The MacGyver Mind
(2 days)

A Thinking By Design Program to Future-proof your Business

Program Description

The program is a Five-Fold Thinking System that helps us to examine a Business, Organization or Scenario using certain thinking frameworks and mental models to evaluate the systemic causes of organization success or failure in whether they play to win, play not to lose, or just play to close.  Understanding this fivefold thinking system will help Business Owners, Managers and Leaders future proof their Business and Organization and never revert to the old ways.

Sometimes we question why is that great and unbeatable companies like Kodak, Blockbuster, Nokia, GM failed at what they were best at.  What Learning, Unlearning and Relearning is required to avoid such mistakes and move at greater speeds of acceleration, innovation, and unprecedented growth.  On the local scene companies such as MAS, Perwaja, Mun Loong, Globe Silk Store, Emporium Selangor, Metro Jaya are companies who were built on strong foundations and even some on legacies.

How about winning companies such as Tesla, Amazon, Geely, Toyota, Samsung what core thinking factors helped them to succeed.  We have distilled the five core thinking domains which are the keys or causes to their success or failure.  In this workshop we have a chance to contrast these companies and use it as a backdrop to evaluate these companies and ourselves as well as to how well do we fare in these five thinking domains.  How about our Malaysian creations such Chicken Rice Shop, Jim Bariani, Mary Brown, Giant, 99 Speed Mart, Village Grover, TMC, Jaya Grocer, Bakers Cottage, Top Glove etc?

Thinking is a Holistic Process and does not work in isolation and must be done like how our five fingers work in sync to perform tasks.  As such The Five Thinking System offers a highly real representation of how things needs to be done in synchronization.

Program Objectives

This workshop will help you:

  1. Understand The 5 thinking domains that are required to full proof a business.
  2. Compare and Contrast winning and losing companies in how to apply and to what degree these five domains.
  3. Assess where we are in these 5-Fold Domains
  4. What it takes to ensure that these 5 Five Thinking System is applied effectively in our Planning, Organizing, Leading, Strategizing & Innovation balancing divergent and convergent thinking
  5. How these five skills work synergistically to ensure todays survival and fool proof our future success.
  6. How to Integrate in a Holistic way the Synergistic working together of Five Key Thinking Domains, Tools and Techniques to bring about solutions that address the present, future and other dynamic scenarios to get Holistic Solutions that will serve to full proof your organizations success and capability.
  7. Integrate Design Thinking that creates right fit solutions in the Context of Strategic and Systems thinking to delivering new value driven by targeted Creative and Critical Thinking to meet Unmet Needs in a way that creates desirability, feasibility and viability.

Program Methodology

The instruction process is structured based on adult learning concepts and application. The process includes a cross spectrum of lectures, individual and teamwork discussions, team action planning and resource feedback. The workshop sessions are enriched by audio-visual materials and experiential group dynamics to reinforce learning.

Program Coverage

Module 1: Foundations of Holistic Thinking System – Problem Solving & Innovation

  • What is holistic thinking system – in the context of Design, Problem Solving & Innovation
  • The 5Ds of holistic thinking system – Discover (Empathize), Define, Develop (Ideate), Design (Prototype), Deploy (Test)

Module 2: The 5 Thinking Domains

  • Creative Thinking
  • Critical & Analytical
  • Systems Thinking
  • Strategic Thinking
  • Design Thinking

Module 3: DISCOVER – Validating the Problem

  • Scenario Analysis to Validate
  • Critical Thinking Issues
  • S.O.A.R – Scenarios, Opportunities, Aspirations, Results
  • C.H.I.P.S. – Challenges, Headaches, Irritations, Problems, Struggles
  • Problem Solving Spaces
  • Problem Space
  • Solution Space

Module 4: DISCOVER – 9 Blocks of Critical Thinking 

  • Clarity
  • Accuracy
  • Precision
  • Relevance
  • Depth
  • Breadth
  • Logic
  • Significance
  • Fairness

Module 5: DEFINE – Emphatic Thinking

  • The dynamics and mechanics of innovative value-added design
  • User oriented design principles
  • Voice of the customer/ user
  • Pain & gain, issue-opportunity

Module 6: DEVELOP – Systems Thinking

  • Aligning improvements/ innovations to business drivers
  • Reviewing Mission “Job to be Done” Principles
  • Redefining value dimensions
  • Link to Business Model and Strategy

Module 7: Ideation & Prototyping

  • How Might We Questions
  • Ideation Techniques
  • Synthesizing the solution
  • Solution generation
  • Creating connections
  • Success indicators & measures
  • Prototyping methods
  • Redesigning new/ enhanced value proposition

Program Consultant / Trainer

  • Xavier graduated from the University of Malaya in Economics with honors and as a Maybank Scholar. He joined its workforce as a Credit Analyst. Coming from the banking background, he was commissioned by the Association Institute Chartered Bankers (AICB) and Bank Negara in 2015 to conduct a comprehensive face-to-face interview with 30 Banks and Insurance companies’ CEOs in Malaysia to understand and enhance BNM’s Financial Sector Talent Enrichment Program (FSTEP). He also writes regular feature articles in The Star Papers on Organizational Management, Corporate Culture and Human Resource Developments.

    Co-author a Business Leadership Book entitled “Creating Winning Culture & Building Super Talent”. Also, contributing author to “Leadership Shift”, an Inspirational Leadership Book. Currently, completing a book entitled “Literal Leadership”.

    He has extensive experience in training and consulting – having worked with many teams and organizations to steer them to a new level of thinking and results. A highly hands on Strategic Organization & Team based Business Improvement consultant – he has facilitated the improvement, growth and renewal of many companies to accelerate their competitive position in the market. With his broad spectrum of experience in training and consulting; covering many industries and management disciplines, he pioneered and implemented an integrated Team & Organization Business Improvement System for aligning the people, process and system components in an organization for Optimum Performance.

    Areas of Expertise

    Strategic Business Thinking, Creative and Critical Thinking, Strategic Human Resource Frameworks, KPI Implementation, Design Thinking & Innovation, Business Modelling, Marketing & Sales Improvement, Organization Development & Transformation, Business Creativity, Mind set Transformation, Strategic & Situational Leadership, Top Team Integration, Vision & Values Development & Deployment, High People Profit Culture Development, Business Process GRID Corporate Instructor of the Blake & Mouton System (USA)