Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving is a five-day senior thinking course delivered by Mars Training Centre in London, Geneva, Vienna, Dubai and Tokyo — designed for senior managers, directors and executives who want to sharpen the way they frame problems, analyse evidence and reach conclusions under pressure.

Senior judgement is the rarest commodity in any organisation. The leaders who are trusted with the largest decisions are the ones who can frame a confused situation cleanly, separate what is known from what is assumed, work through evidence honestly and arrive at a defensible conclusion under time pressure. These habits are learnable. They are also losable — most senior leaders pick up shortcuts and biases over time that quietly erode the quality of their thinking. This programme is built for senior professionals who want to invest in the discipline of how they think.

Across five focused days you will work through the structures and tools that underpin senior critical thinking: problem framing, logic and argument, evidence and inference, cognitive bias, structured problem-solving, and the discipline of changing your mind when the evidence warrants it. The programme is delivered by senior practitioners with strategy, consulting and executive backgrounds.

What You Will Learn

• Frame complex business problems cleanly before reaching for a solution.
• Distinguish argument from assertion in your own and others' reasoning.
• Apply structured problem-solving frameworks to real business issues.
• Recognise and counter the major cognitive biases at senior level.
• Evaluate evidence, data and analysis with disciplined scepticism.
• Apply hypothesis-led thinking to ambiguous business situations.
• Make defensible decisions under uncertainty and time pressure.
• Communicate your reasoning so others can challenge or extend it.
• Run structured problem-solving sessions with your own teams.
• Change your mind when the evidence warrants it — and explain why you did.

How You Will Benefit

You will leave with sharper thinking tools, better problem-framing instincts and the confidence to defend or revise your conclusions under challenge, together with a Mars Certificate of Completion.

Your organisation will gain a senior leader whose decisions are better framed, whose meetings are more productive and whose recommendations stand up to scrutiny.

Who This Programme Is For

This programme is designed for senior professionals, including senior managers and directors making high-stakes business decisions; heads of strategy, corporate development and planning; senior consultants and partners on complex client engagements; senior policy professionals in government and regulators; senior risk, audit and compliance leaders; senior project, programme and transformation directors; senior leaders preparing for executive or board roles; and senior professionals returning to demanding analytical roles. The seniority floor is senior manager or director level and above.

How the Week Unfolds

Day one concentrates on framing the problem — separating symptom from cause, defining the real question, and resisting the pull toward a premature solution. Day two works on logic, argument and evidence: the difference between argument and assertion, standards of proof, and the honest evaluation of data and analysis. Day three examines bias, heuristics and the senior mind, covering the shortcuts that accumulate with experience and the practices that counter them. Day four applies structured problem-solving frameworks and hypothesis-led thinking to real business issues, including how to run a structured problem-solving session with a team. Day five consolidates the week through faculty coaching, communicating reasoning so it can be challenged, and a personal action plan.