Join us for an interactive day of learning and the practical application of 10 thinking tools at Melbourne’s most prestigious training venue.

People and organisations are seeking improvement and quality across many areas except that which is the most important – the quality of the way they think. If we improve the quality of our thinking the quality of the actions that follow will improve.

The Six Thinking Hats are designed to dramatically improve the way individuals and groups think. The methods are used to look at issues from multiple perspectives and help teams to move beyond their habitual thinking styles to achieve a more rounded and thorough view of a given situation. In this full day session participants will develop:

• a sound understanding of multiple thinking styles,
  

• the ability to design and lay out a thinking process,
  

• The ability to better navigate complex and difficult issues,

• the ability to design and facilitate effective, outcome oriented meetings,     

• the ability to generate genuinely new ideas using lateral thinking methods,     

• and become more thorough and objective thinkers.

The session will be held at Melbourne’s premier training venue and all participants will be provided with an optional work-based assessment with which to immediately start to apply and embed the methods and practice back in the workplace. Successful completion of this assessment provides the “Blue Hat Facilitator” Pin.  Email & telephone coaching will be provided to assist with this at no additional cost.

Course Brochure: Six Thinking Hats ALDC May 29, 2012

To Register: Click Here

For more information, contact Frank at Think Quick on 0400 109727, or think.quick@me.com

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One of the most important things we do in organisations is interact in meetings.

Yet 90% of people I speak to indicate their meetings are not as productive as they could be or worse, a waste of their time. There is a general consensus across industry that our meetings are all too often insufficiently focused, lacking sound collaborative approaches, have a limited outcome orientation and consume way more time than is necessary.

The importance of meetings in an organisation cannot be understated. In terms of knowledge-transfer and decision-making our meetings are potentially our most potent method because we:

• have the right subject matter experts invited and in attendance,
• if they are in attendance, they should be there with intent, and
• they are in a face-to-face setting where the most meaningful communication should be possible.

There are a number of methods doing the rounds that focus on improving meeting processes and many of these work well but the key to effective meetings is addressing the thinking that takes place within those processes. At Think Quick we have facilitated many difficult and potentially difficult meetings using the Six Thinking Hats and have high levels of success.

Not all meetings of course require such facilitation, I suspect a great deal could be run simply and efficiently if the participants could simply develop some tolerance and empathy for opinions that differ from their own. However, we routinely use the  parallel thinking of the Thinking Hats when:

• there are strongly held views
• there are challenging issues at hand
• there are diverse perspectives on offer
• the conversation is rambling and unfocused, and
• when time is short

The challenge is to incorporate the methods into meetings so they become a part of business practice and are routinely applied. This challenge when accepted is one that can bare great benefits.

To date, just a few of our client’s successes using parallel thinking in their meetings have been:
• Millions of dollars worth of savings in one Department where such saving could not be envisaged prior.
• A $600,000 saving within a business unit as a result of training in the thinking and its subsequent same day application to a key issue.
• The smooth planning of moving 20+ city locations into one newly constructed building.
• A business restructure planned and implemented without any of the associated angst by getting everyone thinking in parallel throughout.

Meetings can be productive, focused and enjoyable. They are the primary engine-room for transferring knowledge and making decisions in organisations, so if you get the thinking right in your meetings right, the flow-on effects are substantial.

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People and organisations are seeking improvement and quality across many areas except that which is the most important – the quality of the way we think.

If we improve the quality of our thinking the quality of the actions that follow correspondingly improve.

The Six Thinking Hats are designed to dramatically improve the way we think. The methods are used to look at issues from multiple perspectives and help us to move beyond our habitual thinking styles to achieve a more rounded and thorough view of a given situation.

In this full day session participants will develop:

• a sound understanding of multiple thinking styles,
• the ability to design and facilitate effective, outcome oriented meetings,
• the ability to generate new ideas using lateral thinking methods,
• the ability to design and lay out a thinking process, and
• become a more thorough and objective thinker.

The session will be held at Melbourne’s premier training venue and all participants will be provided with an optional work-based assessment with which to immediately start to apply the methods back in the workplace. Successful completion of this assessment provides the “Blue Hat Facilitator” Pin.  Email & telephone coaching will be provided to assist with this at no additional cost.

Date & Time : 8:30am – 4:30pm, Friday March 18, 2011

Where: The Airlie Leadership Development Centre, 260 Domain Rd South Yarra

Value: $490/person with an early rate of $440/person up until Feb 25

Other: Participants from all sectors are welcome. Coffee/Tea will be provided upon arrival by qualified Baristas and the highest quality morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea will be provided. (If you’ve been to Airlie before you’ll know what this means!)

Many thanks for your response to this. The session is now fully subscribed and we look forward to a big day on the 18th!

We will be scheduling another session within the week so please watch this space!

Flyer: Six Thinking Hats training ALDC Mar 18

Any enquires may be directed to Frank at think.quick@me.com / 0400 109727 or Laurel on 0417 321296

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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.)

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At Think Quick we don’t simply assist with your issues, we help build your capacity to solve your own.

We provide new perspectives and new means of looking at your organisational issues so that appropriate and sustainable action can be designed in-house to address them.

In every instance we use accredited and experienced practitioners and practice a range of contemporary techniques designed to address the thinking of participants so that the focus leads to tangible and improved design and action.

The world is highly complex and rapidly shifting, so to be able to act with impact we must first be able to make sense of what is happening around us. The methods we use are designed to do this. Sessions are designed to replicate the way people behave in real life, as opposed to the way we “expect” them to behave in organisational settings.

Amongst the methods we use are those developed by Edward de Bono and include Lateral Thinking, Direct Attention Thinking Tools and the Six Thinking Hats. We also focus strongly on the Cognitive Edge methods which enable the emergence of fresh ideas, insights, new design and solutions derived form the multiple and diverse perspectives present in the room. The cognitive Edge methods are based on participation and discovery, as apposed to more traditional linear and prescriptive group methods that are common.

All of the methods applied are focused on gaining new insights, navigating through complex issues thereby allowing organisations and participants to take advantage of new opportunities in conditions of uncertainty.

The strengths and benefits of these approaches are:

*    We generate means of seeing the world through the eyes of participants, rather than via the narrower interpretations of a facilitator or third party.

*   We assist organisations to develop contextually appropriate interventions to address issues rather than applying standard methods that have minimal impact when issues are complex.

*    The methods tap directly into the knowledge of the assembled group and generate new design possibilities and participant buy-in. With this buy-in, outcomes tend to be more resilient and sustainable.

*    The methods allow for the navigation of issues for a fuller exploration rather than a solution oriented approach reliant on our first pattern matches that are not always the best fit.

*    The methods encourage innovative thinking and generate a range of possible solutions by tapping into the diverse perspectives and knowledge of the assembled group.

*    We use techniques that allow for wide scanning and the identification of weak signals that potentially have economic and human costs to the organisation.

*    The methods used move participants from a static approach to addressing issues to one in which there is a strong focus on design and forward momentum without the paralysis of perceived risk.

Our accredited and experienced practitioners have successfully facilitated many sessions and projects across public and private sectors and have worked closely with clients to determine need and co-design and process to ensure the best possible outcomes.

Think Quick also assists in the design and implementation of projects where new perspectives and new approaches are required.  These include evaluations, navigating change, strategy, planning, leadership and culture related interventions.

For more information contact Frank at think.quick@me.com

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The Direct Attention Thinking Tools (DATT) make up a suite of tools for directing attention and helping to develop a broader and more inclusive view of a given topic. If we wait for things to come to our attention will will miss things and notice others too late. If however, we deliberately direct our attention we will see much more. Our perception will be improved.

DATT provides a scaffold for our thinking and perception.

Each of the tools carry out a defined function, and collectively provide a strategic framework for a wide range of thinking including, consequential, problem solving, assessment, evaluation, exploration, analysis, prioritising and pathways to action.

The tools provide 10 simple pathways for making thinking more strategic, more comprehensive and to assist in forming a framework for defining problems and situations, thereby improving capacity to move forward with considered and effective action.

The DATT tools can be learned, practiced and applied in a deliberate fashion in much the same way as a carpenter selects certain tools to undertake a specific function.

Drive your thinking in the right direction. In this 2 x half day training session you will learn 10 thinking tools that will help you to be a sharper, more direct thinker. The tools will enable you to solve problems with greater ease and make the best possible decisions, quicker.

For more information on the DATT training contact Frank on 0400 109727 or at think.quick@me.com

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