Critical Thinking for Better Judgement and Decision Making

Module 1 - Introduction to critical thinking and problem solving

• Balancing people, processes and principles for optimal decisions 
• Business drivers that demand creative problem solving
• Deciphering critical thinking
• The Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI)

Module 2 - Personal Thinking Styles

• Assessing your preferred approach to thinking
  • Identifying left/right-brain dominance
  • Identifying your own natural brain dominance
  • Determining non-dominant approaches
• Managing thinking preferences
  • Avoiding quadrant bias
  • Bridging opposing styles
  • Leveraging whole-brain thinking
  • Predicting co-worker profiles

Module 3 - Unleashing Your Creativity and Solving Problems Using Analysis and Prioritization

• 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
  • Six hats (de Bono)
• The iterative mind
  • Moving between quadrants
  • Valuing non-dominant preferences
  • Stretching outside your personal style
• Recording the creative process
  • Mind mapping
  • Charts

Module 4 - Systematic approaches to problem solving

• The DECIDE Model
• Define the problem
• Establish Criteria
  • Focusing on outcomes
  • Leveraging blue thinkers
• Consider possible solutions
  • Brainstorming
  • Leveraging yellow thinkers
• Identify best solution
  • Identifying business-critical ideas
  • Categorizing, prioritizing and purging
  • Analyzing for outcomes, not solutions
• Develop and implement plan of action
  • Overcoming "It won't work here" and "But we've always done it this way" mentality
  • Leveraging green and red thinkers
• Evaluate and monitor the solution
  • Situation assessment
  • Problem evaluation

Module 5 - 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 organisational benefit
  • Securing maximum buy-in

Module 6 - Putting It All Together

• Integrating your solution into the business
• Creating a whole-brain presentation
• Strengthening your non-dominant position
• Adjusting communication to thinking styles
• Transforming confrontation into communication

Module 7 - Continuing your development

• Conducting self-checks
• Being persistent

Module 8 - 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