Using Thinking Strategies and Tools to lead and manage yourself and

others around you

Richard Coe

Let’s look at an issue

The school day should be extended for all students from 8a.m. – 6 p.m.

Discuss – 3 minutes

2

Ask yourselves..Was everyone involved in the discussion?Were ideas listened to?Did everyone get a chance to speak?Did you focus on the proposal?Did you develop any ideas?Did you try and see the discussion from a range of

point’s of view?Was the discussion constructive?Did you argue?Was there a better way to approach this task?.......

A bit about Thinking Tools

They give us a structured way to help with

• Planning• Evaluating• Consultation• Refereeing• Predicting• Visualising• Creating

Plan for the session4(6) hats for

consultation or evaluation

APC and FIP for prioritising

Y map for visualising /

conceptualising

Da Vinci’s Idea Generator

Reflection

Perceptual Thinking

A

B

C

D

Perceptual Thinking

ABCD

ABCD

ABCD

ABCD

Structured and inclusive consultation or evaluation

Emotional response.

Gut Reactions

How do I FEEL about an idea?

What are the potential benefits of endorsing this idea?

What makes this a great idea?

What advantages might there be ?

What are the possible problems?

What issues or challenges are we potentially likely to face?

What do I find myself feeling cautious about about in regards to this proposal?

What creative ideas can I come up with to make this really work or to move the idea forward?

Look at the black hat points – what creative solutions can we find?

The 6 Hats – a few tips Set strict time limits for each – RED needs least

amount of time. This means ONE person needs to be the CHAIR throughout and stay neutral.

Be strict about staying in ONE hat thinking at a time – again the CHAIR should facilitate this

ALL must wear ALL hats to see all POV Red = NO justification Black and Yellow =MUST be justified Green = ALL ideas are welcome Not all Hats are needed all of the time – therefore a

decision must be made about which hats and which order before commencing discussion.

Applying the hats

The school day should be extended for all students from 8a.m. – 6 p.m.

• Nominate a CHAIR / TIMEKEEPER• Decide on the hats and sequence (2

minutes to decide and 10 minutes to discuss)

• All wear same hat at same time – no deviation

Idea Generation and prioritising

Perceptual Thinking

• David Perkins argues that90% of great thinking happens in the perception stage but only 10% of time is spent at this stage.We move too quickly from perceptual to logical thinking.

De Bono’s Cort 1 tools help us be both divergent and convergent in our thinking

A.P.C. Alternatives, Possibilities and Choices

Key Points: Creative Tool encouraging divergent thinking – we are

naturally convergent thinkers The deliberate attempt to find alternatives Can require deliberate effort if initially satisfied with

position As a self organising mechanism the brain develops

habitual ways of doing things – this deliberately moves away from this

Reminds you that there are always choices

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Using APC / Divergent Thinking

Your school has just been given £10,000 for staff

• You have 5 mins to think of all the Alternatives, Possibilities and Choices for this money.

• Record EVERY idea and do NOT evaluate• This task is very much about more IS more!

FIP: First Important Priorities

Key Points:• Crystallising the most important ideas, factors,

objectives, consequences, etc• Judgement situation – with no absolute answers• Priorities may occur because they are first in a list of

actions or because they are most important• Enhances decision making skills

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Using FIP / Convergent Thinking

Your school has just been given £10,000 for staff

• You have 5 mins to decide on your FIP for this money

• You might find that the best way to do this is democratically and / or by using the yellow and black hat

• NB - You are not expected to necessarily decide a final outcome at this point

Visualising / Setting Criteria Knowing what you want to achieve

Looks Like

Feels Like Sounds like

Applying The Y Map – 10 minutes

• Your school wants to conduct a whole school review of CREATIVITY in the classroom

• Use the Y Map to consider what it is the school should be trying to find evidence of.

• Try NOT to differentiate between subject areas – this is a generic review

• This is a group activity – record ALL Ideas

Looks Like

Feels Like Sounds like

Creativity in the classroom….

Creativity – some definitions

• ... the ability to use different modes of

thought to generate new and dynamic ideas and solutions

• Creative thinking involves imagining familiar things in a new light, digging below the surface to find previously undetected patterns, and finding connections among unrelated phenomena

Creative thinking involves imagining familiar things in a new light, digging below the surface to find previously undetected patterns, and finding connections among unrelated phenomena

Anyone know who drew this?

This is how he did it

Designing a new canteen

1. Decide on the number and nature of the parameters (Food, Seating, Theme..6 in each list)

Ask “Would this challenge exist without the parameter I am considering? “

2. Design a box with parameters3. Explore combinations (do it more than once)4. Decide on preferred possibilities5. Make recommendations

Time to Reflect

• Think about your own teams

• How would 6 Hats / Y Maps / APC + FIP/Da Vinci ideas box work with them?

• Would it be beneficial?

• How would you set it up?