Course information

This critical and creative thinking course will equip you with the methods and tools for improving your capacity to solve complex problems. The critical thinking skills will focus on how you frame a problem, consider a range of perspectives, and finally, how you critically analyse the potential factors and causes of the problem in order to focus on the right problem to solve. The development of your creative thinking skills will encourage you to generate ideas, explore new possibilities and solve problems in novel ways, both individually and with others.

In today’s workplace, innovation is necessary for keeping up with the constant and rapid changes. Exercising critical and creative thinking skills is vital for creating competitive offers and being first to offer new advantages for your organisation through innovative services and products. The key is to continue to develop your critical and creative thinking skills so that they emerge spontaneously when needed.

Aims

The aim of this course is to build your skills in critical and creative problem-solving in both workplace and everyday situations. Developing your critical and creative thinking will enable you to deliver stronger outcomes in the workplace and in leading others.

Outcomes

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

• understand the importance of critical thinking in problem-solving
• demonstrate skills in critical thinking by reframing a ‘problem’ and approaching problem-solving from different angles with a fresh perspective
• enhance your capacity to uncover assumptions, biases and world views
• demonstrate skills in creative thinking
• combine both critical and creative thinking to approach problem solving, to offer innovative solutions alongside others.

Content

• Complex problem solving – how to examine a problem at a deeper level, and consider contributing factors and perspectives to identify a viable, long-term solution
• Our assumptions and biases, and how these influence how we perceive a problem and potential solutions to it
• Key stakeholders and why their perspectives are important in shaping solutions
• Creative ways to think differently about how to solve a problem to achieve a more desirable, feasible and viable solution
• Divergent and convergent thinking styles
• The 5W1H problem framing approach
• Causal layer analysis to uncover assumptions, biases, and worldviews
• The importance of exploring multiple stakeholder perspectives
• The impact of our biases on how we see and solve problems
• Creative exercise using Edward de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats

Intended audience

This course is intended for anyone in business, government or creative industries who are seeking to apply critical and creative thinking to solve problems in robust and creative ways, whilst discerning the sources of truth.

Prerequisites

None

Delivery style

Interactive group discussions to allow participants to share, ask questions, reflect and integrate the teachings at a deeper, more meaningful level.

Participants will take part in hands-on group exercises and review business case studies that showcase common complex challenges organisations and businesses face at both a micro and macro level. They will be encouraged to share a relevant complex problem they have encountered in their own role, whether as a leader or team member.

Delivery mode

• Face-to-face, presenter-taught training
• Online training via the platform Zoom

Materials

All course materials are provided electronically using Dropbox.

Recommended reading

Birgili, B., 2015, Creative and Critical Thinking Skills in Problem-based Learning Environments, Journal of Gifted Education and Creativity, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 71-80.

Paul, R. and Elder, L., 2006, Critical Thinking: The Nature of Critical and Creative Thought, Journal of Developmental Education, vol. 30, no. 2, p.34.

Paul, R. and Elder, L., 2019, The Nature and Functions of Critical & Creative Thinking, Rowman & Littlefield.

Wechsler, S.M., Saiz, C., Rivas, S.F., Vendramini, C.M.M., Almeida, L.S., Mundim, M.C. and Franco, A., 2018, Creative and Critical Thinking: Independent or Overlapping Components?, Thinking Skills and Creativity, vol. 27, pp. 114-122.

Course Brochure