CONTACT: Tess Woods

 

The Flexibility Paradigm: Humanizing the Workplace for Productivity, Profitability, and Possibility
Manar Sweillam Morales
Georgetown University Press (January 2025)

“People won’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”  Theodore Roosevelt

As you perhaps know already, the etymology of “paradigm” dates back at least to ancient Greece: παράδειγμα (paradeigma); “pattern, example, sample”; from the verb παραδείκνυμι (paradeiknumi). In classical (Greek-based) rhetoric, a paradeigma aims to provide an audience with an illustration of a similar occurrence. This illustration is not meant to take the audience to a conclusion; however, it is used to help guide them to get there. The original Greek term παράδειγμα (paradeigma) was used by scribes in Greek texts (such as Plato’s dialogues Timaeus [c. 360 BCE] and Parmenides) as one possibility for the model or the pattern that the demiurge supposedly used to create the cosmos.

I first became aware of the term when I read Thomas Kuhn’s 1962 work The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. In it, Kuhn suggests that certain scientific works provide an open-ended resource: a framework of concepts, results, and procedures within which subsequent work can be structured. Normal science proceeds within such a framework or paradigm because it does not impose a rigid or mechanical approach but can be taken more or less creatively and flexibly.

This information helps to set the table for my brief commentary on The Flexibility Paradigm in which Manar Sweillam Morales shares her thoughts about how to “humanize the workplace for productivity, profitability, and possibility.” More specifically, in her book, she offers you a paradigm shift, strategy, and framework for organizations across industries to create an entire culture needed that allows them to build on their strengths and lead the future of work.

I commend Morales on her brilliant, substantial contributions to thought leadership throughout the global marketplace and highly recommend this material to all C-level executives and those who aspire to become one as well as to those who are now preparing for a business career or have only recently embarked upon one.

In this single volume, you will  have just about everything you need to know about HOW to humanize your workplace to sustain higher productivity, profitability, and possibility.

* * *

Here are two suggestions while you are readingThe Flexibility Paradigm : First, highlight key passages. Also,  perhaps in a notebook kept near-at-hand (e.g. Apica Premium C.D. Notebook A5), record your comments, questions, and action steps (preferably with deadlines). Pay special attention to the end-of-chapter “Reflection Questions” in Chapters 1-9.

These two simple tactics — highlighting and documenting — will expedite frequent reviews of key material later.