The organisations which survive and prosper share one common characteristic, the ability to take long term quality decisions today.

Every manager must be capable of taking effective short term decisions, to react to a new development or crisis however in the long run the most important decisions will prove to be the creative ones which involve a manager initiating and fashioning events and leading the organisation into the future, rather than being dragged along by external forces!

This two day decision making and creative thinking course can be extended to three if problem solving was included or delivered using action centred learning methods.

Programme Introduction

The primary aim of this supervisor training skills course is to create a participative decision making framework that can plot the best course of action; one which is also capable of managing problems should they arise, in a methodical, logical or creative way.

To see the manager essentially as a decision making person is to detract from their true role as a facilitator. Without undermining the value of leadership, decision making is also a team event and its comprehension can only be dealt with successfully if decision making has been preceded by well managed, rigorous and creative thinking. This creative thinking can be seen as the submerged 9/10 of the iceberg, of which decision making is only the visible tip.

This supervisor training programme will introduce participants to decision thinking. By taking participants through the four stages of decision thinking, participants will be able to build models as a foundation for decision making. Participants will learn to build a "creative thinking team" within their "doing teams" thereby stimulating new ideas and encouraging innovation.

Via a programme of discovery learning, participants will also be introduced to three different types of thinking:

Insight Thinking

The steps leading upto the solution are not all apparent. The solution seems to come about by a sudden jump in thinking. It is more a matter of finding the right approach than of care in pursuing an approach.

Sequential Thinking

The solution follows a progressive sequence of steps (modification, improvement, mistakes, new ideas, etc.). The sequence need not be a logical one; nevertheless the steps occur one after the other.

Strategic Thinking

Is concerned with the choice of the most appropriate steps out of a multitude of possibilities. The search is not for a definite solution but for a policy of behaviour which is more effective than others.

Although this supervisor training session will develop logical thinking skills, it also promotes application of creative thinking skills to generate innovative solutions. An important part of delivery, however, is relating thinking skills to work issues. Participants are reminded that a good thinker is one who can monitor their own thinking and assumptions and use the process to explore rather than attack (or defend). In this way the thinker will value the skill of listening to other peoples' views, without letting their ego get in the way.

In part decision making is the culmination of thinking skills, but chosen solutions also require follow up procedures. Therefore, change analysis is required which evaluates the deviations from the expected result, and relates them to the factors that were pertinent to the decision; thereby monitoring its continued effectiveness in order to take corrective action if appropriate. However, decision making will involve risk taking therefore decision making requires specific techniques that can analyse and quantify the risks involved, for the options available, and how the risk can be minimised. This requires the application of quantitative and qualitative methods to defined objective alternatives.