1.9
UNDERSTANDING THE THINKING
BEHIND YOURTHINKING
Inspired by Stephen Covey, Peter Drucker, Thomas Kuhn, Peter Senge, Stephen Weinburg,
Marvin Weisbord, and many others.Is there a leader who hasn’t heard of the word paradigm? Probably the most familiar paradigm
shift in history was moving from thinking that the world was flat, to the stunning realization
that it was round! Yet many explorers of the day continued business as usual, working within
the “flat earth” paradigm. Needless to say, the explorers who adopted the new “round earth”
paradigm were able to take advantage of huge economic expansion opportunities. Does any of
this sound like the present-day paradigm shift to e-commerce?
The paradigm shifting process that Stephen Weinburg describes within scientific research
is not dissimilar to paradigm shifts within the leadership field. He notes, “There are periods of
‘normal science’ ...(when) scientists tend to agree about what phenomena are relevant and
what constitutes an explanation of these phenomena. ...Near the end of a period of ‘normal
science’ a crisis occurs. ...There is alarm and confusion. Strange ideas fill the scientific litera-
ture. Eventually there is a revolution. Scientists become converted to a new way of looking at
nature, resulting eventually in a new period of normal science. The ‘paradigm’ has shifted.”
Some of the major paradigm shifts within leadership have included participative management,
planning and business strategy, and the changing nature of work and employment.
Leaders today need to understand their own mental maps or personal paradigms, and
become efficient at making paradigm shifts. It’s important to understand your personal and
leadership paradigms because:
✔ If you don’t understand the thinking behind your leadership ideas and tools and their
limitations, they will almost certainly fail. (If you don’t learn from history, you’re
bound to repeat it.)
✔ By understanding the paradigm behind a leadership tool, you are better able to refine
and adapt it to your unique set of circumstances (and also challenge others who espouse
easy answers to complex problems).
✔ True improvement and growth result from regularly challenging and revising your lead-
ership paradigms.THE WORKPLACE CHANGE PARADIGM
Marvin Weisbord describes the paradigm shift in how work and processes are designed, and
who is involved.
SECTION 1 FOUNDATIONALCONCEPTS 29