What is a paradigm? It is a perspective on the world or within a specific discipline. It tells us what is important and how the world works. It determines our beliefs and values. It colors all our perceptions of what is happening and how we respond to reality. It determines what problems we choose to address and how to address them. The fact is: Everyone is encapsulated by a prevailing paradigm.

A paradigm, therefore, is a framework or model that helps to interpret and deal with reality. It serves as a perceptual map, to use the words of Edward de Bono, or mental model, as described by Peter Senge. The two top exponents of the role and influence of paradigms, however, are Thomas Kuhn and Joel Barker.

Kuhn talked about the power of a paradigm from scientific and academic vantage points. He postulated that scientific endeavors were greatly influenced by it. This led to his famous definition of a paradigm as consisting, for example, of laws and theories that provide tradition behind research, principally scientific research. ^[6]

Joel Barker took the substance behind Kuhn and applied it to business and other environments. He defined a paradigm as a set of written and unwritten rules and regulations that defines boundaries of behavior. ^[7]

A paradigm, of course, is not something that is "bad" or "evil." It is a consequence of being human and requires a means to interpret and deal with our surrounding world. In other...