Learning & Leadership › Women’s Academy › Leadership & Management › Strategic Thinking & Decision Making › Course Materials
Strategic thinking means seeing the bigger picture, anticipating consequences and choosing deliberately between options. This course teaches analytical tools (SWOT, root cause analysis, scenarios) and methods for rational decision making, with practice on real situations.
Course page on the learning platform
Course details
| Level | Intermediate to advanced |
| Estimated duration | 10 hours of study and practice |
| Prerequisite | Preferably the “Foundations of Leadership” course |
| Language of instruction | Farsi-e-Dari (with key English terms) |
| Cost | Free |
| Assessment | A quiz after each section and a final exam; pass mark 70%; certificate issued after approval by the Academy |
After this course you will be able to
- Examine a situation using SWOT and stakeholder analysis
- Find the root cause of a problem using the “Five Whys” method
- Compare options using a decision matrix and clear criteria
- Recognise common cognitive biases in decision making
- Write a short strategic plan with goals, actions and indicators
Course outline
- The bigger picture
- Long term and short term
- Vision
- SWOT
- Stakeholder analysis
- Five Whys
- Criteria
- Decision matrix
- Deciding under uncertainty
- Confirmation bias
- Group effect
- How to stay impartial
- Goals and indicators
- Action plan
- Monitoring and review
Week-by-week learning path
With about 30 to 45 minutes of study and practice a day, you will complete this course in 6 weeks:
| Week | Topic | Output of the week |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Strategic thinking | Lessons, practical exercise and short section quiz |
| Week 2 | Analytical tools | Lessons, practical exercise and short section quiz |
| Week 3 | Decision making | Lessons, practical exercise and short section quiz |
| Week 4 | Cognitive biases | Lessons, practical exercise and short section quiz |
| Week 5 | The strategic plan | Lessons, practical exercise and short section quiz |
| Week 6 | Final project and final exam | Completed project and a score of 70% or higher |
Final project
A strategic analysis of a small organisation or initiative (real or hypothetical): SWOT, stakeholder analysis, root cause analysis of one key problem using the “Five Whys”, comparison of three solutions with a decision matrix, and a one-year plan with three indicators.
Project assessment criteria:
- Depth and accuracy of the analysis
- Impartiality and avoidance of bias
- The reasoning behind the chosen solution
- Measurable indicators
Key terms in this course
Strategy
Vision
SWOT analysis
Stakeholders
Root cause analysis
Decision matrix
Cognitive bias
KPI
Assessment and certificate
- After each section: a short quiz (70% is recommended before moving on)
- Practical exercises in every lesson are for learning; send your questions via the Questions section.
- End of course: final exam (pass mark 70%) and submission of the final project
- Digital certificate after review and approval by the Academy: Request a certificate
Teaching approach
Each lesson includes learning objectives, explanations with real examples and images, key terms in Farsi-e-Dari and English, common mistakes, a practical exercise, a self-test and a summary. In every lesson you can ask the instructor questions using the Questions button. The courses are impartial, free and open to all young people.
Get ready now
- Write down an important decision you made in the past: what options did you have and why did you choose one of them?
- Write a simple SWOT for a group or business you know
- Review lesson 3.3, “Spotting Fake News”, in the foundation course
Free, reliable resources
These resources were selected by the Academy team. Most are in English; the Translate option in Google Chrome can help if needed. Large files (books, exercise files, videos) will be placed in the Academy’s official Google Drive folder when the course goes live and linked from this page.
- OpenLearn – The Open University, hundreds of free short courses with a certificate of participation
- MIT OpenCourseWare, free course materials from MIT
- Coursera, courses from leading universities worldwide; most can be viewed for free (Audit)
- edX, free courses from universities such as Harvard and MIT
Help and questions
Questions about this course: [email protected] · All courses: Online Learning Centre · Active course: Computer & Internet Basics
Women’s Academy, Afghanistan Youth Parliament · Free and open to all young people