Stephen Downes

It's that old question: do fish know they're wet? This article considers nature of the paradigms we swim within without even realizing what they are. For example, write authors Zac Hill and Ben Marshall, many non-profits facing challenges focus on "rigorous, well-established ways of working... hiring staff and volunteers to deliver products or services to beneficiaries... emblematic of a way of working we call the institutional paradigm." But it's not the only paradigm. There is the 'democratic paradigm' - where "people are elected or appointed rather than hired", or the 'legal paradigm', or the 'social movement paradigm'. Here, the authors suggest organizations look at what they call 'the creative paradigm', which is "generally more flexible, output-oriented, and driven by expert discernment." There are opportunities, they write, such as a more flexible talent model, different time horizons, and different ways of evaluating work.