Systems Think: Think Holistic to Expand Your Thinking

INTRODUCTION TO HOLISTIC THINKING

Welcome to the course “Think Holistic - Capture information, visualize systems and transform your thinking with diagrams”. 

The meaning of holistic is ‘whole’, which means that whenever we look at some event, mechanism, or framework, we should not only look at it as an independent entity, but also as a part of something bigger, maybe a system or an entity. Every part of a system is connected to other parts in some way. Any change to a part would affect the whole system. Generally, people only look at a specific portion of the structure while neglecting its connection with other components of the system, which is the wrong way to analyze, as we have to consider everything associated with it to understand its true behavior.

It is true that everything including humans, machines, solar system an even universe is a system or a part of a bigger system. We cannot analyze a component in a mutually exclusive way or understand an individual in a disconnected way, as every person has specific believes, behaviors, attitudes developed over time, which are responsible for his actions. To understand a person, we need to understand his past, his present conditions, his beliefs, culture and value system. Even then we would understand him partially as many attributed could remain hidden. Same is the case with any system. To understand a system we must look at it holistically.

This course will fill the gap and fulfil the urgent need to Think Holistically. 

OBJECTIVE OF THE COURSE

• It is for the holistic view of the specific system. As the name suggests the big picture view gives us the bird eye view or the holistic view of the system, a situation or an event.
• it helps us to take the better decisions. The best decisions are taken after understanding the whole situation and by having the holistic view of the situation. The big picture view would give us the right understanding of a specific event for taking decisions. It can also help us to visualize the facts and consequences of the decisions.
• it is to identify and capture all the important and required details of the situation or system. You will identify the important keywords and go into the required details of each.
• It is to look at different connections, however deep or complex. A keyword can have several sub keywords and every sub keywords can have their own sub keywords. This process can go on based on the depth of understanding and analysis required. We can go several levels down by asking question about why? Why not? How? Where? When? Etc.
• It is to understand our own perception. We can have a specific perception but it is possible that we do not have the clear reasons for it. The big picture view will present us either with the right perception or the reasons for our perceptions.
• It is to check the perceptions of others. Every event or situation can have several perceptions. Generally people see their own perceptions while ignoring others. That is the reason of conflict and misunderstandings. The big picture view can help us in understanding the perception of other people and also the reasons for their perceptions.
• It is to clarify the doubts. As the big picture view has the complete system captured in the diagram it can help us to clear certain doubts by answering the unanswered questions.
• It is to find the solutions to the problems. And answers to the questions. All the troubleshooters understand the whole system therefore they can understand the root-cause of the problem and are able to devise the right solutions for it.
• It is for innovation. To innovate we need to understand the whole system, understand the present solutions, identify problems, get information and insights and then find or discover implementable solutions.

RIGHT FIT FOR THE COURSE

Let’s talk about the people for whom this course is designed and developed.

• It can empower all type of professionals to solve problems. These diagrams can be used in both professional and personal settings. They can be utilized to understand the problems and identify solutions. It can be used to understand a situation, an event and perspectives of different people associated with it.
• Investors can use it to look for opportunities to multiply their money. Almost all investors have a big picture in their mind about their own industry where they are putting their investments. Before investing their money, they identify the different forces operating in the industry, sector or domain. They can identify the risk and look for mitigation strategies.
• Managers can use it to manage better. Managers manages their responsibilities and take decisions. Every day managers face different challenges and they have to understand the holistic picture of their work, organization and industry. They also need to know about their teams, customers, or suppliers with whom they are dealing. Once they have all the information and understand the big picture view of their work they can take better decisions and troubleshoot problems.
• Students can use it to capture notes in the classes. Big picture view can also help us in taking notes about a specific concept and topic. It is difficult to understand the specific concept in isolation. It has to be connected with our existing knowledge and be understood on a bigger scale. The big picture view helps us to raise relevant questions and then answer the questions associated with it.
• Speakers can use it to design their speeches and using it as the reference for speaking.
• Speechwriters can use it to understand the theme of speech, the audience and to design the flow of speech to create the required impact. It can also be used by public speakers to create simple notes to capture the important points to speak.
• Designers can use it to understand the perspectives of different users of the product or service. The main purpose of the big picture view is to understand different perspective and to capture all the relevant points and their connections. It can help designers to understand the requirements of different customer segments and their needs.
• Planners can use it to design strategies and plans. It gives the holistic perspective to understand and design strategies and develop plans. 
• Teams and Groups can use it for brainstorming. We can capture discussed ideas using big picture to segregate them based upon their segment. We can get inspiration about the fresh ideas and change focus based on requirements.
• Teachers and trainers can use it for planning their lectures and courses. It is powerful tools for teachers, trainers, instructors and coaches to plan their content by keeping big picture in perspective. They can plan based on their students response and requirements.
• Police and detectives can use it to solve crimes. Big picture view would reveal the hidden elements for the agencies to explore and dig deeper. It would bring the cases in perspective. it can be used by anyone for understanding something as this is the way humans think. Human mind is designed to think in big picture. Our perspectives and beliefs are developed by combining our experiences, learning, observations and thinking. We connect new knowledge with the existing knowledge to develop insights. 

WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT AFTER COMPLETING THIS COURSE

your expectations

• You will become a better thinker after completing this course, as you will think in systems and analyze any event or situation effectively.
• You will master the concept of Holistic Thinking, which will enhance your thinking process.
• You will understand different systems better by making clear Holistic Diagram.
• Your analytical skills will enhance with Holistic Diagrams. It will also raise your competencies level at troubleshooting problems.
• Your decision-making abilities would become better with Holistic Thinking. It will also give you the expertise to understand different perceptions and point of views.
• You will find yourself better at solving problems through better analysis and decision making.

WHAT IS EXPECTED FROM THE LEARNERS

Our Expectations

• The learners have the freedom to take the course as they want, but it would be beneficial that they follow the flow of the course. Once the course is complete, they can choose any topic to reinforce the concepts by listening to specific lectures again.
• The most important part is to follow the suggestions specified with lectures. Knowledge without execution would not be effective.
• It would be important to complete the course, as each lecture would cover a crucial step of Holistic Thinking. The objective is to make you an expert in Holistic Thinking.
• This course can add substantial value if you practice the ideas specified in the course. You must keep practicing the ideas and techniques discussed in the course.
• Even after completing the course you need to keep coming back for revising the ideas to internalize concepts through introspection.
• The learners should not restrict themselves only to these ideas, they should keep looking for new techniques and concepts from their own experiences and from learning through secondary sources.

QUALIFICATION REQUIRED FOR THE COURSE

• There is no minimum qualification required for this course. Anyone who wants to become a better thinker, can take this course.
• The medium of instruction is English, therefore you need to have medium proficiency in English, to get the value out of this course.
• You need to be committed enough to complete the course and follow the specified instructions with complete sincerity.

RIGHT WAY TO TAKE THE COURSE 

• To get the maximum value out of this course, you need to start from the beginning, and move step by step forward. Even though you can pick any lecture to learn, based upon your interest and requirement. But it would be great if you could follow the course with its flow, which can ensure its completion.
• It is required that you follow the instructions as specified in each section. Following the instructions would help you to become a better learner in the course.
• It is suggested that even if you have some brief understanding about a specific portion, it would be beneficial that you complete those topics in the course. It would act like the good revision for the topic or idea, and act as an opportunity to build a momentum for completing the course.