400 words (5 minutes reading time) by Colin Weatherby

I have been experimenting with Microsoft’s ‘everyday AI companion’, called Copilot. I asked it to analyse the podcast ‘What on earth is a paradigm shift?’ by the Centre for Public Impact.  I am not trying to second guess the great work by Lancing Farrell, simply to show how some new technology works!

This is what it came back with:

The podcast ‘What on earth is a paradigm shift?’ by the Centre for Public Impact (CPI), is a  conversation between Adrian Brown and Professor Toby Lowe, who are both part of the CPI team. They discuss the concept of paradigms and how they apply to public service and systems change.

Here is a brief summary of the podcast:

• What is a paradigm? A paradigm is a particular way of seeing an aspect of the world. It is a grand organising story that affects how we understand our world, ourselves and our ability to change things. Paradigms exist in science, but also in other domains such as politics, economics, culture and society.

• How do paradigms change? Paradigms change when the existing story can no longer explain the observations or experiences of people. This creates anomalies and crises that challenge the fundamental assumptions and beliefs of the existing paradigm. New stories emerge that offer a better fit with reality and resonate with people. Eventually, one of these stories becomes the new paradigm and the new normal.

• Why is paradigm shift important for public service? Public service is facing complex problems that require radical change. The current paradigm of public service is based on outdated assumptions and beliefs that hinder innovation and effectiveness. For example, the paradigm of New Public Management assumes that public service can be improved by applying market principles, such as competition, performance measurement and accountability. However, this paradigm fails to account for the complexity, uncertainty and interdependence of public problems and solutions. It also ignores the human and relational aspects of public service, such as trust, collaboration and empowerment.

• How can we create paradigm shift in public service? Creating paradigm shift in public service is not easy, but it is possible. It requires challenging the existing story and power structures that hold it in place. It also requires creating and spreading new stories that offer a different way of seeing and doing public service. These stories need to be based on different values and principles, such as learning, adaptation, co-creation and systems thinking. They also need to be supported by evidence and examples of alternative practices that demonstrate the benefits and feasibility of the new paradigm.

Podcast and transcript are available at https://www.centreforpublicimpact.org/insights/reimagining-government-season-2-episode-3-transcript