Strategic Problem Solving: The Art of "What If"

Presented by: Alex Lowy
Author of "No Problem" (to be published February 2007)
and "The Power of the 2 x 2 Matrix"
Toronto, ON, Canada

Program Description
Participants will learn how to tackle everyday business challenges, critically analyze problems and generate breakthrough solutions to the toughest organizational issues. Problems are solvable. If they are not, then they're not problems. What you are then facing is an issue or challenge at another logical level. When it's simpler and less uncertain, it's a decision. When it's more complex and fraught with uncertainty, it's a dilemma.

Develop practical skills that give you a better, faster way to: make decisions, solve problems and manage and exploit dilemmas.

The Power of the 2 x 2 Matrix: Using 2x2 Thinking to Solve Business Problems and Make Better Decision by Alex Lowy and Phil Hood Jossey-Bass, Business Management Series, 2004 Buy at Amazon or Barnes & Noble

MasterClass Workshop Take-Aways

1. The difference between decisions, problems and dilemmas, and the practical significance of this set of distinctions
2. How personal style and thinking patterns impact on problem solving effectiveness
3. How to do "parallel issue processing" to increase strategic problem solving effectiveness.

About the Presenter
Alex Lowy consults widely as a strategic advisor and educator, helping organizations address major dilemmas in a systematic and effective manner. He teaches critical thinking at a variety of business schools and writes extensively on the topic of strategy and decision-making, with articles in such journals as Strategy & Leadership, Business 2.0 and Group & Organization Studies. Alex is the co-author of two best-selling business books, The Power of the 2 x 2 Matrix (Jossey-Bass, 2004, with Phil Hood) and Digital Capital (Harvard Business School Press, 2000, with Don Tapscott & David Ticoll). Alex is also co-founder and past president of Digital 4Sight, a global technology think tank and strategy consulting firm with headquarters in Toronto, Canada.

< Back to Workshops