Leadership Institute

Thunderbolt Thinking®: Innovation Fundamentals

Learning Format: Classroom

Generating useful ideas and innovative solutions doesn’t have to be a “lucky break.” Your organization’s success -- even its survival -- depends on having employees who consistently and deliberately think about problems or issues and develop new ways to address them.

This course teaches people to manage their thinking to leverage both creative and analytical skills and to do away with rigid “this is how we always do it” thinking and myopic perspectives.

Do You Face Any of These Issues?

  • Are people in your organization not energized and motivated to put ideas into action?
  • Do employees have trouble coming up with ideas for solving problems?

Performance Objectives

Helps associates:

  • Distinguish what they are thinking about from how they need to think.
  • Harness more of their brainpower using a how-to-think process.
  • Strengthen innovative thinking abilities, and manage their thinking by being more mentally alert, aware, and agile.

Primary Competency Developed

  • Innovation

Secondary Competency Developed

  • Decision Making

Course Overview

  • Thunderbolt Thinking®: Participants learn the Thunderbolt Thinking® Model and its first component -- the formula for effective thinking. They start a Do It Now! Thunderbolt plan to work on a current work challenge they’d like to see change.
  • How-to-Think Process: Learners explore the How-to-Think Process, which is the focus in upcoming units. A team game builds awareness of the steps.
  • Expand Your Perspective: Learners develop their “viewing point” by describing the process they used to discover something in their immediate surroundings that they hadn’t noticed before. They learn two more ways to expand their perspective -- channel surfing and changing their daily routine. Participants apply these techniques to their work challenge plan.
  • Ratchet Up Your Brainpower: Participants create a “brain trust” to build brainpower. They use the powerful technique of drawing pictures to enhance thinking and create a valuable thinking experience. Concepts and tools are applied to their Do It Now! plan.
  • Turbocharge Your Environment: Learners generate ways to use toys at work as transformers to turbocharge their thinking. They continue working on their plan.
  • Master the Conversation: This step shows the importance of holding a conversation of possibilities as well as a conversation of realities. Participants learn how to generate thoughts and keep people focused on the positive. Action planning continues.
  • Be a Catalyst with Spirit: Learners examine the last element of the Thunderbolt Thinking® Model, called the Thunderbolt Spirit. They choose one spirit quality to help them implement their plan on the job.

Video Segment Summaries

  • No video.

Course Details

  • Target audience: All employees through frontline leaders.
  • Course length: 3 hours, 55 minutes, or 2 hours, 10 minutes Fast Track.
  • Facilitator certification: DDI-certified facilitator required.
  • Prerequisites: None.
  • Series: Suitable for all environments.
  • Group size: 10 to 20 people.
  • Prework: No.

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