5 experience that using a holistic perspective
Answers
Explanation:
The term "holistic thinking" refers to a big picture mentality in which a person recognizes the interconnectedness of various elements that form larger systems, patterns and objects. Holistic thinkers believe that events are the products of external forces and situations. They tend to give broad attention to context, relationships, and background elements in visual scenes. Thinking holistically is the opposite of analyzing something, which involves breaking down a larger system into its details. Analytic thinkers believe that events are the products of individuals and their attributes. They have a narrow focus on objects in the foreground and tend to disentangle phenomena from the contexts in which they are embedded.
My advanced degree in Operations Research involved both ways of looking at problems and events, a skill that was very valuable over many years and many careers.
Holistic medicine is a prominent example of holistic thinking. A medical professional who believes in holistic care considers the relationships among the mind, body and spirit. For example, holistic doctors don't just provide patients with medications. Instead, they look at ways to improve life balance and eradicate health problems from their root source, such as high stress or bad nutrition.
Holistic thinking is important for a company leader who must understand how the different functions of the business work together to achieve shared goals. While an IT professional is mostly concerned with his department and role, the CEO must recognize how IT contributes to the overall business and profit objectives. Holistic thinking allows a leader to designate the responsibilities of each department while keeping the big picture in mind.
There is an interesting parable illustrating holistic thinking using six blind men to describe an elephant. One feels a leg and says it is like a tree; another the tail and believes it to be rope-like. Yet another feels the body and believes it to be like a wall, while another feels the ears and notes it is fan-like. Number 5 feels a tusk and describes it as a spear, while number 6, feeling the trunk, believes it to be much like a snake. None have the complete (holistic) picture, though all are partly correct.
In a specific culture, people usually respond well to receiving very detailed and segmented information about what is expected of each of them. If you need to give instructions to a team member from this kind of culture, focus on what that person needs to accomplish and when. Conversely, if you need to motivate, manage, or persuade someone from a holistic culture, spend time explaining the big picture and how all the pieces slot together.
A portrait photographer in Western cultures (analytical) will typically focus on the subject’s face, while an Asian would include portions of the subjects environment (holistic).
Holism believes (physical, biological, chemical, social, economic, mental, linguistic) and their properties should be viewed as wholes, not just as a collection of parts. It also applies to the metaphysical domain (e.g. mental structures, properties, attributes, values, ideals).
As a holistic thinker, you approach everything as a part of the whole. Nothing stands alone and nothing is linear in time or in space. This means that things can happen at the same time, alternating, never independently but always as a reaction to some form of stimulation which is all part of the whole. It also means that what happens in one spot can have an effect on something in a totally different, unrelated spot. Holistic thinking is incredibly hard for us humans as we have been so indoctrinated into linear thinking. Holistic thinking has so many different aspects that it is completely mind blowing. This is also why holistic thinkers are usually misunderstood.
Systems thinking is a holistic approach to analysis that focuses on the way that a system's constituent parts interrelate and how systems work over time and within the context of larger systems. The systems thinking approach contrasts with traditional analysis, which studies systems by breaking them down into their separate elements. Systems thinking can be used in any area of research and has been applied to the study of medical, environmental, political, economic, human resources, and educational systems, among many others.
According to systems thinking, system behavior results from the effects of reinforcing and balancing processes. A reinforcing process leads to the increase of some system component. If reinforcement is unchecked by a balancing process, it eventually leads to collapse. A balancing process is one that tends to maintain equilibrium in a particular system. Attention to feedback is an essential component of system thinking.
Systems thinking originated in 1956, when Professor Jay Forrester founded the Systems Dynamic Group at MIT's Sloan School of Management.