1-888-THE-TREE (1-888-843-8733)
PRODUCTIVITY THROUGH EDUCATION®
 
 

Critical Thinking and Creative Problem Solving

Making Better Decisions
 
Course: 284   Duration: 3 Days   PMI: 17   CPE: 17
 
 

You Will Learn How To

  • Make better decisions through critical thinking and creative problem solving
  • Adapt to different thinking styles in group and team environments
  • Recognize and remove barriers to individual and group creativity to foster an innovative work environment
  • Systematically analyze a target problem
  • Present your ideas clearly and concisely for maximum stakeholder buy-in
  • Transform your creativity into practical business solutions

Course Benefits

Successful organizations recognize that critical thinking and creative solutions to problems significantly enhance business potential. Today's decision makers must use a variety of thinking styles, methodologies and creative processes. In this course, you develop your skills as a critical thinker and problem solver. You learn to leverage your personal thinking preferences using tools and techniques based on cutting-edge technologies.

Who Should Attend

Individuals at any level of an organization who want to apply creativity and critical thinking skills to their decision-making process.

Workshop Course

Through a series of interactive small-group workshops, you gain practical decision-making skills using critical thinking and creative problem-solving techniques. Workshops include:
  • Profiling your personal thinking style and the styles of others
  • Identifying personal and team roadblocks to success
  • Analyzing left- and right-brain characteristics
  • Leading through speaking in another style
  • Applying logical methodologies to transform a range of creative options into supportable decisions
  • Preparing a framework to present your decision
  • Developing your personal decision-making toolkit

Related Courses

 
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Training Dates

Mar 21 - 23Reston, VA
Apr 3 - 5New York 
Apr 11 - 13Alexandria, VA
Apr 18 - 20Ottawa 
May 2 - 4Toronto 
May 23 - 25Rockville, MD
May 30 - Jun 1New York 
Jul 18 - 20Reston, VA
Aug 8 - 10Alexandria, VA
Aug 15 - 17Ottawa 
Aug 22 - 24New York 
Aug 29 - 31Toronto 
Sep 19 - 21Rockville, MD
Oct 31 - Nov 2Reston, VA
Nov 14 - 16New York 

For complete schedule, please visit www.learningtree.com
 
http://www.learningtree.com/courses/284pf.htm
 
 
1-888-THE-TREE (1-888-843-8733)
PRODUCTIVITY THROUGH EDUCATION®
 
 

Critical Thinking and Creative Problem Solving

Making Better Decisions
 
Course: 284   Duration: 3 Days   PMI: 17   CPE: 17
 
 
Course 284 Content
 

Introduction

  • Balancing people, processes and tools for optimal decisions
  • Business drivers that demand creative problem solving
  • Deciphering critical thinking

Leveraging Personal Thinking Styles

The Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI)

  • MacLean's Triune Brain Theory
  • Assessing your preferred approach to thinking
  • Leveraging whole-brain thinking
  • Identifying left/right-brain dominance

Analyzing personal preferences

  • Identifying your own natural brain dominance
  • Determining nondominant approaches

Managing thinking preferences

  • Avoiding quadrant bias
  • Bridging opposing styles
  • Predicting coworker profiles

Unleashing Your Creativity

The creative environment

  • Setting the creative stage
  • The power of positive communication
  • Identifying elements that stimulate creativity
  • Eliminating barriers to innovation

Group creative thinking

  • Brainstorming options
  • Challenging assumptions
  • Dispelling personal and corporate myths

The iterative mind

  • Moving between quadrants
  • Valuing nondominant preferences
  • Stretching outside your personal style

Recording the creative process

  • Drawing mind maps
  • Chart writing

Solving Problems Using Analysis and Prioritization

Systematic approaches to problem solving

  • Defining criteria
  • Focusing on outcomes
  • Leveraging left-brain thinkers
  • Applying questioning techniques
  • Deconstructing problems using stair-step techniques

Analyzing the creative process

  • Identifying business-critical ideas
  • Categorizing, prioritizing and purging

Avoiding analysis paralysis

  • Overcoming the "It won't work here" mentality
  • The Five Monkeys Syndrome or "But we've always done it this way"
  • Analyzing for outcomes, not solutions

Applying analysis models

  • Situation assessment
  • Decision analysis
  • Problem evaluation

Translating Creativity and Analysis into Practical Application

Organizational politics

  • Recognizing the workplace culture
  • Maintaining outcome-focused goals

The influence of decision-making styles

  • Recognizing your own blind spots
  • Self-awareness and self-regulation
  • Forming a coalition with style opposites

Deploying your decision

  • Clearly expressing analysis results
  • Ensuring organizational benefit
  • Guaranteeing maximum buy-in

Putting It All Together

Integrating your solution into the business

  • Creating a whole-brain presentation
  • Strengthening your nondominant position
  • Adjusting communication to thinking styles
  • Transforming confrontation into communication

Continuing your development

  • Conducting self-checks
  • Being persistent: a key trait of successful creatives
  • Mapping thinking skills to your business

Your Personal Decision-Making Toolkit

  • Your personal thinking style
  • Your stakeholders' styles
  • Flexing to colleagues' styles
  • Committing to your Personal Action Plan
  • Checklists for success
 
http://www.learningtree.com/courses/284pf.htm
 
 
1-888-THE-TREE (1-888-843-8733)
PRODUCTIVITY THROUGH EDUCATION®
 
 

Critical Thinking and Creative Problem Solving Tuition

Making Better Decisions
 
Course: 284   Duration: 3 Days   PMI: 17   CPE: 17
 
 
Course Tuition
$ 2,490Standard Tuition
Tuition with a Savings Plan
$ 1,700Premium-Pass
$ 1,833Training Passport
$ 2,213Government Discount
$ 2,240Alumni Gold Discount
$ 2,250Voucher 10-Pack
$ 2,267Triple-Pack

Your Course Tuition Entitles You To...

  • Class participation
  • Team workshops
  • Use of in-class hands-on equipment
  • Comprehensive course materials
  • Morning and afternoon refreshments
  • Course Completion Certificate awarding Continuing Education Units
  • FREE participation in Professional Certification
  • FREE participation in College Credit programs (including related exams)
  
 

Tuition Savings Plans

Training Passport
  • 3 courses in 12 months
  • As little as $1,833 per course
  • Savings as much as 40%
  • Only $5,500
Premium Pass
  • 4 courses in 24 months
  • As little as $1,700 per course
  • Save as much as 45%
Training Vouchers
  • Save as much as $1,040 per course
  • Fully transferable
  • As low as $2,250 per course
Triple-Pack
  • 3 courses for anyone in your organization
  • As little as $2,266 per course
  • Only $6,799
Alumni Gold Discount Attend your first course and you'll receive a personalized Alumni Gold Discount card, entitling you to save as much as $320 on each course you take within the following 12 months. Take just one course each year and you'll be entitled to ongoing discounts...year after year!

Your Guarantee of Satisfaction

Unless you feel 100% satisfied that Learning Tree delivered even more than you expected, there is no fee for your course attendance. Our Guarantee of Quality lets you experience the value of the course—and then pay only if you feel the course was well worth the tuition.

Enrolling is Easy and Flexible!

Enroll by phone or online. If your plans change, just let us know and, without a fee, you can transfer to another course or cancel your enrollment. Pay after you've taken the course, and then only if you are 100% satisfied.

 
http://www.learningtree.com/courses/284pf.htm