Distinctions
Is
- The mind-set out of which the system—its goals, structure, rules, delays, parameters—arises.
- A deep, usually unconscious worldview that shapes what we see as real and possible.
- A set of assumptions about how the world works (“people are selfish,” “growth is always good,” etc.).
- A shared mental model that organizes facts, data, and experience into a coherent story.
- The underlying “lens” or “story” through which we interpret systems and events.
- A source of rules and goals (it generates them, rather than being just one rule or goal).
- A collective belief system embedded in culture, language, institutions.
- Often felt as obvious truth, not as one option among many.
- Something that can be shifted or even swapped (e.g., from “the earth is the center” to “the sun is the center”).
- A high‑leverage point in a system: change it, and everything else tends to rearrange
- In Meadows’ sense: a “tremendously limited understanding” of a vast universe—one map among many, never the territory itself.
Is Not
- A single fact or data point (e.g., “CO₂ is at X ppm”)
- A simple rule or policy (“we recycle paper in this office”)
- A goal or target alone (“3% annual growth,” “carbon neutrality by 2050”)
- A momentary opinion or mood (“I’m annoyed today”)
- A narrowly scoped technique or method (Agile, Scrum, a forecasting algorithm)
- A local habit or routine (“we hold status meetings on Mondays”)
- A temporary strategy or tactic (“launch a marketing campaign this quarter”)
- A single ideology slogan without the deeper structure (“free markets are good”)
- A purely conscious, fully articulated theory you can easily list on a slide—most of a paradigm is tacit
- A small parameter tweak or optimization (“increase R&D by 5%”)
Boundary
A paradigm is the deep, often unconscious framework of assumptions that makes particular facts, goals, rules, and strategies seem “natural,” “true,” or “obvious.”
- If it’s the background story that generates and justifies many specific choices → it is a paradigm.
- If it’s just a foreground choice (a rule, target, technique, or data point) that could be swapped out without changing the underlying story → it is not a paradigm, but rather a product of one.