If you want small changes in your life, work on your attitude. But if you want big and primary changes, work on your paradigm — Stephen Covey.
Paradigm Shift! One of the first steps to transformation. Lean-Agile requires a Paradigm Shift…it is not optional. Failure to work on or shift your paradigm means failure to transform!
According to the Merriam-Webster.com website, ‘Paradigm Shift is an important change that happens when the usual way of thinking about or doing something is replaced by a new and different way.’Â
To effectively change — not a small but big and primary change, per Stephen Covey — from the Conventional Way (i.e. Waterfall) to the New Way (i.e. ‘Lean-Agile’), one must have the required Paradigm Shift. Usually, an event of pain or discomfort leads one to reach a ‘Tipping Point’ that leads him/her to have a Paradigm Shift.
You cannot row on two rivers at the same time. You’ll have to choose which river to row on, and hopefully you’ll choose the one that will take you to the journey and destination that you have envisioned.
How, exactly, does one do that? It really depends on the situation. One could use modeling … see some examples to use as models or patterns as solution reference. One that I use for fishing-out examples for sharing is the movies. There are lots of movies out there that transform the protagonists and the antagonists. Each transformation always captivates me.
One example of such a movie is the film “The Founder”. I loved this film so much that I made a video to correlate ‘Lean Agile’ alongside it. It also showcased a particular ‘Paradigm Shift’, which was having customers’ food — food with quality — ready in 30 seconds and not in 30 minutes! The McDonald brothers envisioned of providing such ‘fast service with quality products‘ to their customers — of which the brothers perceived , correctly, to deliver great value to their customers and to their business.
So, they sought a way to fulfill that vision. They had to ‘think outside the box’, outside the ‘Conventional Way’. They had to think and do things differently (yes, they had a Paradigm Shift). As a result, they came up with the ‘Speedee System’!
 Here is the video that I have used and still use in illustrating this ‘Paradigm Shift’ and the ‘Lean-Agile’ way, it is titled : ‘Lean Agile Analogous Story’. For this video, I have used the film “The Founder” as the backdrop, and I have superimposed a “Lean Agile Story” sub-text as the foreground for parallel/analogous storytelling. This is to illustrate why — in adaptive and ever constantly changing environment — we need to move away from the ‘Conventional Way’ to the ‘New Way’ for us to succeed and survive.
The film, ‘The Founder’ , is very reflective — it certainly was reflective to me, specially the ” ‘…We might have underestimated the Learning Curve‘ ” scene.
Please watch this video… and do not forget to read the ‘Lean Agile Story’ sub-text at the bottom part of the video’s screen. Please let us know what you think!
Link to the video: https://vimeo.com/leanagileguru/story
P.S.  If you are really serious in transforming yourself, there are only 4 major steps to take for your Transformation: 1) Paradigm Shift. Then it must be followed-up with Shifts in: 2) Language — use words that support your new Paradigm; 3) Behavior — the way you act must reflect your new Paradigm; 4) Habit — make your new paradigm (mindset), language, and behavior a permanent part of your lifestyle by making these hard to give up…by making these part of your habit. Do it now!
Failure to go through the required Paradigm Shift — followed-up by the aforementioned equally important 3 shift steps (Language, Behavior, Habit) — will surely lead to failed and half-baked transformation.
