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FutureLearn

Critical and Strategic Thinking in Practice

via FutureLearn

Overview

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Learn to solve complex problems with strategic thinking

Life and business are getting faster and more complex every day. The faster pace ramps up the pressure to act quickly but this complexity needs careful, strategic, conceptual thinking, which takes time.

On this four-week course featuring content from BigThink, you’ll learn from some of the brightest minds in conceptual thinking such as Alan Alda, Charles Duhigg, Leonard Mlodinow, and Nancy Duarte, to name a few.

You’ll discover the conceptual thinking framework and learn practical skills for how to apply it to problems and communicate your analysis in order to problem-solve efficiently and effectively.

Discover how to approach and define problem-solving

A common mistake companies make when tackling complex problems is failing to do the pre-work. This can waste time, energy, and money because either the team isn’t right or the goals are poorly defined.

This course will guide you through strategies for looking at the problem space with clarity, then assembling a team with the right balance of talents to think creatively and reach consensus.

Explore different critical thinking strategies

We have hardwired tendencies to think within our “comfort zones” which can often cause us to miss opportunities and perspectives that might lead to more creative solutions.

On this course, you’ll learn practical strategies for considering all stakeholders, seeing the problem through different eyes, evaluating potential risks, and connecting unlikely dots for inspiration.

Develop communication skills to get buy-in for your solutions

No matter how brilliant your idea might be, communication can mean the difference between success and failure.

You’ll learn how to transform your idea into a reality by improving your communication skills to get buy-in from other stakeholders and decision-makers.

This course is designed for professionals at any stage in their career, and will be especially useful for current or aspiring leaders currently in the earlier stages of their careers.

By completing this course, you’ll gain the skills to tackle complex problems, define goals clearly, and develop effective solutions; the perfect skillset for any leader.

Syllabus

  • Approaching
    • A Competing Values Framework
    • Making complex decisions
    • The science of strategic thinking
    • Risk mitigation
  • Defining
    • The science of productivity
    • Lessons learned
    • Narrow your focus
    • Systems thinking 101
    • Adapt to change with elastic thinking
  • Thinking
    • Serve your purpose
    • Viewing from all angles
    • Seeing around the curve
    • Making associations
  • Communication
    • The cleanest question
    • Communicating to transform
    • Unite your organisation
    • Final reflections

Taught by

Claire Lipscomb

Reviews

4.8 rating at FutureLearn based on 23 ratings

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