Paradigm lost

Abstract

As an external consultant advising industry (mainly the mining industry), two contrasting experiences are frequent. One is that the industry practitioners have strong domain knowledge that the consultant lacks. The other is that the industry practitioners often suffer from paradigm paralysis, using models of thinking that are either fundamentally inappropriate, or, perhaps more commonly, have become inappropriate through the passage of time and changes in technology and computing power. Although, and perhaps because, the data available have often grown considerably, paradigm paralysis can cause decision makers to fail to make full use of the available information, or worse, can lead to outcomes contrary to those intended. By coming in as an outsider, external consultants can provide benefit by introducing new paradigms or updating previous paradigms, subject to the important proviso that they become familiar with the domain knowledge and work closely with the industry practitioners. In this paper, the author discusses a number of projects, in which he has been involved, which illustrate the occurrence of paradigm paralysis.