This is part 2 of a 4-part blog post. In part 1, I covered the CLP and the overall takeaway from block one. In part 2, I’ll cover blocks two to four.
Back in 2020, we finished our first CLP block, and everything is looking great thus far for the CLP. After that, however, the entire world went into lockdown. At first, I thought the CLP was over, and this great opportunity I had been given to learn about leadership and improve my leadership skills was over. But we continue, just like everything else, we went virtual on Zoom.
Block Two
Block two was all about Design Thinking. This module was a refresher for me because we have the same principles in Agile Software development.
Which are:
- Start with the customer in mind
- Get key stakeholders to test prototypes (UI/UX wireframes)
Block Three
- Analytical Thinking
- Giving & Receiving Feedback
Many of us wished we had covered Analytical Thinking in block two instead of Design Thinking. For me, Analytical Thinking was my favourite module. Our facilitator was Julian Day, the author of The Systemic Stairway book. The Systemic Stairway is a framework for managing complex situations. The fantastic thing about the framework it may be applied to anything that needs managing. We also got the Systemic Stairway book.
Block Four
- Facilitation Skills
- Mastering Change
Another favourite of mine was the Facilitation Skills module. We explored the science behind highly structured meetings.
And so we powered through by doing it block by block remotely over zoom. Initially, adjusting to being fully remote wasn’t easy, and the Design Thinking module was challenging. However, we used the learnings from block two, making the rest of the blocks much more manageable.