Course #2: Building Collaborative Teams & Innovative Ideas

Overview:
Neurological preferences drive how we think and collaborate with others, and determine which environments and roles we can thrive in. Your students will complete an assessment to learn even more about how their brain processes information and how they show up in the world. Then, using the science of cognitive diversity, they will discover how to immediately improve team collaboration and build high-performing, resilient teams.

Topics:

• The challenges of collaboration in a fast-paced environment
• Cognitive abilities versus neurological preferences
• How your neurological preferences impact collaboration
• The limitations of working with others who think the same way you do
• The advantages of building teams with cognitive diversity

Learning Outcomes:

• A deeper sense of self-awareness and how your brain processes information
• Understanding the source of cognitive conflict
• Overcoming your neurological bias to encourage effective collaboration
• Creating an environment that encourages cognitive diversity

Overview:
Listening is the most fundamental component of interpersonal communication - and for many of us, it’s also the most challenging. Your students will learn to approach listening differently and develop highly personalized techniques to consistently create safe, inclusive work environments that allow others to feel seen, heard, and understood.

Topics:

• How your brain is designed to seek efficiencies, not listen intently
• Introversion, extroversion, and ambiversion
• Conversational narcissism and how to avoid / overcome it
• The importance of demonstrating receptiveness to new ideas
• Summarizing with conversational intelligence

Learning Outcomes:

• How to set up a safe listening environment that encourages communication
• Gaining key information through verbal prompts and questioning
• Creating an environment in which others feel seen, heard, and understood

Overview:
Our minds have been highly trained to find predictable solutions, but innovation comes from viewing problems differently. Advanced conceptual thinking is at the root of innovative problem-solving – by understanding this cognitive process we can create environments that consistently generate new ideas and approaches.

Your students will explore the link between their own neurological preferences and their conceptual thinking abilities. They will then learn how to apply a framework that supports innovative thinking in complex corporate and technical environments.

Topics:

• How neurological preferences support or limit innovative thinking
• Differentiating creativity from applied innovation
• Edward de Bono’s work in the realm of lateral thinking
• Identifying cognitive barriers and testing their validity
• Techniques for reducing solution complexity

Learning Outcomes:

• Understanding rational versus intuitive processing
• Creating an environment for high performance by supporting cognitive diversity
• Developing a personalized approach to overcoming mental barriers
• Applying the Jeffrey Innovation Method