Many of us feel pressured by lack of time and having no head space. Although we think as hard as we can, there just isn’t enough creative juice to generate ideas and solve problems. If your creativity needs a jump start, this two-day workshop combining the power of the Six Thinking Hats® with a number of key Lateral Thinking™ tools will make creativity an everyday possibility.

Attend this course if you need to:

• Encourage collaboration and communication.
• Recognise and overcome the barriers to creativity.
• Strengthen your creativity skills by learning tools and techniques.
• Focus and manage the thinking process.
• Turn problems into opportunities.
• Identify ways to make space and time for thinking.
• Realise that you are creative.

Jump start your creativity – Some people think being creative is about having access to some mysterious black box. If you lift the lid, there are all sorts of secrets in there that you can have access to. If only it was that easy. The reality is, there are tools and techniques that you can learn and these are available to everybody, through this short course.

The course has two components: The Six Thinking Hats®: a process that establishes Parallel Thinking™. It enables collaboration, focus, exploration and allows new dimensions of possibility to open up. Within the Six Thinking Hats®, the Green Hat provides for creativity. It opens the mind to start generating new ideas. It provides an opportunity to bring the non-existent into existence. The Green Hat doesn’t give you “instant magic”. But it provides an opportunity for serious creativity.

Lateral Thinking™ helps you find that instant magic. It provides the tools and techniques to build new ideas, challenge current ways of operating and open new lines of thinking.

Where: Melbourne’s prestigious “Airlie Leadership Development Centre” 260 Domain Rd, South Yarra.

When: June 21 & 22, 8:30am for a 9:00am start until 4:30pm.

High quality Lunch, Morning & Afternoon Tea provided

Value: $990/person GST included

To register your interest in this two day event contact the de Bono Institute on 9877 8434 or Think Quick on 0400 109727

Permalink|Comment(1) | ->

During this one-day short course, learn how to separate thinking into six modes and become a more objective, thorough thinker.

Unlock the power of parallel thinking. Explore subjects more fully, argue less, be constructive, creative and reduce meeting
time. The Six Thinking Hats® is a powerful meeting and communication tool; a creativity stimulant and a reality check that fosters collaboration and productive outcomes.

Attend this course if you need to:

• Effectively lead teams and meetings.
• Maximise input and ideas & improve results.
• Defuse emotional topics and balance thinking objectively.
• Speed up thinking, be more productive and save time.
• Build clear problem definitions

Replace one-dimensional thinking with six-dimensional thinking. Much of our thinking is done in a disorganised, inefficient way. We often try to do too much at once. Emotions, information, logic, hope, risk and creativity are all mixed up together.    It is like juggling too many balls. As a result we begin to limit our thinking and make poor decisions.

Often, we tend to use only one type of thinking at any given moment. It is like a golfer using only one club – a driver
may be perfect for teeing off, but is clumsy on the putting green. One type of thinking is no longer adequate to cope with today’s rapidly changing world. Judgement and argument can no longer solve problems or move us forward. We need to switch our thinking from one-dimension to sixdimensions using Parallel Thinking™.

The Six Thinking Hats® is a process that enables Parallel Thinking™. It allows for collaborative, focused and directed thinking. It allows us to explore six different avenues of thought to build insight, creative ideas and solutions. The process
is a powerful tool to help change the way we think. It promotes productive interaction and creative thinking — vital ingredients for any meeting, any discussion and any decision.

Where: Melbourne’s prestigious “Airlie Leadership Development Centre” 260 Domain Rd  South Yarra

When: Tuesday June 21, 8:30am for a 9:00am start until 4:30pm

High quality Morning/Afternoon Tea & Lunch provided

Value: $660/person GST included.

To register for this event please contact the de Bono Institute on 9877 8434 or Think Quick on 0400 109727.

Permalink|Comments(0) | ->

Think Quick are pleased to announce our very first public workshop training the 10 x Power of Perception, strategic thinking tools.

It has been said that up to 90% of the mistakes we make are not a result of poor logic, but a result of mistakes in our perception. The “Power of Perception” training will provide you with 10 simple strategies for sharpening and improving your perception and focusing your thinking in a more comprehensive, effective and and efficient manner.

This course assists participants to develop more broad and inclusive viewpoints and create a framework for defining and addressing a given situation.

A work-based assessment will be provided to all participants with a view to assisting an immediate application of the methods back in the workplace. Coaching via phone and email will be available free of charge to assist participants to complete this assessment.

You should attend this course if you or your staff have a need to:

• Improve your scanning of specific issues and the broader environment,
• Think with greater structure and clarity,
• Use methodical and construtive problem sensing and solving techniques,
• Make confident and considered decisions’
• Avoid first pattern-match solution orientation and,
• Avoid impulsive behaviour and judgements.

Date: Tuesday May 31

Time: 8:30am – 5:00pm

Location: Airlie Leadership Development Centre, 260 Domain Rd Sth Yarra

Value: $499/person with an early bird rate of $449/person up until May 13. Bookings of 3 or more also attract the early bird rate.)

Other: This is a public workshop and participants from all sectors are welcome. Coffee/tea/Hot chocolate on arrival, morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea will be provided.

To Register: Click Here

Session Flyer: POP training ALDC May 31

Permalink|Comments(0) | ->

Friday March 18 saw a full house at The Airlie Leadership Development Centre for training in Edward de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats.

Toward day’s end one of the participants asked if we were going to distribute feedback/evaluation forms. My response was “Absolutely not, never in a million years.” Of course I then had to explain myself for fear of being seen to be too blase about the whole matter of evaluation.

Over the journey I have lost count of how many workshops, seminars, conferences, training sessions, etc that have had evaluation forms handed out at the death with the most inane and superficial questions one can imagine. (I know I’ve used some myself!) Typically, irrespective of the efficacy of the training most people just want to scribble something quickly and get the hell out and home. Under such circumstances the quality of the response is underwhelming. If the questions asked relate to the nature of the venue or the quality of the lunch, then even more so.

If people are there to train at their own, or the company’s expense then something with a little more grunt is needed. For too long those responsible for sending staff to training have not applied sufficient rigour to the final outcomes of their investment.

As we have conducted this training on so many occasions and had such positive feedback in each instance, it’s easy to start to become complacent about what it is you are actually achieving. Good learning and positive feedback are one thing, but how is it impacting in the real world? What is the return on investment? Are you adding value?

Now of course there are many well thought out and detailed ways to properly evaluate training and many organisations have such systems in place. My preferred model is a much simpler one, and one that ensures both the trainer and trainee are truly held to account for the investments made.

The aspect of training that has always fascinated me most has been the gap (Actually its not a gap, its a chasm) that exists between the training and its embedding into ongoing practice in the workplace. For this reason one of the books I’ve always referred to has been Bob Sutton’s The knowing-doing gap. We actually know what to do in organisations, or we have a fairly good idea but we just don’t do it!

Our way of addressing this gap, which we are experimenting with at the moment with some success, is the incorporation of a work-based assessment component of the programme that ensures that to achieve the final qualification, participants must apply the methods at least twice in a real life situation and report back on the session’s outcomes. The training is simply an important starting point, its where it ultimately leads that matters. It is our belief that it is only practical outcomes that result from workplace application that provide something tangible for those who need to assess the efficacy of training programmes.

If a trainee is compelled to complete a task at least twice in the real world, there is a far greater probability that they will then go on and repeat it a third and fourth time, particularly if the methods are sound and results are achieved. If trainees can report on tangible business outcomes it makes the Learning & Development’s function far easier come the time for budget cuts when short term thinking ensures that L&D is the first thing to go. Like most of my colleagues I have always thought that the L&D and Org Dev functions were essential and not discretionary, but try and tell the bureaucrats and pen pushers that!

So we need to start to focus on three key areas:

1) The participants must be change the way they feel about, or positively perceive what you have to offer so that a willingness to practically apply it ensues. (The video attached, which many might consider the culmination of a successful session is only a good indicator of key area 1)

2) The second essential area is the actual practical application of the methods in real world situations, and

3) The third is the ability to be able to report on the outcomes of those practical applications, (not the training, not the assessment, but the outcomes of the assessments.)

The embedding into work practice and return on investment are one of the few things that Learning & Development, the pen-pushers and the bureaucrats should be able to agree upon.

Permalink|Comments(0) | ->

I was chatting last week with a colleague and made reference to the KMLF and to my surprise they were unaware of what I was referring to.

The Melbourne Knowledge Management Leadership Forum is a face-to-face education and networking forum, run by KM practitioners for KM practitioners. This group uses online communications mainly to manage the membership list and send out notification emails.

Meetings are held every month or so in the central business district in Melbourne, Australia. Membership is free, and attendance at meetings usually requires a small donation to cover drinks and nibbles.

At KMLF meetings, members can participate in addressing and discussing issues regarding knowledge management. The aim of this participation is to set the foundation for a casual network of interested practitioners and scholars to discuss knowledge management and its impact on both business and government organisations.

The regular attendance at forum meetings is between 20-40 people. These represent executives and knowledge management practitioners from government and a range of corporations and SMEs. Academia, consultancies and vendors are also represented. Groups with large representation include Telstra and the Department of Justice; industries represented include legal, defence, manufacturing, C&IT and banking & finance. Our committee includes senior consultants, managers and executives from government and commercial enterprises and KM practitioners.

Meetings usually start at around 6 pm. The formal session usually wraps up by 7:30 pm, with networking and refreshments afterwards.

Anyone with an interest in organisational learning, knowledge, innovation, improvement this is a very handy forum to be a part of. You do not have to have KM in your job title or even job description, just an appreciation of learning, good practice and good networking.

(NB: My formerly unaware colleague is now a member!)

See the link attached for upcoming events!

Permalink|Comments(0) | ->

One of the questions I take some pleasure in asking when training is “Who has wasted their time in a meeting that had no focus and few, if any, outcomes in recent times?” Invariably 90% of all participants raise their hands. In fact the response is so predictable the question is almost rhetorical.

The Facilitation training we are offering on Dec 9 is designed to address this all too standard response. All participants will receive full manuals and instruction from an experienced trainer and facilitator, whilst experiencing a  highly interactive and practice oriented session.  Ongoing coaching will also be available to enable them to complete an optional work-based assessment to attain their “Blue Hat Facilitator” certification and Pin.

It is expected that all participants will not only become lead facilitators capable of running an array of meeting types but also key drivers of positive cultural change once back in the workplace.

When: Thursday Dec 9, 8:30am – 4:30pm

Where: Airlie Leadership Development Centre, 260 Domain Rd Sth Yarra

Value: $490/person with an early bird value of $450/person up until Nov 19 or for bookings of 4 or more.

For more details please see the flyer attached: Six Thinking Hats Facilitator Training Dec 9

Register here!

This is a public workshop and participants from all sectors are invited and welcome.

Any enquiries may be directed to think.quick@me.com or directed to Frank on 0400 109727.

“I undertook my Six Hats Facilitation training with Frank in 2009 and right from my first application the result have been astonishing in a number of ways. Firstly, the ideas came so thick and fast that the scribe couldn’t keep up. Excellent decisions were made and actions assigned — all in about 40 minutes. The second surprise was the amount of energy in the room throughout the meeting. It wasn’t just another meeting taking people away from their “real” work, everyone actually enjoyed it. A third surprise was the avowed cynics willingly agreeing that the methodology actually worked, that it could elicit more enthusiasm from them, and produce excellent results in a short time. The final surprise was how exhausting it was to  slow people down, and then stop them from elaborating on their many ideas.”   (Ricky Tuck. Education & Training – Victorian Public Records Office.)

Permalink|Comments(0) | ->