Do you feel stalled or blocked by status quo approaches to your work?

Are you interested in working with others to think in new or better ways in order to put your visions into practice? 

Consider joining Mark Holmgren for a full day of learning in Calgary to shake up your thinking and find some upside down solutions!

What is Upside Down Thinking?

Upside Down Thinking is both a mindset and a tool that we can use to challenge current practices in our community work and within our organizations. This approach to thinking helps us break through the pressures to maintain the status quo –  it's a supercharged form of disruptive thinking that can be used when engaged in critical, creative, or lateral thinking.

As a mindset, Upside Down Thinking goes beyond thinking better to address the challenges of a volatile and disruptive environment. It is about being the disruptive force that can unsettle our habits and dogma, leading to major change. It is about more than crafting inquiry; it goes further to pose new realities that run contrary to how we think and how we see our own identities within the context of our work.

What Will I Learn?

In this daylong session, Mark Holmgren will blend together lecture and presentation with a variety of Upside Down Thinking table exercises, drawing upon the his innovations and experiences with Upside Down Thinking. Participants will be presented with some of the most disruptive propositions from various sectors to work through and learn from together. Through interactive exercises, participants will also work on disruptive propositions that resonate directly to their own situations.

Spend the day with Mark to experience and learn:

Fundamentals of Upside Down Thinking: learn how Upside Down Thinking connects with other forms of thinking

Practical tools: learn practical tools for thought from the Upside Down Thinking toolbox, such as asking Wicked Questions

The impact of groups and organizations: how organization and group dynamics impact our ability to think and change together

How to approach problems as solutions in disguise: change your approach to problem solving by challenging our solutions by rephrasing them as problems

Principles to guide thinking upside down in groups

Addressing resistance in implementing a new way of thinking

Applying Upside Down Thinking in a group dynamic: how to practice Upside Down Thinking as both a group participant and facilitator

Learn how to turn your thinking upside down