Constructive Debate
Building Better Ideas

To be successful as global competitors, leaders in today’s organizations must establish and maintain an environment that supports the open exchange and exploration of ideas, leading to fuller participation, greater innovation, and better decisions. Executives, thought leaders, key contributors, and managers need to move beyond debate as a source of conflict. It is essential to model and use critical thinking and clear communication so that ideas and proposals undergo a thorough process of development. Minimizing the impact of internal competitiveness, defensiveness, and vested interests, and maximizing the use of tools and processes allows good ideas to become true innovations

In this two-day seminar, participants learn how to establish the conditions that encourage constructive debate and to eliminate those conditions that prevent potentially useful ideas from getting a hearing or allow poorly thought-through ideas to be implemented.

I learned more constructive methods for meetings, conversations, debates—how to get the best options on the table, methods to deflect defensiveness and get to the root cause, and how to be a better facilitator in group discussions...

All the material was great. I can really see turning ‘arguments’ into productive output...and we can all use more of that!

— Intuit Inc.

Participants will:

• Express their ideas and engage others clearly and directly
• Explore one another’s views for the purpose of understanding and clarifying them
• Develop skills for constructive discussion and debate in their organizations
• Invite others to explore, challenge, and test their own ideas or conclusions
• Offer a constructive, non-defensive response to others’ challenges
• Establish and maintain an environment that supports constructive debate
• Use processes and tools that support constructive debate

Who Should Participate?

Leaders, managers, team members, and individual contributors whose ideas have an impact on the organization’s ability to innovate and compete.

For more information on Constructive Debate, click here.