Understanding holistic problem solving has always been a hard one for me to explain to my colleagues as I couldn’t recall concrete examples. Yesterday though, I heard of an example that seemed to fit the bill quite nicely.
1980s and UK football (soccer) was struggling with the rise of hooliganism in the fans. The games were getting dangerous and it was a problem that needed to be solved.
Of course more police were brought to the games, and the hooligans that could be identified were banned from matches (Linear Problem Solving).
Alongside this though, there was one club in particular that sent out 100 pairs of tickets to my friend (a teacher) to hand out at his school. These were given to students for them to go to the game, along with a parent, for free. Having so many young children in the stands had a dramatic influence in the behaviour of those around them. Games became a family event. Any hooligans in the stands backed down from their bravado when people took them to task about their behaviour around the young ones. It solved the issue by dealing with the relationships surrounding the problem.
I thought this was a great example of Holistic Problem Solving and thought it would be good to share for those who struggle pinning this one down - as I do.