EXEC-LEAD0013 - Collaboration, Complexity, and Innovation

Course Description

This course has been paused until further notice. If you have any questions, please contact execed@dal.ca. 

Collaboration allows organizations to use the collective wisdom of multiple individuals or groups to accomplish tasks or projects. As the complexity of issues, projects and networks increases, so does the need for powerful collaboration. Yet, achieving the increased effectiveness and efficiencies associated with collaborative effort is no small undertaking. Barriers to collaborative effort abound and the costs of collaboration are often under-explored by managers and organizations.

This module enhances understanding of how to actualize collaboration in organizations.  We will look at the barriers and boundaries that make collaboration a challenging endeavour. We will examine the individual skills that backstop strong collaborators and discuss how organizational systems both disrupt and facilitate an organization's ability to enhance its collaborative capacity.  Finally, in an effort to link the collaboration discussion back to the theme of innovation, we will look at an approach to problem-solving (design thinking) that leverages the power of collaboration in the pursuit of creativity and innovation.

This course may be applied to the Executive Certificate in Leadership Program, a six-course fully online program. This certificate includes this Introduction to Leadership course along with five other courses, including: 

• Introduction to Leadership
• Self-Management | Self-Awareness | Self-Leadership
• Teams and Relationship Management
• Decision-Making & Creative Problem Solving
• Harnessing Innovation

Course Outline

The course is fully online. The module will include live streaming lectures that are recorded for later viewing to accommodate participant schedules. The timing of live sessions is often in the evening on weekdays as that is when the greatest number of people are available. The instructor will poll the participants to set the weekday and time that is most convenient for the greatest number. The instructor may also host live drop-in sessions on weekdays. 

What You Will Learn

Learning outcomes

• Examine the role of ‘complexity’ as an increasingly important driver of collaborative efforts.
• Understand the skills and competencies that enable individuals to be skilled collaborators
• Understand organizational pre-conditions that foster successful collaboration
• Explore the relationship between collaboration and innovation through a preliminary introduction to design thinking
• Examine course themes within the context of organizational and professional priorities

Notes

To enrol in the Executive Certificate in Leadership, please add all six (6) required courses to your shopping cart.

Applies Towards the Following Certificates

• Executive Certificate in Leadership: Required Courses

Payment Options – Individual Course Registrations:

1. Payment in full of $708 (which includes deposit/materials fee)
2. Payment is due at time of registration unless 3^rd Party funded
3. All course materials are included in your tuition and are housed on the Brightspace Learning Management System. You will receive a follow-up email with details on accessing the Brightspace platform.

Participants in this course are eligible for a T2202 tax receipt. In order to receive a tax receipt, you must put your Social Insurance Number into the profile section of your student account. If you do not add your Social Insurance Number, you will not receive a tax receipt. T2202 tax receipts will be available for you to download from your account at the end of February of the following calendar year.

For further information on Registration, Withdrawal and Course cancellations, Transfers and Refunds please refer to Dalhousie Executive Education Policies and Procedures. 

Applies Towards the Following Certificates

• Executive Certificate in Leadership : Core Required Courses