It’s all about Paradigms.

When you hear the words, “Down Syndrome”— what do you think?

Let me tell you what I know!  I just participated in the Franklin County Area United Way campaign for 2023 here in Missouri.  With that experience I had the wonderful opportunity of watching this magnificent young human lead our community through a miraculous and most successful campaign.  While this boy may have been born with Down Syndrome, he is described and experienced as “anything but Down!”  He is a curious and an interesting young boy that just helped create a miracle in fund-raising for the non-profit agencies in our region.  What power this young person has demonstrated already.  (By the way – he has amazing parents).

So what does this have to do with The Quality Coach® and our Monday Morning communication? 

It’s all about Paradigms.

Yes, we all have them.  Simply defined, the word, Paradigm, is “the filter through which we experience the world and every situation we encounter.”

Paradigms are often our perceptions of the facts or truth.  Subjective interpretations influenced by our experiences and beliefs. These interpretations serve to form the foundation of our actions and responses in our personal and professional lives.  Challenge these paradigms to open new doors of opportunity.   It’s called “Paradigm Shifting”.

The first steps to Unlocking the Power of Paradigm Shifting as stated in Stephen Covey’s Transformational Wisdom for CEO’s:

1.     Embrace a Growth Mindset:  Be open to learning, unlearning, and embracing new perspectives. A fixed mindset hinders progress, while a growth mindset enables us to adapt, innovate, and lead ourselves and our organizations to new heights.

2.     Question Assumptions: Challenging deeply ingrained assumptions leads to paradigm shifting. Empower those you lead to challenging the status quo.  Challenge traditional thinking.

3.     Build Empathetic Perspectives: Understanding diverse viewpoints is essential in paradigm shifting. Empathy allows the ability to connect with employees, customers, and stakeholders on a deeper level, leading to better and more inclusive decision-making.

In my world, ineffective paradigms often sound something like this…

“I have tried that before and it doesn’t work”  

“This generation just doesn’t have the work ethic we do”  

“Children with Down Syndrome will have limitations.”

A shift in paradigms would sound something like this …

“I can make this work by looking at it differently” 

“Each individual should be judged on their own merits, not on their age or generation” 

“A Syndrome will not define what a person can or cannot do.”

The actions we take every day are a direct result of our paradigms.  Our actions get results and our results support our paradigms.  If you think you can, you are probably correct.  If you think you can’t, you are probably correct.

Dr. Stephen Covey challenges his readers with: “If you want to make minor changes in your life, work on your behavior.  But if you want to make significant, quantum breakthroughs, work on your paradigms.”

At The Quality Coach® our coaches challenge individuals to this type of thinking on a regular basis.   We help build a mindset of staying curious, challenging the status quo, and being open to adapting as the world continues to evolve.   Paradigm shifts are an ongoing process and takes willingness and intentionality to being positive.   Examine your current paradigms and ask yourself if a shift may be needed.