Table 3:

Paradigm shifts in personal values for public health professionals and leaders (Source: Adapted from Ref.18).

Conventional approach	Systems approach
Oversimplifying complex and interconnected problems by specialism (or reductionism)	Cultivating a sense of interconnectedness
Focusing only on: Components Facts Quantities Size or scale Efficiency Consumers	Focusing also on: Relationships Opinions and feelings Qualities Shape and scope Equity Citizens
Celebrating Being a specialist Skills in measurement Being noticed by others	Celebrating Being a generalist Ability to sense Noticing others
Trying to control	Aiming to catalyze
Working “on the system” while “being apart” Marketing Measuring transactions (such as number of visits or number of patient encounters)	Working “within the system” by “being a part” Building communities Nurturing relationships
Belief in: Competition—to be fine I need to take care of myself Nature is a resource to be exploited by the economy Limited personal agency	Belief in: Cooperation—when we support each other, we all will live in a better world Nature is the basis of life and we are sustained by it Power of personal leadership
Having more Defending one’s world-view	Being happy Listening deeply to world-views different from one’s own