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Training Programs

Personal and Professional Development
Critical Thinking Skills

Accelerated change, constant reorganization, and down-sizing are trends that place new demands on our ability to quickly judge and to make decisions quickly. Some organizational practices no longer match this acceleration. Many organizations can be compared to a supertanker: Powerful, able to carry a lot of cargo, but slow to change direction. That model is outdated. Whatever your professional responsibilities, you will face accelerated change. Our critical thinking "tool boxes" need constant upgrading or we will fall behind.

This two-day session consists of highly interactive learning focused on the real-world skill of critical thinking. Critical thinking skills are focused on the organizational and individual challenges of the participants' professional world. One of the elements of critical thinking is that "one size fits all" does not work. All participants will be provided with a bibliography that includes works by Roger von Oech, Peter Senge, Margaret Wheatley and other leaders in critical thinking and innovation.

What You Will Learn:
· The skills inherent in processing challenges through no-nonsense risk-analysis models
· Three models for measuring risk and impact on performance
· How to question assumptions and measure how they generate perceptions and behaviors in organizations
· How to apply systems thinking to organizational problems
· How to solve larger problems rather than agonizing over the smaller ones
· How to practice methods to build consensus and alignment
· Invaluable ways to ensure accurate communication, both written and oral

How You Will Benefit:
· By learning how to locate points of entry for problem solving, project effectiveness and improvement measurement
· By exploring the impact of paradigms (mental models) on thinking and how to check and negate subsequent irrational perceptions and behaviors
· By seeing how solving larger problem often solves other problems yet to come
· By getting other people to not just go along with, but actively support change
· By avoiding flawed data by using improved communication skills to understand the real message another person intends to send you
· By improving your critical thinking skills through better questioning skills

Who Should Attend:
Any professional who wants to complement his or her thinking skills in an interactive, engaging session should sign up for this program

Program Length: Two Days

Complementary or Add-On Programs:
1) Creative Problem Solving
2) Building and Managing Effective Teams
3) Conducting Productive Meetings