Creative Decision Making

Description:
The course was designed to cover critical business and professional development topics in the shortest time possible. With a wealth of hands-on exercises, the course keeps you engaged and help you retain critical skills.

You have probably been taught to use your logic and reasoning to make the best decisions. Although this is certainly sensible advice, the future is unpredictable, and uncertainty can never be eliminated from the decision-making process. The key is to be positive about uncertainty, that is approaching every decision with an open mind to create more future possibilities, even while assuming that change is inevitable. Creative Decision Making helps you do just that by presenting four paradoxical principles designed to expand the way you think about the decisions you make. The revised edition includes discussion on using positive uncertainty to manage information overload and what you can do to decide creatively in today’s more rapidly changing world.

Duration: One day

Table of Contents:

Introduction: The What and Why of Positive Uncertainty
Are You Ready for Positive Uncertainty?
What Is Positive Uncertainty?
Why Be Positive About Uncertainty?
Getting Started with Creative Decision Making

Part 1: Paradoxical Principle 1
Be Focused and Flexible About What You Want
Identify Barriers to Knowing What You Want
Use Goals to Guide You, Not Govern You
Take Your Eye Off the Target
Treat Goals as Hypotheses
Uncover Future Phobia
Mine Goals from Past and Future Events
Clarify the Big and Little Things You Want
Postscript

Part 2: Paradoxical Principle 2
Be Aware and Wary of What You Know
Question the Validity of Information You Receive
More Information Can Cause More Uncertainty
Case Study: Coffee Culture
Watch Out for Info-Mania
Open Your Mind to New Knowledge
Expand Your Thinking About Other Possibilities
Postscript

Part 3: Paradoxical Principle 3
Be Realistic and Optimistic About What You Believe
Recognize That Reality Is in the Mind of the Beholder
Be Wary of Your Dogma
Perceive Perceptive Paralysis
Treat Beliefs as Prophecy
Dream Precisely to Create a Positive Future
Uncover Your Beliefs Through Metaphor
Explore Your Personal Metaphor
Use Scenario Rehearsal in Decision Making
Postscript

Part 4: Paradoxical Principle 4
Be Practical and Magical About What You Do
Treat Intuition as Intelligence
Become Aware of Your Decision Strategies
Recognize Reverse Paranoia
Learn to Plan and Plan to Learn
Visualize Outcomes with Decision Trees
See the Bigger Picture in Outcomes Windows
Postscript

Summary
Actions for Practice
The Perennial Decision-Making Questions
Positive Uncertainty Exercises
Recommended Reading