Get in touch
Programs

Think Forward: Critical Thinking Skills

Strategic & Critical Thinking

Course Overview

Think Forward is an interactive, case-based workshop designed to build the disciplined questioning, critical thinking and reasoning skills necessary to navigate business ambiguity and drive sound financial decisions. Through practical exercises and a real-world strategy business case simulation, participants move from theory to execution by pressure-testing assumptions, managing competing stakeholder interests and evaluating strategic tradeoffs under tight constraints.

Schedule Course

Format & Length

  • Experiential half-day workshop
  • Structured learning
  • Pairs and group activities
  • Customized case simulation
  • Executive presentation with debriefs

Audience

  • Individual contributors and team members who use critical thinking
  • Mid-level managers or team leaders involved in decision making

Methods

  • In-person/live workshop
  • Active scenario-based case study
  • Pair work
  • Group debate
  • Gallery walks
  • Executive recommendation presentations
  • Both in-person and virtual options available

You may need this program if...

Employees need to strengthen disciplined reasoning when facing incomplete datasets, shifting market signals or business supply disruptions.

Analysts tend to jump directly to data analysis without first defining the core decision question or identifying critical underlying assumptions.

Team members need a structured framework to evaluate competing regional or departmental priorities and skill in communicating high-stakes financial tradeoffs clearly to senior leadership.

Decision-makers struggle to recognize common cognitive biases, thinking traps or data gaps before escalating issues to executive stakeholders.

Program Outcomes:

Master a Problem-Solving Framework: apply a three-step framework (Clarify → Challenge → Connect) to reframe decision questions, test assumptions and connect choices to enterprise outcomes.

Leverage Effective Question Types: utilize diagnostic, boundary-setting, data gap, assumption testing and stakeholder-oriented questions to navigate uncertainty.

Conduct Rigorous Assumption Audits: identify and pressure-test implicit assumptions, cognitive biases and thinking traps in complex business scenarios.

Evaluate Complex Tradeoffs: weigh financial ROI, market timing, supply chain capacity and regional stakeholder interests to build defensible business recommendations.

Deliver Executive-Level Presentations: formulate and present structured, concise decision recommendations and tradeoff analyses for executive leadership.

Proven solutions with meaningful business outcomes.

Tailored and Bespoke Offerings

Custom learning solutions built for ease of implementation that seamlessly integrate with existing systems.

Real-World Relevance

Practical skills, tools and frameworks that learners can apply right away for long-lasting results.

Partnership Mindset

An unwavering commitment to helping achieve your business success and ease the work of HR and Talent Development professionals.

Get in touch

Related Resources and Posts

Tool: 6 Ways to Deal with Ambiguity Guide & Tool Tool: 6 Ways to Deal with Ambiguity Knowing the level of complexity in the workplace, it's important for individuals to be able to make progress, manage work, give recommendations and make decisions even with high levels of ambiguity. Read More Increasing the Ability to Deal with Ambiguity: A Case Study Case Study Increasing the Ability to Deal with Ambiguity: A Case Study Our Asia-Pacific-based client organization is operating in a highly competitive, price-sensitive, emerging market, producing highly regulated medical devices used by surgeons in established and emerging healthcare facilities. Using assessments, their Human Resources team validated some of the challenges seen in those in client-facing roles: leaders need to make decisions to solve patient health concerns, while also managing hospital and clinic investments. Read More Video: How can we deal with the complexity of the unknown? Video Video: How Can We Deal with the Complexity of the Unknown? Senior managers and leaders of successful organizations keep bumping up against situations where they do not know what to do, involving limited information and unique challenges never seen before. This video reviews the literacies that equip professionals to tackle the challenges of leading in the 21st century. Read More

We’re here to help.

Ready to address your professional development needs with trusted training and solutions? Contact PPS International Limited today to explore how we can help create meaningful change for your organization.