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Holistic Business Modeling
Taking a Page from the Physicians Hippocratic Oath
Step into the Future | by Brenda Miller
What if each business professional had to take a Hippocratic Oath before they were
able to "practice" their skill or open up their business? Hippocrates,
known as the "Father of Medicine," was born around 460 B.C. on the island
of Cos, Greece. He founded a medical school and developed an Oath of Medical Ethics
for physicians to follow, which is taken by every physician today as they begin their
medical practice.
Part of his oath reads: "I will follow that system or regimen which, according
to my ability and judgment, I consider for the benefit of my patients, and abstain
from whatever is deleterious and mischievous."
Mark Stefan, holistic advertising and marketing strategist for New Crotona, suggested
we apply this to the corporate world to read, "I will follow that strategic
and business plan which, according to my ability and judgment, I consider for the
benefit of my employees and my customers, and abstain from whatever is harmful to
people and the environment."
Furthermore, we believe that you cannot separate out your personal, emotional and
spiritual characteristics. We are all holistic beings. We function best when we have
learned to integrate the various components and complexities of our etheric, mental,
emotional and physical bodies. "When one is out of alignment (and you know when
you are), it is up to us to find and regain the balance in order to function effectively,
joyfully, and harmoniously," Stefan adds. "This applies to companies as
well."
Holistic Business Framework
Hippocrates, perhaps the first holistic practitioner, believed the body must
be treated as a whole and not just a series of parts. This understanding, proposed
as general systems theory in the 1940s, values process instead of structure.
The framework stems from a theory of living systems -- that although it depends on
its environment, it isn't determined by it. It's made up of a set of relationships
that reach out to connect to other things. It's in harmony with other systems. It
has an inherent tendency to transcend itself and create new forms. System theory
places emphasis on the issues of consequences and responsibility to other living
things and looks at tendencies, probabilities and patterns and how things manifest
as it changes with time.
We can use this model to address society and businesses. In a holistic business approach,
a company is viewed as a system, rather than a collection of independent departments,
all vying for power in order to maintain their turf which, in turn, creates unhealthy
competition within the company. The standard -- and what we view as an outdated model
-- breeds the corruption of power, political maneuvering, gossip, and the loss of
individual self-worth and creativity.
A holistic approach sees everything as interconnected. Each member affects the whole,
which in turn affects the business-driven outcome. For an organization to embrace
this vision, it would have to rethink issues in more relational terms: recognize
itself as a whole living system in which people exhibit self-organizing capacity;
welcome growth and rejuvenation; and shift power and control to include everyone
in the organization in order to implement change at fundamental levels.
Companies that look forward positively into the future will see an endless world
of opportunities and possibilities. When the smoke clears, those companies that practice
a holistic business model will not only be left standing, they will become business
models for all future businesses.
It's not too late to change. It's never too late. It's redefining the purpose of
business while creating a dynamic work environment and interconnecting communities
of departments, divisions and people, all working together toward a desired outcome.
It's a model where the workplace -- as is practiced in many European and Scandinavian
countries -- is treated as a school for creativity and where people are encouraged
to stretch and grow.
Holism fosters:
´ Collaborative ventures and cooperation vs. competition
´ A culture of creativity vs. stagnation
´ Adopting change and flexibility vs. standardization
´ Building trust and a foundation of integrity vs. political and power maneuvering
´ Encouraging individual responsibility and accountability vs. fear of taking independent
action
´ Inspiring entrepreneurship vs. "I'm just an employee" mentality
´ Decision making based on long-term growth vs. short-term gain
For four centuries, we've been steeped in the Newtonian and Industrial System. It
wasn't until 1924 when Jon Smuts coined the term holism that a new way of thinking
came into our social consciousness. For society and business to embrace holistic
and systems thinking, they'd have to open themselves up to a new way of viewing the
world, one that counters their old paradigm.
Holistic work environments
The goal is to create your future and then apply an individualized and customized
business model to fit it. These are a few suggestions for businesses and professionals
to create a better work environment:
´ Create opportunities for staff to interface with people they normally don't meet,
or work with, on a regular basis.
´ Have formal and informal meetings, foster impromptu conversations and encourage
teamwork.
´ Move staff around the physical space of an organization and create new spaces that
foster creativity.
´ Whittle down the bureaucracy of the organizational layers and create circles to
replace a pyramid of hierarchy.
´ Allow decisions from consensus, after everyone's input.
´ Don't re-engineer an organization by creating new structures of rules and regulations.
´ Create a climate of resiliency, flexibility and adaptability so people want to
work there.
´ Make decisions with a sense of organizational identity and values in mind.
´ Cultivate equity, autonomy and opportunity; create environments where people can
excel.
The incorporation of holism and systems theory into life and business represents
a divergence from prominent beliefs that forces us to transcend ourselves and look
at issues from a broad view. The fear of the unknown, relying on anything other than
the proven ways and methods of doing things, and a shift from an industrial mindset
and mechanistically run business or society, is too hard for some to comprehend.
But for those who do, it's the difference of living to work rather than working to
live.
Brenda Miller is a forecaster and whole-systems design strategist. As a Certified
Master Professional Futurist, and Certified Trainer in Emotional Intelligence, she
specializes and helps people, businesses, and organizations see, understand, and
respond to change so they can creatively design a brighter future. Ms. Miller is
President and Chief Global Strategist of New Crotona, a Futures-based consultancy
providing services in futures planning, advertising, marketing, business strategies,
team building, leadership coaching, and Internet business solutions and website development.
Ms. Miller is President of the Minnesota Futurists Association and a Professional
Member of the World Futurists. For more information, contact her at (651) 731-4037
or e-mail brenda@newcrotona.com, and visit www.NewCrotona.com.
Copyright © 2005 Brenda Miller. All rights reserved. |
| June 2005 |
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