Critical Thinking and Creative Problem Solving
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Successful organizations rely on critical thinkers and creative thought leaders who can generate inventive solutions to everyday problems. In this training course, you gain the knowledge and skills needed to leverage left- and right-brain thinking, analyze problems, spur creativity, and implement innovative ideas in a practical way for your workplace.
You Will Learn How To
- Make better decisions through critical thinking and creative problem solving
- Develop your personal creativity
- Select the best decision given the specific situation
- Apply processes to assess work issues and problems
- Transform your creativity into practical business solutions
Course Outline
- Critical Thinking and Creative Problem Solving Essentials
- Recognizing business reasons for creative problem solving in the workplace
- Defining creativity vs. innovation
- Exploring the thinking process
- Pinpointing problems and their outcomes
- Applying outcome-based thinking
- Leveraging Personal Thinking Styles
Analyzing personal preferences
- Dominance drives behavior
- Identifying your own natural brain dominance
- Triune Brain Theory
Assessing your preferred approach to thinking
- Enhancing whole-brain thinking
- Leveraging left- and right-brain dominance
- Recognizing strengths and opportunities
Identifying thinking preferences
- Recognizing others' preferred thinking styles
- Adapting to others' thinking styles
- Flexing to opposing styles
- Unleashing Your Creativity
The creative environment
- Exploring your own creativity
- Utilizing tools and techniques to become more creative
- Identifying elements that stimulate creativity
- Eliminating barriers to innovation
Group creative thinking
- Brainstorming options
- Challenging assumptions
- Five Monkeys Syndrome
- Avoiding groupthink
The iterative mind
- Unscrambling the iterative mind
- Moving between the left and right brain
- Valuing non-dominant preferences
- Stretching outside your personal style
- Deploying divergent and convergent thinking
- Solving Problems Using Analysis and Prioritization Tools
Applying analysis models
- Dissecting the situation
- Decision analysis
- Setting priorities for taking action
- Evaluating problems (people, process and technology)
Systematic approaches to problem solving
- Methods of analysis
- Collecting data and information
- Defining boundaries and constraints
- Deconstructing problems using stair-step techniques
Decision analysis
- Choosing among alternatives
- Establishing objectives
- Assigning weight to objectives in order to make the best decision
- Creating a satisfaction scale to choose between alternatives
- Translating Creativity and Analysis into Practical Application
Identifying problems
- Determining the deviation and gap
- Testing probable causes
Avoiding analysis paralysis
- Overcoming the "It won't work here" mentality
- Analyzing for outcomes, not solutions
Deploying your decision
- Clearly expressing analysis results
- Ensuring organizational benefit
- Guaranteeing maximum buy-in
- Putting It All Together
Integrating your solution into the business
- Constructing a blueprint for your action plan
- Reinforcing your newly developed creative thinking skills
Your personal development toolkit
- Educating others with creative tools
- Practicing creative and critical thinking skills continuously
Convenient Ways to Attend This Instructor-Led Course
Hassle-Free Enrolment: No advance payment required to reserve your seat.
Tuition due 30 days after you attend your course.
In the Classroom
Live, Online
Private Team Training
In the Classroom — OR — Live, Online
Tuition — Standard: $2745 Government: $2415
Nov 7 - 9
(3 Days)
9:00 AM - 4:30 PM EST
Toronto / Online (AnyWare)
Reserve Your Seat
Jan 23 - 25
(3 Days)
9:00 AM - 4:30 PM EST
Herndon, VA / Online (AnyWare)
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Feb 13 - 15
(3 Days)
9:00 AM - 4:30 PM EST
New York / Online (AnyWare)
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Mar 20 - 22
(3 Days)
9:00 AM - 4:30 PM EDT
Ottawa / Online (AnyWare)
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May 8 - 10
(3 Days)
9:00 AM - 4:30 PM EDT
Toronto / Online (AnyWare)
Reserve Your Seat
Jun 26 - 28
(3 Days)
9:00 AM - 4:30 PM EDT
Herndon, VA / Online (AnyWare)
Reserve Your Seat
Aug 7 - 9
(3 Days)
9:00 AM - 4:30 PM EDT
New York / Online (AnyWare)
Reserve Your Seat
Guaranteed to Run
When you see the "Guaranteed to Run" icon next to a course event, you can rest assured that your course event — date, time, location — will run. Guaranteed.Private Team Training
Enroling at least 3 people in this course? Consider bringing this (or any course that can be custom designed) to your preferred location as a private team training.
For details, call 1-888-843-8733 or Click here »
Tuition
Standard
Government
In Classroom or
Online
Standard
$2745
Government
$2415
Private Team Training
Course Tuition Includes:
Training Hours
Standard Course Hours: 9:00 am – 4:30 pm
*Informal discussion with instructor about your projects or areas of special interest: 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Enhance Your Credentials with Professional Certification
Learning Tree's comprehensive training and exam preparation guarantees that you will gain the knowledge and confidence to achieve professional certification and advance your career.
Earn 17 PDUs
PMI, the Registered Education Provider logo, PMP, CAPM, PMI-ACP,
and PMBOK are marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.
This course is approved by PMI® for 17 professional development units (PDUs). For more on the Project Management Institute and a full list of courses approved for PDUs.
Technical : 9 PDUs
Leadership : 1 PDUs
Business & Strategic : 7 PDUs