Saving the leg, losing the patient.

I've found that man cannot survive on analysis alone. Analysis is necessary and helps us solve by deconstruction and isolation. Big picture problem solving needs to work differently. Aids, global warming and world hunger cannot be solved by analysis alone. The Macro picture must be understood by some, in order to coordinate analytic efforts and match them with planning, action and measurement.

These big picture issues are slow moving threats. Unlike disasters, like hurricanes, they occur over a long period of time. Our analysis solves some core problems, but cannot solve the over all unless brought into harmony with the other portions of the problem that need solving.

This concept applies even to your own person. An individual has diabetes, so he goes to an endocrinologies, who starts insulin therapy and monitors weight. The individual gets depressed because the insulin causes weight gain and also due to blood sugar drops and perhaps other unknown issues. The person goes to a Psychologist. For foot trouble, a podiatrist. The individual gets attention from 8 different doctors, who are not working in concert. Each issue is attended to and yet the individual is not healthy - in fact, they feel tired all of the time and suddenly run into kidney trouble. The individual needs to go on dialysis, which eventually causes an infection around the catheter in the shoulder. Still, nobody notices except nurses, that there is an infection, but since there is no single attending, when the issue is mentioned, the specialists leave it alone - until it is brought to the families attention - who realize there is no central doctor and try to involve one - but too late. The patients membrane around the brain is infected and the individual dies. Nobody's fault. Everyone was specializing - was analyzing in their small area. No generalist to coordinate, to holistically attend to the patient - to cure the whole individual. This is how my Dad died.

I bring it up as an example, not to engender sympathy, but to show that we need to have those generalists, those high level thinkers, who can coordinate and think about the bigger picture. It is part of what is wrong with many things. Medicine - per the example, sure. Special interests in government - absolutely.

Systems are not built to service the whole - only the most observable parts - the squeaky wheel as it were. Because we are human, we sometimes fall back and see these things inadvertently. We fix some of the larger issues sometimes. But it's still unfamiliar territory for us. We respond to 911, spending billions of dollars when individual risk is statistically infinitesimal and at the same time, spend only millions on Aids, which has killed over 45 million people. Global warming threatens the whole earth and we collectively still act like the addicted smoker and choose to turn our head away.

Analysis is a very needed skill. It needs to be balance with the ability to step back and understand when we need to think the other way as well.