Communicate the purpose of critical thinking and problem solving to those who have to comply with it.
Critical Thinking and Complex Problem Solving for Leaders
Build a working method for critical thinking and problem solving that stands up to scrutiny and survives daily pressure.
📍 Cairo🗓️ 5 training days📚 4 modules🎓 Accredited certificate
5intensive training days
4scientific modules
8training sessions
32detailed points
Course Overview
When critical thinking and problem solving is unclear, people default to protecting their own function. Most failures in problem solving trace back to a conversation someone avoided having. Participants who influence the wider organisational leadership agenda without directly controlling it will find the content directly usable. It establishes a shared vocabulary for critical thinking and problem solving so that teams can disagree productively about it. Participants gain a clear basis for measuring what this strand of organisational leadership has actually achieved. Improvement in problem solving stalls when it depends on one capable individual rather than a defined method. Exercises escalate in difficulty, ending with the ambiguous situations that make critical thinking and problem solving hard in practice. The professional literature on problem solving converges on a small set of controls that reliably work. Participants leave with a plan for the wider organisational leadership agenda sized to what their organisation can realistically absorb.
Expected Learning Outcomes
Review your own performance on problem solving as rigorously as you review others'.
Distinguish the parts of critical thinking and problem solving that must be standardised from those that require judgement.
Manage the emotional load problem solving places on you and on the team.
Delegate responsibility for critical thinking and problem solving without losing sight of the outcome.
Judge when to escalate problem solving and when to absorb it.
Draw practical lessons from failures in critical thinking and problem solving without assigning blame that suppresses reporting.
Who Should Attend
Consultants coaching leadership teams on critical thinking and problem solving.
Compliance and governance staff whose remit includes problem solving.
Project and programme managers whose delivery depends on critical thinking and problem solving.
Board members and non-executives overseeing problem solving.
Project and programme managers whose success depends on critical thinking and problem solving.
High-potential staff being prepared for wider responsibility for problem solving.
Course Modules
Critical thinking and problem solving: the conversations that decide the outcome
2 sessions · 8 pointsSession 1Showing that critical thinking and problem solving changed something measurable
- Test the procedure for critical thinking and problem solving against a realistic scenario.
- Establish who is informed, consulted and accountable in problem solving.
- Rehearse the briefing on critical thinking and problem solving that would follow an incident.
- Build the competence framework that supports problem solving.
Session 2Applying the standard on problem solving to your best performer
- Identify which function can quietly block critical thinking and problem solving and address it directly.
- Name the person accountable for each part of problem solving, not the committee.
- Test whether the team can explain critical thinking and problem solving in their own words.
- Agree the standard on problem solving and confirm it applies to everyone.
Problem solving: delegation, trust and accountability
2 sessions · 8 pointsSession 1Reading the room before proposing problem solving
- Review a past decision on critical thinking and problem solving and state honestly what you would change.
- Record what was learned when problem solving did not go as planned.
- Set the decision rights on critical thinking and problem solving: who decides, who is consulted, who is told.
- Confirm that the people affected by problem solving heard it from you first.
Session 2The paperwork for problem solving that is actually needed
- Prepare how you will respond when critical thinking and problem solving is challenged publicly.
- Assess the workload problem solving adds and what you will remove to make room.
- Prepare the summary of critical thinking and problem solving that senior management will read.
- Recognise publicly one person whose work on problem solving went unnoticed.
Problem solving: deciding under pressure and incomplete information
2 sessions · 8 pointsSession 1Comparing problem solving with recognised practice
- Identify where judgement in critical thinking and problem solving is legitimate and where it is not.
- Set the review point at which problem solving will be reconsidered.
- Establish the boundary of critical thinking and problem solving and record what sits outside it.
- Assign responsibility for keeping documentation of problem solving current.
Session 2What your team concludes from how you handle critical thinking and problem solving
- Build the internal briefing that explains critical thinking and problem solving to those affected.
- Write down the reasoning behind your position on problem solving.
- Agree what will be standardised in critical thinking and problem solving and what will not.
- Set escalation thresholds for problem solving that work out of hours.
Problem solving: resilience and the personal cost of leading
2 sessions · 8 pointsSession 1Deciding on problem solving when the information will never be complete
- Give one piece of specific feedback on critical thinking and problem solving within the week.
- Reduce the variation in how problem solving is carried out between teams.
- Confirm that contractual obligations around critical thinking and problem solving are understood.
- Draft the minimum viable leadership plan for problem solving.
Session 2Getting other functions to support problem solving
- Ask the team what they think is wrong with the plan for critical thinking and problem solving.
- Identify the conversation about problem solving you have been postponing, and schedule it.
- Identify your successor for critical thinking and problem solving and the gap they need to close.
- Plan the sequence in which improvements to problem solving will be introduced.
Choose the package that suits you
Silver Package
At least 3 people
USD1,250
- Workshop or Program Participation
- Airport Transfers
- Customized Badge
- Expert Mentorship (Private Sessions)
- Supervision & Secretarial Services
- Accredited Certificate of Participation
- Complete Training Kit
- Coffee Break
- Closing Ceremony
Gold Package
At least 3 people
USD1,850
- 5-night stay in a 5-star hotel
- Workshop or Program Participation
- Airport Transfers
- Customized Badge
- Expert Mentorship (Private Sessions)
- Supervision & Secretarial Services
- Accredited Certificate of Participation
- Complete Training Kit
- Coffee Break
- Closing Ceremony
Complete your registration
We will contact you within one business day to confirm.