Maximizing Mental Agility
$1,000
This certificate program consists of three required courses (listed below) and one elective course option.
This certificate is comprised of four single-day courses.
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Maximizing Mental Agility is a one-day course developed by professor of psychology and HDO’s Founding Director Dr. Art Markman. The course focuses on six areas of thinking that provide easy-to-learn strategies rooted in cognitive science that will help people to be more productive, efficient, creative, motivated, and satisfied in their working lives, and beyond.
The course highlights facets of human thought that are simultaneously hidden and obvious. Most of us are unaware that these factors control the way that we think, and yet, when we are told about them, we recognize situations where they have affected our thinking. By making these characteristics explicit, we give people more insight into the strengths and weaknesses of their own thinking. We then provide specific techniques based on these insights that they can use to be more effective in the workplace and beyond.
These techniques are presented in a fast-paced, interactive format, that combines presented material with situational team-based learning modules designed to transition the concepts into the students’ everyday thinking.
The six strategies participants will learn in this course are:
- The Role of 3: Our thought and memory capacity is organized around three items at a time. How can we use this to our advantage?
- Autopilot and Creativity: How the mind tries NOT to think as much as possible, and how we can turn this knowledge to our advantage.
- Making Connections: Our best thinking comes from understanding causes, but we often fail to do this. How can we turn this knowledge into more powerful thinking?
- Using Analogy and Similarity: The brain is constantly re-using old ideas in new situations. How can we train ourselves to use this natural skill to be more creative?
- Active Memory: Improving the quality of what we remember by actively managing the quality of what we learn.
- Defining Your Goals: Most people fail to reach their goals because they fail to take a “productive pause” to think about how they will achieve them.
Details & Registration
Time: 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Continuing Education Units (CEUs): 0.6 CEUs will be awarded upon completion of this program (six hours of instruction)
One-Day Seminar Pricing:
- Standard Registration: $1,000
- UT System Staff/Alumni Registration: $750
- Educator, Nonprofit, Government, Military Registration: $750
Get employer support! We’ve gathered resources to help you make the case for your employer to support your HDO education.
If you have questions prior to registering, please see our Professional Training FAQ or contact Andrew M. Vasquez, HDO’s Enrollment & Success Coordinator at hdo-pro@austin.utexas.edu.
Course Leader(s)
Art Markman is the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and the Annabel Irion Centennial Professor of Psychology and Marketing at The University of Texas at Austin. He was also the founding director of the HDO program. He received his Ph.D. in 1992 from the University of Illinois and worked at Northwestern University and Columbia University before coming to The University of Texas at Austin in 1998.
Dr. Markman has published more than 150 scholarly works about cognitive science, decision-making and organizational behavior. He is also the founding director of the HDO program. Dr. Markman and several of his books, including Smart Thinking, Smart Change, Bring Your Brain to Work, and Brain Briefs (co-written with Dr. Bob Duke), have been featured on Dr. Phil and other programs.
Beyond the UT campus, he is probably best known as the co-host of KUT’s “Two Guys on Your Head” radio show and podcast, where he and Butler School of Music professor Bob Duke explore the human mind with a unique mix of research, humor and everyday relevance.
Who Should Participate
- Senior/Executive Leadership
- Middle Management
- Team Leaders & Supervisors
- Human Resources/Recruiting Directors & Managers
- Creative Professionals
- Project Managers
Dr. Markman is obviously an expert on this subject. More importantly, he has mastered the technique of transferring his knowledge to the audience with his easy-to-follow delivery and keeping the class actively engaged in discussions. Practical examples helped too.
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From Certificate Seeker to Competitive Advantage in Just Four Days
Built on strong academic fundamentals and real-world relevance, HDO Certificate Programs are designed to enhance the portfolios of mid- and upper-level professionals.
Over the course of your program, you will gain immediately-applicable tools and skills to accelerate your career, whether your goal is advancing in your current organization, deepening your capacities to excel in your existing role, or developing additional skills for a transition to a new position. In the process, you will learn alongside and network with experienced professionals from a wide range of industries.
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“My favorite part of the Certificate Program was, hands down, the cross-disciplinary faculty. What remarkable minds! I gained multiple new lenses through which to view workplace challenges. I felt so lucky to have exposure and access to these extraordinary educators. The HDO faculty is world class. I can’t stop raving.”
Sarah Gerichten, Director of Marketing, Square Root, Inc.
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