n WORTH NOTING
buzzwords
get social
@comstocksmag: Some 2 million people,
from Lyft drivers to construction workers,
consider themselves independent contractors
in California. In 2017, according to the Bureau of
Labor Statistics, about one in 14 workers was an
independent contractor nationally.
Paradigm Shift
n.\per-ə-ˌdīm\ˈshift\
When the usual model of
thinking about or doing
something is replaced by a
new and different model.
BY Eva Roethler
ILLUSTRATION: Jason Balangue
GIG COMPANIES BEG FOR RELIEF
FROM PRO-LABOR SUPREME
COURT RULING
@GoodstockCA: The large companies
who were built around ind. contractors may
have ‘invited exploitation’ and perhaps their
employment model should be restructured.
BUT it also decimates so many local, small
businesses. Photographers, barbershops, yoga
studios, graphic designers, tattoo parlors
@GoodstockCA: Fingers crossed it
doesn’t put our colleagues, friends and
ourselves out of business. An exception should
be written in for businesses under a certain
amount of employees.
Paradigm shifts are a big deal. In science — where the term originated — the process
begins with an emerging theory which researchers try to disprove until that theory,
accepted as legitimate, dominates a new model of understanding in a certain field.
Consider the Copernican sun-centric model of the universe: For millennia, astrono-
mers believed the Earth was the center of the universe until 1543, when Nicolaus Co-
pernicus published a theory that the sun was the center of the solar system. This new
theory, unable to be disproven, marked the dawn of a new paradigm.
However, true paradigm shifts are usually only identified in retrospect. “Trying to
predict a paradigm shift is an act of prophecy,” says UC Davis Science and Technology
Studies Program Director Colin Milburn. In other words, it’s presumptuous and poten-
tially pompous, and it even ranked No. 1 on Forbes’ 2018 list of Ten Buzzwords That
Make You Sound Like An Idiot. Yet, we’ve all heard the word as business jargon before,
often when describing startups (“Shark Tank,” anyone?).
THE BUZZ
While scientists are averse to paradigm shifts, Milburn says the rhetoric of disrup-
tion in business is hugely dominant. Changing the rules of the market is a coveted status
in the startup world.
“A perfect example of a disruptive play would be what Uber did to the whole taxi
industry segment. …You could even use paradigm shift,” says John Peters, leader of the
Sacramento Angels investment group.
Peters reviews over 300 startup applications and listens to 16 entrepreneur pitches
with the investment group every year, and says that the term paradigm shift comes off a
little fluffy. “Disruptive innovation feels like it’s more descriptive,” Peters says.
THE WORD
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However, there might be exceptions. Do you have to rely on advanced physics to
explain your business concept? Will your company make segments of the industry ob-
solete? Well, then your product might qualify, but use paradigm shift at your own peril.
“It’s not going to add a heck of a lot to an application to use paradigm shift … It’s not the
heart of the value proposition,” Peters says.
Entrepreneurs who reach the pitching stage should know better than to rely on
buzzy jargon to sell their concept. “The most important thing is to focus on the customer
value,” Peters says.