Leadership Dynamics

The Certificate in Leadership Dynamics focuses on the challenges of leading in today’s complex and volatile world. Its courses are based on contemporary research and theory and informed by case studies from some of the most complicated and adverse situations, and they take a fresh look at the concept of leadership. They offer clear and practical guidance for leaders who must function in conditions that are daunting and ever-changing. Courses include:

• The Contemporary Leader: Leading in an Age of Complexity
• The Leader–Follower Dynamic: A Contemporary Perspective
• The Challenge of Change: Leading an Agile Organization
• Leading in a Culture: Aligning Energies for High Performance
• Expert Decision Making: Hard Thinking for an Uncertain World
• Influencing & Inspiring: Essential Skills of Leadership
• When You’re Asked to Do the Impossible: Leadership When the Stakes Are Highest
• Crisis Leadership: Foresight, Precaution, Prevention
• Extreme Leadership: Leading When It Matters Most
• The Paradoxes of Leadership: A Seminar 

The Certificate in Strategic Leadership offers professionals the opportunity to delve deeper into the intricacies of strategy design and the peculiar challenges involved in leading for innovation. The course material is drawn from diverse disciplines including creative cognition, design thinking, expertise research, strategic thinking, and organizational development. The principles and techniques offered have broad applicability, and participants will have in-class opportunities to immediately apply them to authentic challenges of their choice. Courses include:

The Creative Leader: From Imagination to Innovation

• The Dual Nature of Creativity
• In Search of Insight
• The Creative Process
• Components of Creativity
• Profile of the Creative Person
• The Motivation Dimension
• The Critical Importance of Problem Definition
• Creative Problem Solving – The Toolkit
• The Leader as Facilitator

Strategic Insight: Innovative Thinking in War, Business, Science, and Design

• The Nature and Neuroscience of Insight
• Principles and Exemplars
• Dealing with Mental Models, Assumptions, and their Hazards
• Obstacles (Individual and Organizational)
• Leveraging Analytical and Intuitive Modes
• Five Pathways to Insight

Optimizing Strategic Thinking: Enhancing Design and Avoiding Pitfalls

• The Nature and Functions of Strategy
• Strategy as Design
• Dealing with “Dancing Landscapes”
• The Contemporary Essentials of Agility and Adaptability
• Cognitive, Informational, Ego, and Group Pitfalls
• Strategy as Learning
• Safeguards and Strategic Protocols

Leading for Innovation: Forging the Future

• The Nature and Process of Innovation
• Three Levels of Leadership
• The Innovative Culture
• Leadership Roles by Phase
• The Invention/Discovery Team
• Obstacles to Organizational Innovation
• Four Critical Assessments
• “Everyone an Innovator”

Sensemaking and Judgment: Critical Thinking for Critical Challenges

• Meaning as Foundation
• Diagnostic Problem Solving
• Metacognition: Thinking about Our Thinking
• Problem Framing
• The Information Value Chain
• Biases and Illusions
• Red Teaming Techniques
• The Power and Pitfalls of Analogical Thinking

Mindpower: Tapping the Genius of Teams

• Understanding Individual Thinking Styles
• Leveraging the Potential of Style Diversity
• Engaging the “Whole Brain” of Teams
• Enhancing Creative Output and Critical Judgment
• Communication & Persuasion
• Avoiding/Resolving Conflict
• The Power of Visual Thinking

Composing an Innovation Strategy: Essentials and Provocations

• The Innovation Portfolio
• Schools and Types of Strategy
• Levels of Innovation
• The Zone of Exploration
• Means and Modes
• The Value Curve
• Lifecycle Issues and Threats
• Matching and Leading the Client
• Transient Advantage
• Developing Aggregate Strategies
• The New Playbook

Innovation by Design: Providing Exceptional Customer Value

• The Nature of Design Thinking
• Principles & Exemplars
• Methodology
• The Behavior Space
• Dimensions of Customer Value
• Problem Finding Protocols
• Integrative Thinking
• The New Role of Prototypes
• An Indispensable Approach and a Key Criterion
• Design Applied to Strategy

The Educator as Design Thinker: The How and the Why

• The Nature of Design Thinking
• Thinking Systemically
• The Student/Teacher Experience
• The Biggest Obstacle
• Four Simple Verbs
• The Critical Tool
• The Crucial Criterion
• Three Approaches to Integrative Thinking
• The How and the Why of Design Thinking in Education