The link to better problem solving, decision making, and more..

Synopsis

If you are keen to be more effective in problem solving, decision making, or strategic thinking, this is a course for you.

What separates the effective from the less effective professional is clear: the ability to think critically and competently. Simply put, the individual who can think fast and well has a lot more mental resources to achieve higher performance than his peers who lack good thinking skills. According to researchers and business professionals, this is true for almost any field including engineering, retail, law enforcement, and medical.

There is no doubt that good thinking skills are crucial for personal and professional excellence. When you are armed with critical thinking tools, many benefits inevitably follow. For example, you will know how to identify thinking flaws, differentiate between good and bad suggestions, communicate persuasively, manage difficult people or circumstances, and more.

In this program I will highlight some of the inevitably pitfalls that result from lack of critical thinking resources, as well as the numerous benefits of having effective thinking skills. Accordingly, I will illustrate some examples of good vs. bad thinking that occur at the workplace, and the consequences of them at the individual and organizational levels.

Objectives

• Know what critical thinking skills are really all about
• Learn and acquire essential critical thinking techniques and frameworks
• Avoid common thinking inefficiencies and flaws
• Learn how to think with more savvy, confidence, and competence

Course Outline

• What most people still do not know about thinking
• Compare: Critical thinking vs. natural thinking tendencies vs. intelligence
• Compare: Critical thinking vs. rationality vs. practicality
• Four main DON’TS and two main DO’S of effective thinking
• Mental tricks and treats
• Must-know: Most common thinking inefficiencies, errors, and illusions
• Great stuffs!: Fallacy of addition; other-factor illusion; and more!
• Common logical reasoning errors: Implications for today’s managers
• New paradigm of thought: Thinking differently for different results
• Must-know: 3 major frameworks for critical thinking in practical terms

Special Benefits of Attending this Seminar

• More tools or skills to think more critically (and hence, effectively)
• Able to avoid common thinking flaws and inefficiencies
• Able to use critical thinking skills to influence, persuade, communicate, and innovate
• Able to outsmart (and outwit) others with more effective thinking skills!
• Able to think with more savvy and competence
• And more!

Methodology

• In-class exercises and group discussions
• Interesting and insightful thinking experiments
• Inter-group debate and competition! (optional)
• Case studies (of good vs. bad thinking)
• Emphasis is largely on the applications of critical thinking concepts in real-life situations.