23rd & 24th June 2026 @ 9:30am - 12:30pm (2 x morning sessions)
Overview
This seminar explores why critical thinking is far more difficult than most people assume and why even experienced professionals often fall into hidden cognitive traps that affect judgement, strategy, and decision-making.
Drawing on more than 30 years of social science research and insights industry experience, Carl will reveal how people are naturally wired to defend their views rather than test them, how organisational cultures can unintentionally suppress questioning, and how cognitive biases quietly shape the way we interpret information.
At the end of this course participants will leave with:
- Practical critical thinking tools to immediately apply to business decisions and strategic planning.
- Decision-making frameworks that promote scientific thinking over defensive reasoning.
- Techniques to identify and counter cognitive biases in themselves and their teams.
- Strategies to nurture organizational skepticism without creating toxic negativity.
- Methods to evaluate AI-generated insights and information sources more critically.
- Actionable approaches to create a culture that rewards questioning and intellectual humility.
- Self-assessment techniques to recognise when you’re not thinking critically, and
- Easily applicable insights backed by 30+ years of research and insights industry experience.
Ideal for communications, PR, and strategy professionals navigating AI-driven insights, complex narratives, and high-stakes decision-making, this course will sharpen the thinking skills that underpin effective leadership and sound strategy.
Meet the facilitator
Carl Davidson is an insights professional with a social scientist’s heart. He has built a distinctive career bridging academia, government policy and commercial settings. In 2006 he founded Research First Ltd and oversaw its growth into one of New Zealand’s most respected insight firms. In 2010 Carl was appointed the Chief Commissioner of the New Zealand Families Commission and tasked with transforming it into a social policy research and evaluation agency. After nearly two decades at Research First, global funding shifts and pandemic disruptions prompted a reset. So in 2025 Carl launched The Curiosity Company:https://www.curiositycompany.co.nz/
In 2023 he was honoured as a Fellow of the Research Association of New Zealand (RANZ) and celebrated alongside Research First for winning the RANZ Market Research Effectiveness Supreme Award that year. In 2023 he was also named as Global Insights250 winner, an award “celebrating the worldwide pioneers, leaders and innovators in market research, data-driven marketing and insights”. The Insight250 presents a unique view into academic, enterprise, agency, technology, media and association data-driven leaders around the globe.
