Creative and Critical Thinking for Auditors

Creative and Critical Thinking for Auditors explores why creative and critical thinking are essential tools of auditor providence that should be applied throughout all phases of the audit process. The class will discuss personal and organizational challenges to creative thinking and change, and ways to overcome the natural resistance to change for breakthrough ways of seeing root causes of problems and considering new possible solutions. This course will include brain training exercises and tools to get participants to think more abstractly to look beyond the obvious, to challenge the status quo, and to use process techniques for generating new ideas for action. This class will explore the power of “why” in looking for root causes of problems, and the power of the possible in considering new opportunities and threats for forward-thinking recommendations.

What You Will Learn

• Describe and discuss the basic concepts of creative thinking
• Eliminate roadblocks and barriers to the use of creative thinking in auditing
• Distinguish between creative and critical thinking and explain their complimentary roles in problem solving
• Describe two key stages in applying creative and critical thinking to identify the causes and solutions to problems with performance
• Use creative thinking principles and tools to boost your output of innovative ideas and identify the real causes of, and best solutions to, organizational problems
• Apply critical thinking principles and tools to organize, evaluate and prioritize ideas generated by creative thinking

Who Should Attend

APIPA conference sessions are intended for island government accountability professionals.  Audit, budget, finance, accounting, and related management and staff members will find interest and value in this presentation.

Health & Safety Protocols

For all on-site training in the insular areas, the Graduate School USA's Pacific and Virgin Islands Training Initiatives (PITI-VITI) works closely with local training hosts to ensure that participants, instructors, and training support staff enjoy a safe learning experience. Please note the following:

• Full details of PITI-VITI's health and safety guidelines are available here.
• Local health and safety guidelines for the government of Marshall Islands, which will be hosting this training, is available at http://rmihealth.org/.
• Please contact PITI-VITI Admin at [email protected] with any questions or concerns.