Doug Engelbart created a 'Paradigm Map' to clarify where thinking needs to shift

Bootstrap "Paradigm Map" 0

Click to enlarge Map

Doug Engelbart developed a "Paradigm Map" to portray a radically different strategic approach for transforming the organization of the future. A paradigm is a mindset that shapes how we see the world. A paradigm that is outmoded or slow to change can seriously limit an organization's or society's perception of risks or opportunities, or view of what's possible and how to proceed. Each tile on the map identifies a shift in thinking that will be needed for organizations and society at large to fully realize their potential while navigating accelerating change at scale.

The map in Engelbart's slidedeck is interactive. Clicking on a tile elicits highlighting, a summary slide, or detail slides for that topic. Since his Bootstrap strategy is relational, not linear, it helps to watch Doug presenting in multiple contexts for the interplay of concepts to become clear. See below to Watch Doug Presenting and access a generic Slidedeck.

Watch Doug Presenting 2

Below are two examples of Doug presenting elements of the Bootstrap "Paradigm Map" interactively. Each video is queued up to begin with the Overview. Visit the Engelbart Academy for a complete selection of "Paradigm Map" presentations under Lectures & Management Seminars (leading with these same two videos), plus additional sections containing a variety of 'off the map' presentations.

Examples: Just the Highlights 2a

Visit the Engelbart Academy for the full experience

Slides 3

Screenshot of the Map Click to enlarge

View or print the Bootstrap "Paradigm Map" slides:

• paradigmmap.pdf - PDF format minus the animation
• paradigmmap.pps - PowerPoint slideshow with animation
• paradigmmap.ppt - PowerPoint source file with animation
• paradigmmap-handouts3perpage.pdf - printable slide handouts, 3 per page

How to Navigate:

Travel once around the map to traverse the vision highlights, and again to see vision and strategy in greater detail.

Click right-arrow to advance through the slideshow. There are four parts to the presentation:
    Part 1 - basic map (Slide 2);
    Part 2 - overview highlights series;
    Part 3 - detail slides series
    Part 4 - closing summary slide series.
Icons in the top right corner are as follows: Lightning bolt returns you to Part 1 (Slide 2); [2] hotlinks to Part 2; [3] hotlinks to Part 3; [4] hotlinks to Part 4; Home hotlinks to the title page (Slide 1). On Slide 2: If viewing with animation, clicking on any tile animates that tile to accentuate the topic title. On all other map slides: Click any tile on the map to select that topic as follows: Click top of tile for highlights (that topic in Part 2), midsection for detail slide series (that topic in Part 3), bottom of tile for closing summary slide (that topic in Part 3) – from there, right and left arrow will advance from that point on the given series (highlights, detail, or closing summary). Historical Note: In the original presentation developed in Macromedia Director, Doug could switch modes using shortcut keys, and bookmark a slide before jumping away from it to easily return to it later.

David Gendron's new rendition Click to enlarge

Browse the 2008 Bootstrap Dialogs Project with Doug, Jeff and Christina

History 4

Doug and Christina Engelbart are eternally grateful to David Gendron of Trillium Business Learning, Inc. who conceived, designed and produced this dynamic presentation in the early 1990s as a gift to Doug. Doug used this presentation format in most of his lectures and workshops since 1993. Originally programmed in Macromedia Director, it was later migrated to PowerPoint. As a tribute to Doug on his 80th birthday, David created this new rendition of the paradigm map. The key concepts in this map were conceived by Doug in the 1950s and 1960s, and subsequently iterated and refined through the 1990s.

Further Inquiry 5

• See also Doug's Vision Highlights, and the Engelbart Academy to learn more about Doug's strategic vision for a brighter future, sooner. For more on his past accomplishments and early prototypes, see our online exhibits at the Engelbart Archive.


• For more in-depth study, refer to the 2008 The Bootstrap Dialogs - raw footage from four half-days of filming Doug, Jeff Rulifson and Christina Engelbart discussing Doug's Bootstrap "Paradigm Map" in-depth among themselves. This is not a seminar, just a chance to walk through the material to capture the key concepts in greater detail than was possible in a typical seminar format.