There was a time back in the 1990s when ‘holistic’ was a dirty word in business circles. It was reserved for New Age fanatics and alternative health practitioners. If it turned up in a conversation at work, it was met with derision or a scoff of, “You’re one of those people.” That meant weird and not in a charitable way but in a where’s your straitjacket kind of vein.
All of which missed the whole (excuse the pun) point of the word itself. In terms of health, holistic means looking beyond symptoms or individual systems to how the body functions as a unit. As an integrated organism, each system is interdependent and, of course, mental and emotional factors are also considered.
Studies have shown the detrimental physiological impact of stress as well as the beneficial influence of a healthy mind set. All of it is connected, the tangible and the intangible. As such, if one element is out of balance, it will have a knock on effect elsewhere.
Perhaps you see where I’m going with this?
A shift in perspective
In this current global pandemic, we are beginning to understand what holistic means in practice. We are being shown vividly how one person’s actions can affect those they encounter, positively or negatively. We are realising how every societal system impacts each other, whether that be the food supply chain, healthcare, the environment or the economy.
From an awareness perspective, this is a huge step because we need to notice how things currently work in order to make effective changes for our future. More importantly, we need to acknowledge how it all fits together and whether this truly reflects who we choose to be as a society. Are we just looking out for our own?
Or are we willing to evolve a more encompassing compassionate and responsible perspective?
A holistic view
The parameters of a holistic view depend on what you are assessing: a person, a family, a country, etc. However, the approach is the same:
- What are the components?
- How do they work together?
- How does that fit into the bigger picture?
Once you understand this, you can assess which aspects are effective, which need tweaking and which are redundant. Basically what works and what doesn’t. However, you need to keep the holistic picture in mind, holding the individual units, the systems and the entirety of your enterprise in the same viewing frame.
For example, a seemingly redundant or ineffective system might be essential during power outages, when the server is down or when IT personnel are on holiday.
Training your brain to think holistically means letting go of the analytical (that can come later) as it is too focused and therefore closed in its approach. The all encapsulating perspective is obtained from observing and listening in a reflective mental state. This contemplative attitude opens the mind, allowing insight and inspiration to arise. It creates the space for those ‘aha’ moments that can transform your business into an innovative, connected enterprise that is ethically sound and reflects your mission statement.
Of course, it also allows you to see the deeper issues at play to resolve them from the source rather than just sticking on a band-aid when things go pear-shaped. It assists with planning and risk management because you learn to pay attention to the granular and the general; to notice industry-specific information as well as evolving trends in other markets; to recognise not only your impact on the world but the influences of global circumstances on how you operate.
Cutting Edge
Often in business, the term ‘integrated’ is used, yet the intention is the same: to have a 360o perspective of your enterprise. This viewpoint promotes a deeper connectedness and understanding of your company, its needs, offerings and place in the market. It can highlight opportunities to improve efficiency, efficacy, risk management plus it will open up areas for innovation and new growth. Simple yet intricate, this outlook will give you the edge over your competitors. You will notice what was previously overlooked, acknowledge the value in your personnel and systems as well as realising how to take things to the next level.
Locstat’s data intelligence platform facilitates a holistic perspective of your operations and your enterprise. Our powerful tech trinity of Complex Event Processing (CEP), graph database technology and a strong recommendation engine provides a unique level of feedback, functionality and foresight for a connected business. Locstat is quick to implement and a light touch on your existing architecture. Very affordably you can have next-gen solutions such as high volume transaction monitoring, streaming analytics, recommender systems, customer360o (holistic) views, customer segmentation, churn prediction, real-time fraud and anomaly detection, predictive maintenance, operational oversight and risk management / compliance.
Embrace the new normal with
Locstat’s data intelligence platform!