Organizational success rests with those who possess superior problem-solving skills

Being able to quickly cut to the heart of a strategic and organizational decision by focusing on areas that have the greatest impact on performance is a key skill of leadership. But is it a natural gift, or can it be learned?

You can learn how it’s done in a step-by-step process for diagnosing business issues, generating options and implementing innovative solutions, that is at the core of Schulich ExecEd’s two-day program Critical Thinking and Strategic Problem Solving Skills for Leaders, starting March 19.

The program addresses three basic levels of business challenge: making strategic decisions, solving problems that can be solved and managing difficult dilemmas. The program starts with a session on Understanding the Problem-Solving Hierarchy – a ‘decisions to dilemmas model’ as a form of problem-solving triage.

Making Effective Strategic Business Decisions follows – a discussion of ways of looking at a problem that prevent wrong assumptions and lead to better solutions that come out of a structured decision process.

Structured Problem-Solving Techniques for Leaders is a step-by-step method of identifying solvable problems and dealing with them in a systematic way, including the art of creative envisioning to address underlying issues.

But sometimes problems can’t easily be solved; they are dilemmas that seem to defy solution or that can only be managed, which requires critical thinking skills that allow you to effectively frame, explore and re-frame strategic issues. These are the subjects of the fourth and fifth sessions of the program

Overcoming Organizational Barriers to Success is the final session and looks in more detail at dilemmas and how to use project-management techniques to keep initiatives on track to solve or manage these toughest of management challenges.

This content-rich two-day program, taught by internationally renowned management instructor Alex Lowy, includes a special bonus: each participant receives a personal copy of Alex Lowy’s book No Problem, along with his best-selling strategy book The Power of the 2×2 Matrix (co-authored with Phil Hood).

For registration details and more information on Critical Thinking and Strategic Problem Solving Skills for Leaders, visit the program web pages today.