Training > Thinking Skills
Strategy, creativity, innovation, problem solving, decision making....
Excellence in all of the above is dependent on one thing more than any other - excellent thinking.
Without doubt, the demand for fresh thinking and innovative solutions is increasing. Sparring in today's business arena requires a high degree of mental fitness, as we juggle tight deadlines with the need to digest and understand vast amounts of complex information.
On top of that, if we want to be the best, close the deal, or secure that promotion we had better make sure we can outthink the next guy.
Lets face it strategic thinking, creative thinking, excellent problem solving skills and good, speedy decision making abilities are pre-requisites for success.
A thought about thinking .....
Thinking about how we think is not something that we tend to do. After all, it's a bit like breathing, walking, eating - we just do it.
However, thinking is a skill, and as such it can be learned, developed, refined and improved.
The development of good thinking skills can liberate us, and carry us to new heights, creatively, intellectually and actually.
Just as poor thinking skills can imprison us and take us down the same old paths, the same dead ends.
First things first...
Thinking and intelligence are not the same thing. Edward de Bono, probably one of the greatest thinkers about thinking describes intelligence as the horsepower of a car's engine and thinking as the skill of the driver.
Our modern understanding of intelligence is based on the traditional IQ test that was designed to objectively measure comprehension, reasoning and judgement. Moreover, this concept until very recently was seen as something that was fixed at birth. However, an in-depth review of more than 200 scientific studies of IQ performed by Bernard Devlin (published in the Nature journal) established that your genes account for only about 48 percent of your IQ.
That means the remaining 52% is the product of social, psychological and environmental factors.
What's more....
Tony Buzan, another great thinker on thinking tells us that our brains - in just one second, can grasp concepts that it would take a mainframe Cray super-computer, operating at 400 million calculations per second, 100 years to accomplish.
So- it goes without saying that a bit of multi-tasking and creative thinking really shouldn't be too much of a stretch.
Research also tells us that some good 'brain' training will dramatically speed-up, increase and enhance our ability to problem-solve, prioritise , create and communicate.
Enough of the science already....
Tom Peters - business guru to the Gods and other lesser mortals like Fortune 500 companies says that creativity and zest are the principal originators of economic value. In other words, good ideas and passion is where it all begins - and what keeps it going.
Unfortunately however, the creative juices don't flow for us all at the same pace, or for that matter on demand.
So what's on offer....
Barnes Cosgrove provides Thinking Development Programmes in :
- Understanding Thinking Styles ( utilising the Hermann Brain Dominance Instrument )
- The Essentials of Creativity - a basic tool kit
- Creative Problem Solving
- Developing Strategic Thinking
- Effective Decision Making Strategies
- Systems Thinking
