Paradigm shifting

If organisations want to contribute to renewal and positive change, they will have to assume a pro-active role in shifting existing worldviews, or paradigms. Paradigms are deeply rooted convictions or assumptions that determine the way we look at or respond to our world

In our view, thought leadership is about the ability to shift paradigms. After all, for fundamental change to happen, we first need to let to go of old worldviews to make room for new ones. Hence, shifting paradigms is a prerequisite for fundamental change.

Yet, paradigm shifts do not happen immediately. Propagating innovative worldviews is accompanied by challenges that are initially inextricably linked to the tendency on the part of people, organisations or societies to hold onto paradigms. A paradigm shift actually demands that we let go of deeply rooted, often undisputed convictions or behavioural routines. Letting go like this is accompanied by feelings of fear and uncertainty about the future. This may be explained logically when we realise that people generally prefer values such as continuity, predictability and control over ambiguity, release and unpredictability.

How do thought leading organisations visibly contribute to new worldviews, to new paradigms? Part of the answer lies in how they communicate and live up to their Novel Points of View.