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Course

Critical Thinking Management Masterclass

16 November 2023

Do you wish your team would think more critically, creatively, or even just more often? Check out our short course, 'Critical Thinking Management Masterclass'. This one-day course is ideal for managers who want to know what they can do to lift the quality of thinking in their team. 

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Unlock your team’s critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

This masterclass addresses the common barriers to thinking in organisations, provide tools to overcome those barriers, and show how to model different thinking. This is a course for anyone looking to unlock, unstuck, and unleash the thinking power of their team.

 

What will you gain?

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

  • Understand what prevents your team from thinking critically, creatively, or more often;
  • Identify the common barriers – in groups and organisations – to thinking critically, creatively, or more often;
  • Understand a range of tools that you can use to unlock your team’s thinking and problem-solving tools; and
  • Design strategies for creating workplaces and team settings that maximise the thinking potential of your team.

 

Course structure 

This intensive one-day course is divided in four parts:

Part One – We’ll discover what stops us, as individuals, from thinking more critically, creatively, or often.  In the process we’ll explore how the brain really works, where cognitive biases come from, and why it’s so hard for people to change their minds.

Part Two – We’ll explore why being in groups makes thinking harder still. We’ll talk about how people are often unwittingly influenced by power and charisma, and how even the best organisations set limits on how their staff think. In the process we’ll see why – even in the best organisations - inertia and the status quo are stubborn obstacles to better thinking.

Part Three – We’ll see how thinking is a skill that anyone can learn when the settings are right. We’ll see how difficult it is to unlearn old habits, especially in the fast-paced workplaces of 2023. To sustain those efforts, we’ll learn some simple thinking hacks your team can use every day.

Part Four – We’ll channel Socrates and raid his critical thinking toolkit to outline how managers can help their team become better thinkers. In the process we’ll see how better thinking is as much about workplace culture as it is better evidence.


Course Facilitator

Carl Davidson

Carl Davidson is New Zealand’s leading Critical Thinking trainer.

He is also one of the country’s best-known social researchers and a Fellow of the Research Association of New Zealand. His career stretches over 30 years and includes stints as an academic, practitioner, and author.

Carl is the author or editor of ten books and in 2023 he was named as one of the Global Insight250 winners, an award celebrating worldwide pioneers, leaders and innovators in market research, data-driven marketing and insights. Carl is the Head of Insight at Research First and moonlights as an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the University of Canterbury.

Upcoming course dates

If you wish to pay by invoice, please email us.

 
Location

Ilam campus, University of Canterbury

 
Cost

$1150 including GST.

Course fees include catering (all dietary requirements catered for), booking fees and on-site parking.

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