SUNDAY 3 MARCH 2019 – UWI TODAY
9
INNOVATION
The Caribbean is fertile ground for great minds,
exceptional talents and inspirational leaders.
As a young society, we have made great strides and we
have much more to do to realise our full potential.
“There’s a need for something more in terms of
leadership in our region,” notes Christa Sankarsingh,
Programme Manager of the Institute of Critical Thinking
(ICT). “It’s not that we don’t have the intellectual capacity,
the wherewithal, and the resilience as a people to do more.”
The “something more” is what the institute helps
provide.
Perched on the top floor of the Centre for Language
Learning building, the ICT has a panoramic view of the
beautiful, tropical gardens of the St Augustine Campus.
The state-of the art learning spaces demonstrate that it is
an entity with a mission and goals that have the potential
to transform Caribbean organisations - the way we think,
the way we strategise, the way we lead. According to
Sankarsingh, the ICT is working to create an environment
for Caribbean leaders to get out of fire-fighting mode and
develop themselves into the adaptive leaders our region
needs for transformation.
The institute is a multidisciplinary learning and
performance establishment focused on leadership
development. One of itsmajor advantages is that it has access
to the international partners, knowledge and expertise of
scholars and educators of The UWI. The ICT works with
experts inmanagement, law, medical sciences, engineering,
mathematics, economics, computer science, the physical
sciences and the humanities to give multiple perspectives
to solving the complex problems our societies face
Initially developed by Dr Bhoendradatt Tewarie (then
Campus Principal and Pro Vice-Chancellor) in 2007, to
improve teaching and learning on campus, ICT refocused
its mission in 2014 to provide leadership training and
development beyond St Augustine. They work closely
with The UWI, its faculties and departments, to build
relationships with the wider society
Sankarsingh, who is a proponent of Adaptive Leadership
à la Harvard University, says, “we want them (leaders) to be
on board and partnering with us, so that we could serve the
needs of our national and regional community.”
The Institute’s strategy is not founded only on abstract
ideas but implemented through practical exercises. ICT
holds executive development workshops in collaboration
with various researchers across campus faculties. They also
work closely with companies in the private, public and civil
sectors. The institute develops systems and processes to
foster innovative thinking and to develop ways to improve
sustainability.
And despite the challenges companies face with
shrinking budgets, many embrace this mind-set. “We
develop solutions specific to your organisation and we help
you to diagnose and craft solutions for your specific needs,”
expounds the programme manager. As a result, the ICT has
influenced companies in finance, energy, manufacturing and
more. Their efforts have led to the creation of innovation
departments and high performing teams.
However, despite their ambitious goals, you won’t
see the ICT’s services splashed across billboards or in
full page ads. Talia Dass, the institute’s Marketing and
InnovationOfficer, says their marketing is based on building
relationships and fostering engagement.
“We want to communicate on a personal level and
understand the needs of our partners,” she declares.
They reach out through e-mails, social media and their
website. Dass and Sankarsingh even assist in conducting
Entrepreneurs, Organisations
INSTITUTE OF
CRITICAL THINKING
seeks to transform leadership
B Y D I X I E - A N N B E L L E
Dixie-Ann Belle is a freelance writer, editor and proofreader.
workshops, so they are well known by their partners.
Sessions involve role playing, slides, multimedia, case
studies, peer to peer dialogue and group and individual
exercises.
Participants are key to the agenda and to how findings
are implemented. “I love the fact that new ideas are
encouraged, and we are able to see those ideas brought to
life,” observes Dass.
Sankarsingh adds, “I love the reaction of participants
at the end. They’re always happy to have been a part of the
experience, leaving with new insights andmotivated to take
on the challenges ahead.”
The ICT team is clearly committed to continuous
transformation within the University and wider society.
“Despite the fact that we are a small team, we are powerful.
When our ideas are combined, we accomplish great things,”
affirms Sankarsingh.
Dass says they are striving to reach wider markets.
They plan to offer even more customised training and to
work with entrepreneurs, as well as to provide support
for small business owners. They also hope to encourage
entrepreneurial thinking within The UWI itself.
They plan to offer even more customised training and to work with
entrepreneurs, as well as to provide support for small business owners. They also
hope to encourage entrepreneurial thinking within The UWI itself.
“We’re in partnership with our own human resource
department to do work to create that entrepreneurial,
innovative mind-set on campus,” says the programme
manager. After all, to be an Entrepreneurial University, we
have to be an Entrepreneurial Thinking #TeamUWI.
ICT promotes the philosophy of “Leading through
Learning”. As a leader in the 21st Century, a critical tool for
success is to keep learning and reinventing yourself, a fixed
mind-set is obsolete.
“The challenges that we face in today’s world aren’t
always technical challenges, where one expert leader has the
solution; but complex, adaptive ones that need our collective
intellect to solve” observes Sankarsingh.
The Institute, she says, is well placed to help overcome
these obstacles. “We work with you, to co-create knowledge
that you need to thrive in your environment. That is what
makes us different from anybody else operating anywhere
else in the Caribbean”.
To contact the
Institute of Critical Thinking
Email:
•
Tel:
662-2002 ext. 83310
Programme Manager
of the Institute of
Critical Thinking
Christa Sankarsingh
(left) and Marketing
and Innovation
Officer Talia Dass.
