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Problem-solving and effective decision-making are essential skills in today’s fast-paced and ever-changing workplace. Both require a systematic yet creative approach to address today’s business concerns. This course will teach an overarching process of how to identify problems to generate potential solutions and how to apply decision-making styles in order to implement and assess those solutions. Through this process, you will gain confidence in assessing problems accurately, selecting the appropriate decision-making approaches for the situation at hand, making team decisions, and measuring the success of the solution’s implementation. Using case studies and situations encountered by class members, you will explore proven, successful problem-solving and decision-making models and methods that can be readily transferred to workplace projects.
- Keywords:
- Decision making Problem solving
- Resource Type:
- PDF, Video, and Website
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PDF Video Website
How do we unlock the transformational power of design thinking? To do this, we must understand that this power lies not in what it encourages us to do, but in who it encourages us to become. We become design thinkers by experiencing design.
In this course, developed at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia, we will guide you through six key phases of the design journey - Immersion, Sensemaking, Alignment, Emergence, Imagining, and Learning in Action. For each of these phases, you will explore how design thinking done well impacts innovators by inviting them to bring their authentic selves into the innovation conversation. You will examine key behaviors that bridge the gap from beginner to competency, and deepen the skills that will allow you to achieve design thinking's transformational promise. You will also hear from industry leaders from all over the world who will share valuable lessons and personal stories about how experiencing design has shaped their exciting careers.
- Keywords:
- Industrial design Strategic planning Creative thinking Problem solving Creative ability in business
- Resource Type:
- PDF, Video, and Website
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PDF Video Website
Welcome, designers!
In this course, developed at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia, you will carry on the design thinking process begun in our Insights to Inspiration course, beginning with the eighth step in our 14-Step process, bringing the ideas you developed in our Insights to Inspiration course to action. We start this course by asking, “What if?” We’ll use brainstorming in a new and creative way to generate solutions to your challenge, and then learn to take those raw ideas and synthesize them into important concepts. By asking, “What wows?” and “What works?” you will learn to move from ideation to experimentation.
Throughout this journey, you will gather critical skills that will enable you to turn your ideas into action that can have a profound impact on you and your organization.
- Keywords:
- Industrial design Strategic planning Creative thinking Problem solving Creative ability in business
- Resource Type:
- PDF, Video, and Website
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PDF Video Website
Welcome Designers!
In this course, developed at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia, we will introduce you to the design thinking process. It is a project-based course in which you will identify a human-centered problem that you want to solve. We will focus our attention on the first seven steps of our 14-Step design thinking process.
We’ll guide you through crafting and carrying out a research plan that helps you answer the question, “What is?” You will gather and identify important insights about the needs and wants of others and use this information to identify the attributes of an ideal solution.
- Keywords:
- Industrial design Strategic planning Creative thinking Problem solving Creative ability in business
- Resource Type:
- PDF, Video, and Website
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PDF Video Website
Have you ever tried to find a solution to a problem only to realize you’ve been focusing on the wrong problem from the very beginning? Or you’ve proposed a solution only to have it shut down by your boss or coworkers? How stressful and defeating is that? With massive changes in our world that seem to create the most difficult of circumstances, both personally and professionally, your skills as a critical thinker and problem solver need to be further developed now more than ever.
By the end of this course you will have learned and memorized a practical model to solve problems on your own and with others. These 7 critical steps will ensure that you have looked at a problem from every angle and considered multiple solutions. In fact, this dynamic and holistic approach will help you solve problems once and for all!
- Keywords:
- Problem solving Critical thinking
- Resource Type:
- PDF, Video, and Website
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PDF Video Website
This course deals directly with your ability for creativity which is a critical skill in any field. It focuses on divergent thinking, the ability to develop multiple ideas and concepts to solve problems. Through a series of creativity building exercises, short lectures, and readings, learners develop both an understanding of creativity and increase their own ability. This course will help you understand the role of creativity and innovation in your own work and in other disciplines. It will challenge you to move outside of your existing comfort zone and to recognize the value of that exploration. This course will help you understand the importance of diverse ideas, and to convey that understanding to others. The principal learning activity in the course is a series of "differents" where you are challenged to identify and change your own cultural, habitual, and normal patterns of behavior. Beginning with a prompt, e.g. "eat something different", you will begin to recognize your own = limits and to overcome them. In addition, you are encouraged to understand that creativity is based on societal norms, and that by it's nature, it will differ from and be discouraged by society. In this course, the persistence of the creative person is developed through practice. At the same time, these exercises are constrained by concerns of safety, legality, and economics, which are addressed in their creative process.
- Keywords:
- Creative thinking Divergent thinking Problem solving
- Resource Type:
- PDF, Video, and Website
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PDF Video Website
Creativity is a widely acclaimed attribute. A range of creativity tools are available that rely on creativity principles to enable systematic idea generation. This module builds on the first module where various types of brainstorming were introduced along with the creativity diamond framework which provides a guide to which type of creative approach to use. Here we will introduce systematic creativity tools that can be used to provoke a wide range of ideas that might not normally arise and can be used to augment your innate creativity.
- Keywords:
- Creative ability Creative thinking Problem solving Thought thinking
- Resource Type:
- PDF, Video, and Website
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PDF Video Website
Creativity concerns the development of new ideas. Throughout human history, the application of ideas has led to transformations of our daily lives and society. Modern business activity thrives on recently developed ideas, and it is through creativity that we address both challenges and opportunities. In this module, we will help you develop your implicit understanding and skills in creativity. You will be introduced to a series of creativity tools that can be used to augment the ideas you might come up with independently. Specifically, we will develop your skills in list, sticky-note, grid and alphabet brainstorming through an introduction to the principles of the tool, along with examples and an opportunity for you to have a go. A framework called the creativity diamond is used throughout the course to guide which approach to creativity to use and when.
- Keywords:
- Creative ability Creative thinking Problem solving
- Resource Type:
- PDF, Video, and Website
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Others
Do you take long to solve career or business problems? It may be time to learn how to use the 5 Whys to make the process simpler.
Maybe you believe that you need to know 1000 techniques to solve problems faster. The truth is that there isn’t a single technique that can solve all your problems. But despite this reality, you can still solve most of your problems in an effective way.
How? By leveraging Sakichi Toyoda’s 5 Whys technique. Toyoda used this technique for the Toyota production system, but you can apply it to most of your problems[1]. So, stop trying to memorize dozens of techniques and get ready to work smarter!
- Keywords:
- Decision making Problem solving
- Resource Type:
- Others
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Others
Have you ever thought of yourself as a problem solver? I’m guessing not. But in reality, we are constantly solving problems. And the better our problem solving skills are, the easier our lives are.
Every day, you’ll be faced with at least one problem to solve. But it gets easier when you realize that problems are simply choices. There’s nothing ‘scary’ about them other than having to make a decision.
No matter what job you’re in, where you live, who your partner is, how many friends you have, you will be judged on your ability to solve problems. Because problems equal hassles for everyone concerned. And people don’t like hassle. So the more problems you can solve, the less hassle all-round, the happier people are with you. Everyone wins.
- Keywords:
- Decision making Problem solving
- Resource Type:
- Others
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Video
A highly sought after skill, learn a simple yet effective four step problem solving process using the concept IDEA to identify the problem, develop solutions, execute a plan and then assess your results. The IDEA model is a linear, rational approach that is best suited for well structured problems. For a free course on getting the most out of S.M.A.R.T. Goals https://www.udemy.com/goal-setting/
- Keywords:
- Decision making Problem solving
- Resource Type:
- Video
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Others
Design thinking is playing an increasingly significant role in the business world. Companies doing some of the most innovative work, such as Apple, Amazon, and Google, use this approach to help solve complex problems and develop highly-creative solutions, products, and services. The need for design thinking is especially urgent now, given the constantly increasing pace of innovation.
- Keywords:
- Strategic planning Creative thinking Problem solving Critical thinking Creative ability in business
- Resource Type:
- Others
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Video
Every day, a sea of decisions stretches before us, and it’s impossible to make a perfect choice every time. But there are many ways to improve our chances — and one particularly effective technique is critical thinking. Samantha Agoos describes a 5-step process that may help you with any number of problems.
- Keywords:
- Problem solving Critical thinking Decision making
- Resource Type:
- Video
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MOOC
In today's business environment, organizations have identified critical thinking and problem-solving as skills that are integral to an employee's--and their organization's--success.
The most successful professionals can assess the environment, analyze a situation, design a solution, and ultimately win in a competitive scenario.
This course, part of the Leadership Essentials Professional Certificate program, will demystify, discuss, and provide application techniques for critical thinking and problem-solving in a business context. Learners will draw connections to their work experience by analyzing and critiquing case studies. Best practices for problem-solving will be discussed and illustrated including how to weigh alternative solutions, incorporate feedback from stakeholders, and how and when to start over.
- Keywords:
- Management Problem solving Critical thinking Decision making
- Resource Type:
- MOOC
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MOOC
Most professions these days require more than general intelligence. They require in addition the ability to collect, analyze and think about data. Personal life is enriched when these same skills are applied to problems in everyday life involving judgment and choice. This course presents basic concepts from statistics, probability, scientific methodology, cognitive psychology and cost-benefit theory and shows how they can be applied to everything from picking one product over another to critiquing media accounts of scientific research. Concepts are defined briefly and breezily and then applied to many examples drawn from business, the media and everyday life.
What kinds of things will you learn? Why it’s usually a mistake to interview people for a job. Why it’s highly unlikely that, if your first meal in a new restaurant is excellent, you will find the next meal to be as good. Why economists regularly walk out of movies and leave restaurant food uneaten. Why getting your picture on the cover of Sports Illustrated usually means your next season is going to be a disappointment. Why you might not have a disease even though you’ve tested positive for it. Why you’re never going to know how coffee affects you unless you conduct an experiment in which you flip a coin to determine whether you will have coffee on a given day. Why it might be a mistake to use an office in a building you own as opposed to having your office in someone else’s building. Why you should never keep a stock that’s going down in hopes that it will go back up and prevent you from losing any of your initial investment. Why it is that a great deal of health information presented in the media is misinformation.
- Keywords:
- Reasoning Problem solving Critical thinking Decision making
- Resource Type:
- MOOC
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Video
Design Thinking is a 5-step process to come up with meaningful ideas that solve real problems for a particular group of people. The process is taught in top design and business schools around the world. It has brought many businesses lots of happy customers and helped entrepreneurs from all around the world, to solve problems with innovative new solutions
- Keywords:
- Creative thinking Thought thinking Problem solving Creative ability
- Resource Type:
- Video
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Video
Imagine you were asked to invent something new. It could be whatever you want, made from anything you choose, in any shape or size. That kind of creative freedom sounds so liberating, doesn’t it? Or ... does it? if you're like most people you’d probably be paralyzed by this task. Why? Brandon Rodriguez explains how creative constraints actually help drive discovery and innovation.
- Keywords:
- Creative ability Inventions Problem solving
- Resource Type:
- Video
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MOOC
This course deals directly with your ability for creativity which is a critical skill in any field. It focuses on divergent thinking, the ability to develop multiple ideas and concepts to solve problems. Through a series of creativity building exercises, short lectures, and readings, learners develop both an understanding of creativity and increase their own ability.
This course will help you understand the role of creativity and innovation in your own work and in other disciplines. It will challenge you to move outside of your existing comfort zone and to recognize the value of that exploration. This course will help you understand the importance of diverse ideas, and to convey that understanding to others.
The principal learning activity in the course is a series of "differents" where you are challenged to identify and change your own cultural, habitual, and normal patterns of behavior. Beginning with a prompt, e.g. "eat something different", you will begin to recognize your own = limits and to overcome them. In addition, you are encouraged to understand that creativity is based on societal norms, and that by it's nature, it will differ from and be discouraged by society. In this course, the persistence of the creative person is developed through practice. At the same time, these exercises are constrained by concerns of safety, legality, and economics, which are addressed in their creative process.
- Keywords:
- Creative thinking Change Problem solving Critical thinking
- Resource Type:
- MOOC
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Others
The Design Sprint Kit is an open-source resource for design leaders, product owners, developers or anyone who is learning about or running Design Sprints. Whether you are new to Design Sprints and gaining buy in for your first Sprint, or an experienced Sprint facilitator looking for new methods, this site will help you learn, plan, and contribute to the Design Sprint Methodology. The Design Sprint is a proven methodology for solving problems through designing, prototyping, and testing ideas with users. Design Sprints quickly align teams under a shared vision with clearly defined goals and deliverables. Ultimately, it is a tool for developing a hypothesis, prototyping an idea, and testing it rapidly with as little investment as possible in as real an environment as possible.
- Keywords:
- Design -- Psychological aspects Problem solving Creative ability in business
- Resource Type:
- Others
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MOOC
Gone are the days when Problem Solving and Decision Making often happened within the four walls of a top boss’s cabin. In the beginning of this century - As we blinked our eyes, the world changed, cabins broke down to give way to open offices, traditional management hierarchy collapsed and saw a horizontal spread. With delegation and authority batons being passed to the executive and trainee levels, Problem Solving and Decision Making skills became a must have quality at all levels in an organization. In simple words it is – have it or leave it.
That’s less said - Just learning the skill of solving problems and taking good decisions isn’t enough. Today, the modern workplace demands the new age executives and managers to expand their potential of creative thinking and bring it to the table while solving problems and making decisions. There is one more news for you, Creativity, Problem Solving and Decision Making skills are no more confined to the management and leadership levels, students who aspire for their dream jobs to be a reality, also will have to bring these skills along with their candidature.
That is why, we decided to offer this practical and highly researched course with all these 3 skills clubbed into 1 course so that you may not have to search anywhere - anymore.
If at any point of your life, you ever felt the need to work upon your creative thinking ability or your problem solving skills or even your decision making capability, look no further, this course is just the right one for you.
- Course related:
- SD5131 Interdisciplinary Project
- Keywords:
- Problem solving Creative thinking Critical thinking
- Resource Type:
- MOOC
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Others
The learner will understand how to use brainstorming and a decision matrix to find the best solution to a problem.
- Keywords:
- Problem solving
- Resource Type:
- Others
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Others
Learners examine strategies for evaluating new ideas and accepting change. They consider a list of various reactions to change and a list of actions that enhance teamwork, and check those statements that apply to themselves.
- Keywords:
- Creative thinking Problem solving Critical thinking
- Resource Type:
- Others
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Others
The "Staying F.O.C.U.S.E.D." philosophy is a strategic thinking framework designed to help prepare the next generation of thought-leaders for a complicated world. By using this framework, you will learn BETTER, learn FASTER and learn MORE than you are used to.
We operationalized this framework through the aid of seven (7) dice to give a “touch-and-feel” of the philosophy. The statements / prompts / questions appearing on each of the seven dice have been statistically determined. The “Staying F.O.C.U.S.E.D.” framework has proven so useful that real organizations are using it to help their senior management and board of directors open up the ALTERNATIVES to better deal with their UNSOLVED problems, issues and challenges."
The F.O.C.U.S.E.D dice are designed based on an extensive survey carried out with 400+ business students at our Faculty of Business and feedback from practitioners on what our students need to do to help take their learning to the next level. The key findings culminated in the importance of the “Staying F.O.C.U.S.E.D.” philosophy where each letter represents a critical competency much sought-after in the real world today:
"F" - Bring Fresh Perspective
"O" - Think, feel and act like an Owner/ Manager
"C" - Show Connected-thinking
"U" - Have a Sense of Urgency
"S" - Show Team SPIRIT
"E" - Always Engage
"D" - Exercise Deliberate Practice
To learn more about the idea of the “ecosystem” that we built around the FOCUSED philosophy and its accompanying 7 colourful dice framework, please visit the FOCUSED homepage or click "View Resource".
- Keywords:
- Problem solving Dice games
- Resource Type:
- Others