Presenter - Carina Huggins

Carina Huggins brings over a decade of experience in academia as an academic development specialist and award-winning university instructor.

Certified in multiple psychometric instruments and a learning specialist by training, she implements techniques that enhance critical and creative thinking.

Carina holds an advanced Professional Coach designation from the International Coach Federation.  She has worked with hundreds of clients on executive coaching, optimizing mindset, complex problem solving, stress management, team dynamics and personality assessments.

Carina holds a Master of Strategic Studies from the Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies.  Funded by the Department of National Defence and the Government of Canada, she conducted cutting-edge research into Islamic extremist use of social media and online radicalization.

An expert practitioner in social media and online engagement, she has worked at both the tactical and analytical levels, acquiring extensive online investigative skills and employing novel techniques.  She has shared her findings internationally.

Her goal for clients is to help them develop the ability to shift between operational and analytical mindsets.  She works to ensure clients have the tactical and strategic mental tools needed to exploit rapid technological change, and the creativity to stay ahead of a constantly shifting threat landscape.

With Toddington International, Carina develops and facilitates Critical Thinking and Social Media Intelligence training courses for a wide range of agencies. 

203C CTI – Critical Thinking for Investigators 

In an age of time compression and information overload of varying quality, critical thinking skills are more important than ever for the practitioner.  Optimal thinking processes impact all stages of intelligence and investigation, from observation, collection and analysis, through to decisions, communication and professional effectiveness.

While we are called upon to use our critical and logical thinking skills on a daily basis, most of us have done so without a careful examination of our thinking processes (cognition) and the development of higher awareness of those processes (metacognition.)

Broadcast-quality, and remotely delivered, this course employs an engaging, teaching approach that sets up all learning styles for success.  This two-day introduction to critical thinking will give practitioners a foundation in critical thinking that is immediately applicable to their work.

In this course, tools and approaches to optimize mental processes will be discussed and practitioners will come away with an enhanced understanding of how their own personality and habits of mind influence the collection and processing of information.

In addition to enhancing thought processes, attendees will:

• Explore the impact of personality on observation and information processing.
• Examine common investigative failures through the lens of critical thinking.
• Develop deeper awareness of thought processes and practice repatterning established habits of thinking.
• Receive language tools that allow for precise communication and strategies to foster building critical thinking workplaces.
• Develop an understanding of sound inductive and deductive arguments to support analysis, decisions and reporting.
• Receive an overview of the heuristics and cognitive biases that adversely impact intelligence collection and investigations.
• Learn and practice applying tactical tools and techniques that mitigate these common biases.
• Understand the current state of research into creativity and lateral thinking.

This sought-after course will provide opportunities to engage with other practitioners in round-table discussion and employs real-world examples to reinforce core concepts.

Learn About

• Development of critical thinking theory and concepts
• Factors that enhance and impede thought processes
• Exercises to develop metacognition and enhanced awareness
• Optimizing cognitive management during work flows
• Managing thought processes in high pressure environments
• Cultivating focus and managing distractions in thought processes
• Understanding and minimizing the impact of heuristics and cognitive bias on investigations
• Critical evaluation of internet sources

Attention ruptures and attention residue, and identifying opportunities to mitigate these impacts on

• cognitive processing
• Avoiding common investigative failures and short comings
• Producing valid and sound inductive and deductive arguments to support analysis, decisions and communicate effectively
• The brain science of creative and divergent thinkers
• Uncovering ones own implicit assumptions through Harvard University’s Project Implicit self-assessment
• Accessing the creative problem-solving power of unconscious cognition
• Tactical thinking tools for implementation of critical thinking
• Strategies for fostering critical thinking environments
• Techniques to mitigate the limitations of working memory and cognitive overload
• Tactical tools for implementing critical thinking at all stages of a tasking
• Placing core critical thinking strategies at each stage of an investigation
• Best practices and tips from experienced intelligence and investigative practitioners