For example, I used to work for a corporation that was having problem with workers being absent a lot. To help address this problem, they hired a consultant who began by interviewing a lot of the workers, and getting to know more about them. She also researched other aspects of the company, such as the types of eating facilities and health services it offered. And what the consultant discovered was that many of the employees were missing work not for an obvious simple reason, like, say, lack of motivation, but because of health problems. Health problems that were the result of, or at least made worse by a combination of factors such as poor eating habits and lack of exercise. The consultant concluded that since the company didn’t offer exercise opportunities or healthy meals, that this indirectly contributed to the workers’ poor health. The consultant proposed building a gym within the company office building for employees to use to exercise, and also to offer more nutritious menu in the cafeteria, which the company did, but it took a while. And after a year or so, after the company had time to construct a gym and revise its cafeteria menu, attendance began to improve and continued to improve until it was no longer a problem.
Explain how the example discussed by the professor illustrates a systems thinking approach to problem solving.
The reading passage gives the definition of systems thinking, which means that companies use long-term method,putting all parts of the system together, to solve problems. The professor uses an example to further explain this concept. There's a corporation which hires a consultant to find the root of the absence of workers. After interviewing workers and researching other aspects of the company such as eating facilities and health services it offered, the consultant finally finds out that it is the lack of exercise opportunities and healthy meals that causes the workers' poor health. Then the company constructs a new gym and revises its cafeteria menu to ensure the workers' health and thus solves the problem of absence.