A proven, exciting Retirement planning process for individuals and couples, The Best-Half is a combination of workshops, coaching and personal reflection. It was developed by experienced coaches and educators. For organizations, The Best-Half is a process to be used in succession management especially for transitions and to establish common goals and objectives in the senior phases of a career.

Monday, November 07, 2011

What’s your new paradigm?




Paradigm is defined as ‘a change in basic assumptions.’ Originally used only in discussion of scientific change or theory by Thomas Kuhn the term paradigm shift has made its way into the general vocabulary. These shifts are now common place and are visible to us in every day life as changes in products, processes and possibilities. The first time I heard the term used was in about 1987 when a speaker I was listening to at a conference, talked about disposable razors. The paradigm shift he was describing was the change in manufacturing from what was essentially an instrument made almost entirely of steel and designed for a lifetime of use, to one that was now almost entirely plastic and designed for a use cycle of only a few days.
Building a personal paradigm shift requires desire and courage. The desire is a desire to fundamentally change one’s comfort level and belief system and then have the courage to actually make the change.
While out for dinner last week, I was talking to our hostess about the local professional arts scene. She was unaware that I had some first hand knowledge through my previous career as an arts manager. Her surprise was I think more about the ‘big shift’ I had made then it was about the specifics.
I was looking at a list of clients and consulting projects I have completed in the last five years and realized that while many of the clients remain the same, the work I am performing is radically different than it was even three years ago. Today, the majority of my consulting is based around the changing work force and how organizations and individuals respond, react and build for the future.
This reinvention started some seven years ago with my interest in the now here but then impending baby boomer retirement phenomena.
Reinvention is, I believe, the number one skill for success and personal fulfillment for the future. Without the ability to instigate your own personal paradigm shift/ reinvention we run the very real risk of being left behind as our organization finds its new paradigm shift. Desire and courage take centre stage in the reinvention drama being played out in the US financial system. With tens of thousands of job losses happening almost daily, there is going to be a profound reorganization of labour within this sector. Those with the ability, desire and courage to reinvent will ultimately be OK. Those that look back, and wait for the change to stop and their jobs to return will find themselves in a fundamentally difficult place both personally and professionally. 
A successful career is no longer about “Pick and Stick” and the lifetime employer. It is about making smart decisions, looking to the horizon and managing your own paradigm shift providing value in your current position but always being aware of what that value is worth.

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