Date of Completion

8-2002

Document Type

Open Access Capstone

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

First Advisor

Steven Schwartz

Second Advisor

Arthur Millman

Abstract

The study of Critical and Creative Thinking (C&CT) methods introduced me to a number of new approaches and tools that have vital and practical applications for today’s corporate team leaders. The primary purpose of my paper and the Genuity Inc. case example, is to demonstrate how these C&CT approaches and tools can be used by corporate team leaders to motivate, direct and lead their teams. Towards this end I have organized my paper into two major sections: 1) In the first, I lay the groundwork by defining the challenges facing today’s project managers and the cross-functional teams they lead. 2) In the second section, I introduce and discuss C&CT concepts for analyzing and defining thinking styles of team members, and how this knowledge can be used by project managers for more effective leadership. The concepts covered will help team leaders address the wide range of challenges they face today. These concepts include the conceptual blocks to better problem solving, including common barriers to creative thinking, cultural blocks, emotional blocks, perceptual blocks, and intellectual blocks, as described by James Adams in Conceptual Blockbusting, a Guide to Better Ideas.

Included in

Business Commons

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