Course Objectives:


At the end of this course participant will be able 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

Who Should Attend


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

Course 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