Holistic management of critically ill economies and other human systems

Abstract

Economic, medical, social and other issues need to be dealt with holistically and from a system perspective. Piecemeal approaches and ad hoc “standard” interventions seldom work because these ignore fundamental principles such as: interdependence (between parts), structures (to enhance the cohesion of parts), synergies (to multiply the value of each part), dynamic homeostasis (need for change whilst maintaining balance,) entropy (the ailment of closed systems), individual differences (no to “one size fits all” solutions), disproportionality (the same action under two different settings will not yield the same result), need for coordination of parts to make the system efficient and the futility of targeting optimality considering that this concept does not exist in social systems mostly because of human limitations on the ability of people to diagnose and forecast correctly (e.g. is the Cyprus economic problem financial or one of lost trust?) Holistic approaches consider the wider picture; encompass the tangible and the intangible, the economic and the social, financial as well as spiritual fundamentals. Looking at one issue in isolation is hardly the correct way to go about solving a problem.