I remember when I first heard the word "paradigm", or at least heard it in a way that explained exactly what it meant. We had a phrase in the Navy called "mode locked". It meant basically the same as having blinders on. You get focused to the point of being narrow minded. That leads back to paradigm, meaning the perspective you view things from. If you are sitting at a table with a bowl of soup, the bowl is round. It's round because you are looking down at it. But if you stooped down to the level of the table and looked at the bowl it is only half round. Looking at the bowl from a different perspective changes your paradigm.
I get a lot of ideas by looking at things from a different perspective and not becoming "mode locked". It also helps in interacting with people. Looking at things from their point of view often helps in understanding them.