New Skills for Professional Work
Would you like to be more engaged and successful at work? Would you like less frustration and more meaningful action?
In this course, you'll learn the mindsets, principles and core skills that will advance your professional practice no matter your role or industry.
This is a five-week live cohort-based course with 6 months of ongoing inspiration & support in a private community.
with Chris Conley
UPCOMING
Spring 2022
COURSE PERIOD
Feb 28th - Mar 31th
REGISTRATION DEADLINE
Feb 25th
$749 USD
Here's what to expect in the course
Lessons are recorded. Live sessions are dedicated to exercises and discussion about application to your work.
A 5-week live, workshop-style course for professionals looking to transform their professional work, taught by a pioneer in human-centered design thinking and creative business.
Topics we'll cover
We’ll go in-depth on the following concepts:
- Reframing professional work: Rejecting the industrial model of work to embrace personal growth at the center.
- Learning fast: How to understand your project's context in a way that makes a successful solution more obvious.
- Being a people person: Learn simple techniques for engaging others that makes your work better and more meaningful.
- Being visual & tangible: Learn how to go beyond emails and bullet points and use drawing and prototyping to bring your ideas alive.
Who this course is for
Business & Entrepreneurship
You run projects in innovation, business development or start-ups and want to do it better.
Non-profits
With few resources, you are responsible for growing the number and serving clients in new, more cost-effective ways.
Design & Marketing
You're responsible for having customer insights and executing creative campaigns & projects.Â
Meet your instructor
Chris Conley
Founder, Abundant Professional & gravitytank. Former tenured professor, Institute of Design, IIT, Chicago.
Chris was a pioneer in the application of creativity and cross-disciplinary collaboration in business. He helped build the first graduate program in innovation. He teaches in an accessible and easy-to-understand way so that you can begin applying new ideas to your own work immediately.
Chris founded and built the innovation firm, gravitytank, known for its cross-disciplinary practice, internal culture and pioneering work with Fortune 500 companies. gravitytank was acquired by Salesforce to more than double their internal innovation consulting practice.
Chris has worked with teams and leaders from companies such as Samsung, Apple, Motorola, Google, FedEx, OfficeMax, The Gates Foundation, the California Health Care Foundation and the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.
What is a Cohort-Based Course?
Learn with me in a highly interactive format
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Active Learning w/Video Lessons
Watch the core lessons at your convenience. Join the live sessions to engage with Chris and your colleagues, apply ideas in breakout sessions, and enjoy robust Q&A. Think interactive seminar with ongoing access to the content.
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Learn with a Cohort of Peers
Through peer learning and collaboration, you will meet like-minded professionals who are building new mindsets and skills just like you. You will learn as much from colleagues in your cohort as you do from Chris.
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Accountability and Feedback
Taking the course with others drives your own participation and motivation. Knowing this, accountability and feedback will be major factors in your success. If you struggle holding yourself accountable, we’re there for you!
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Plan for the Course
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People!
Professional work is a social endeavor. Your ability to relate to, learn from, collaborate with and help others is core to success. In this module we will explore a number of powerful mindsets and skills to up your people game.
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Being tangible
Emails, bullet points & conversations. Far too much business only uses language to try and figure things out. In this module you will learn the power of making things more tangible through images, diagrams and prototypes.
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Learning fast
Your ability to run great projects or solve tough challenges is dependent on your ability to understand how things really are. What is involved? What matters? Why? In this module you will learn how to learn fast.
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Framing
Framing is about creating a simple model and narrative that distills what you learned into a focused statement of the issues. In this module, you will learn how to get at the essence of your problem and represent it in a way that helps the team address it.
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Solutions
Are you still trying to have the right "idea?" In this module we will focus on the nature of solutions, the combination of ideas that work together to address the challenge or opportunity. We will also address how to test and shape solutions.
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Value
Don't fight the question of ROI. Every challenge and solution has an economic context. Learn how to easily understand and communicate the money side of your work.
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Ongoing support
Your learning doesn't end with the last live session. You will receive 6 months of access to AP Studio, a private membership community that provides ongoing support from Chris and other like-minded members.
Feedback or questions?
I'd love to hear any suggestions
or questions you have!
Join the cohort!
UPCOMING
Spring 2022
COURSE PERIOD
Feb 27th- Mar 31st
REGISTRATION DEADLINE
Feb 25th