Need a break from the tedious bickering over the presidential election? Can’t stand the thought of talking heads bloviating about the cataclysmic importance of the upcoming Georgia senatorial election?
If so, join me in January for a workshop on better problem solving. I’m joining forces with the fantastic folks at the Iowa Lean Consortium for a 4-part, 4-week workshop based on my new book, The Conclusion Trap.
Why Do You Need This Workshop?
Organizations (and individuals) frequently struggle to make good decisions. They spend money, invest in new technology, and invest enormous amounts of time and effort reorganizing in fruitless efforts to solve thorny problems. Why?
Years of training and reinforcement in school and at work, time pressures and deadlines, and inherent psychological biases cause us to jump to conclusions before we even understand the problem we’re attempting to solve.
This online workshop will help you make better decisions by eliminating that tendency.
What Will You Learn?
We’ll learn a powerful, four-step process that ensures that you deeply understand a problem before pursuing any given solution.
Some of the key concepts you’ll master:
the difference between facts and data
what it means to “go & see”
how to frame a problem constructively, and why you really need to choose your words carefully
how to think backwards
best practices for finding root cause
What’s the Format?
The workshop is online (of course). It runs over four weeks — a single, 1-hour session each week, so that the time commitment is manageable. Each session is devoted to one of the four steps, with a week between each to allow you time to practice the concepts in your own workplace.
This is an interactive workshop that requires your participation. It’s not a passive, “check-Twitter-while-you-watch-a-webinar” experience. In each session, you’re expected to work through case studies and discuss them with your classmates. We’ll also devote a portion of each session to reflection and analysis of your experiences implementing the ideas at your workplace.
At the end of this four-week series, you’ll be better at generating insight before you take action when you grapple with problems. Over the course of the workshop, you’ll practice these tools on an actual problem at your workplace with real time coaching. By the end of the workshop, you’ll have solved the problem (or at least you’ll know how to solve it). And in the future, you and your team will waste less time, effort, and money on countermeasures that never address the real underlying issues.
What Do I Do Next?
Well, obviously you register. Get more info on the workshop and sign up here. Or email me if you have other questions.
I hope to see you in January!