Paradigm Shift – another buzz word or something needed for HPAM?

But seriously, if you look around in the physical asset management field, a paradigm shift is desperately needed. In my last post, I mentioned that it is required for a successful execution of HPAM. It is required to ensure the activities/practices/business approaches of the organization are well coordinated and integrated.

By definition "paradigm shift" means "a fundamental change in approach or underlying assumptions". I agree that the word "paradigm" has been a corporate buzz word for many years, but in its simplest form it means "doing something differently". 
Paradigm shift has been the catalyst and cornerstone of many inventions, innovations, evolution and progress and has stood the test of time.
Doing things differently" has changed the world we live in completely as attested by the following quotes:


"Edison's electric light did not come about from the continuous improvement of the candles."
                                                                                                                                                 Oren Harari
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
                                                                                                                         Albert Einstein

In physical asset management too, the choice is ours:
Do we want to do the same things over and over again? Do we expect the same results or different results? If it is the latter, then from what we have seen above, we must start doing things differently.

In maintenance and reliability in the late 1970s, we witnessed the power of paradigm shift. Significant improvement took place in the aviation industry with the adoption of reliability-centred maintenance approach, which completely changed the maintenance management philosophy.
http://reliabilityweb.com/articles/entry/maintenance_management_a_new_paradigm
Of course the paradigm shift did not take place overnight. It took many years for other industries to follow suit and to achieve different results, but they all had to do things differently. 

In physical asset management, we are all expecting different results in the form of better infrastructure, improved service level, longer service life, availability of more funds, economic development, etc. But are we doing things differently enough to achieve those results?
Many of the pieces of the puzzle to achieve great results are in place, but we need to start changing a few things in little matters within ourselves, within the organization.
We must create a new ideal, a new model with a different pattern. We must look at things through different functional areas' lenses to reframe our thoughts, change our behaviour and get rid of some old ways of thinking. 
So what are the stumbling blocks that can be experienced for a paradigm shift in HPAM?

Here are some examples:
Defining value, organizational silos, conflicting priorities, politics, and principal-agent problems.

Can you think of any others?

I leave you with this short video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjdFgxx81qk

Together let us challenge the way we do things. Only then we will be able to see different results!

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