, e.g. from "main-frame computers" to "desktop computers". A paradigm shift usually occurs when the established "rules of the game" fail to provide effective solutions to our problems. A new insight, an alternative explanation or a discovery provides perspective which revolutionizes our understanding. When the old framework gives way to the new, a paradigm shift has occurred.

(Adapted from "Discovering The Future : The Business of Paradigms" by J. A. Barker)