Hi All
Allow me to share my thoughts on this. In the training I do with managers in one of the major global operators of ports around the world we look at the issue of paradigms very closely.
A paradigm is defined many ways, for example (source:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/paradigm)
1. One that serves as a pattern or model.
2. A set or list of all the inflectional forms of a word or of one of its grammatical categories: the paradigm of an irregular verb.
3. A set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality for the community that shares them, especially in an intellectual discipline.
I believe we are interested in the 3rd definition.
Here is an example: the inventor of the container shipping business - that is, putting cargo in to standardised containers for easy shipment around the world, was not a ship person - he was a trucker. The paradigm at the time for ships was general cargo - everything loose and individually packed in to the holds of ships.
Another example: plate tectonics is a theory and science relating to the notion that the surface of the earth is comprised of a number of plates that move relative to each other. Where these plates meet are areas of earthquake and volcanic activity. This is now widely accepted as the standard theory in respect of the earth's structure. This theory was developed by a German, Alfred L Wegener during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was dismissed by geologists of the day. Why? Because it did not fit with their strongly held assumptions, concepts and values (THEIR PARADIGM) and also because Wegener was not 'one of them' - a geologist - he was actually a meteorologist and astronomist!
So how a shift from industrial focus to informational focus or technological focus a paradigm shift? Well, in each of these different focuses there will be values, assumptions and concepts specific to each focus, some of which will exclude or be in direct conflict with assumptions, values and concepts held in the other focuses. To move from one focus to the other requires a change in assumptions, values and concepts, including embracing some of those assumptions, values and concepts that you have been in conflict with.
This is why it is a paradigm shift, and also why it is so difficult for established practitioners to change, to make that paradigm shift. It also explains why truly new ideas come from outsiders, and why they need such courage to persevere and to make their ideas become real.
Look for works by Thomas Kuhn and Joel Barker.
Regards
Martin