Tag Archives: paradigm shift

276 – Synchronicity, systems, facts and accidents…

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1300 words (14 minutes reading time) by Lancing Farrell

I have been doing some diverse reading recently, some of it inspired by world events. Serendipitously, it has led me to an insight that I thought I would share.

Why we’re Polarized

The first book is Ezra Klein’s international bestseller ‘Why we’re Polarized’. He says the book is an examination of the American political system and that it is unlike most books on American politics, which he says tend to focus on the individuals.

“Let me be clear from the beginning: This is not a book about people. This is a book about systems.”

Ezra Klein, ‘Why we’re Polarized’

Klein is an American and says two decades of reporting on American politics has shown that it has predictable cycles and patterns that repeat. He sets out to explain the failure of the political system, which he says occurs despite it being ‘full of rational actors making rational decisions given the incentives they face’. He describes it as a collection of functional parts that combine into a dysfunctional whole.

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264 – ‘What on earth is a paradigm shift?’ – Centre for Public Impact

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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:

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263 – System governance is the key to shifting the local government paradigm

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850 words (9 minutes reading time) by Lancing Farrell

The need for a new paradigm in local government in Victoria has been mentioned in a few posts recently (see 241 – Rate capping – the final words (from our future), 253 – Minds Change: My Journey to Transform Local Government Performance, and 261 – Reinventing Local Government). Model collapse, as described by Carole Parkinson and Tim Whistler, signals the end of an existing paradigm. This raises critical questions about the current paradigm in local government and the need for change. A recent podcast in the Reimagining Government series by the Centre for Public Impact, ‘What on earth is a paradigm shift?’, discusses paradigms and provides insights and practical tips for those wanting to bring about transformative change.

Defining Paradigms

The podcast features host Adrian Brown and Professor Toby Lowe from the Centre for Public Impact, Henk-Jan Dekker from the International Centre for Environmental Research and Development, and Jessica Studdert from think tank ‘New Local’. Drawing on the work of Thomas Kuhn and Margaret Masterman, a paradigm was defined as a ‘grand explanatory narrative for how a part of the world works’.  It operates on metaphysical, sociological, and exemplar levels, shaping perceptions of what exists and what should be valued. Understanding how paradigms work is crucial for those seeking systemic change in local government.

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