ThinkUp Framework™
Lead through complexity with confidence — and together.
A practical, people-centered way for leaders and teams to face complex work together—and turn it into clearer thinking, braver decisions, and better results.
“I work with leaders who are carrying big expectations, change, and a deep desire to do right by their people while still delivering results.
ThinkUp is the framework I created to help you and your team hold that together — to turn complex, messy challenges into work you can face side-by-side, with more clarity, courage, and care. It's practical, it's human, and it's designed for the reality you're leading in.”
— Janice Francisco, Founder, TouchPoints Innovation
At a Glance
The ThinkUp Framework™ is a research-based method that equips leaders and their teams with a shared language, tools, and coaching to collaborate better, solve complex challenges, and turn change and innovation into measurable business results.
It's practical, grounded, and deeply human. Designed for the reality of leading when things are complex, uncertain, and too important to figure out alone.
Who It's For
Leaders and teams responsible for driving change, innovation, or cross-functional collaboration.
What It Does
Builds a clear, repeatable process for collaborative problem solving on real business challenges.
What You Get
Faster, better decisions; stronger cross-functional relationships; and sustainable business results that people feel proud of.
So leaders and teams move forward with clarity, confidence, and results that hold.
At a Glance
The ThinkUp Framework™ is a research-based method that equips leaders and their teams with a shared language, tools, and coaching to collaborate better, solve complex challenges, and turn change and innovation into measurable business results.
Who It’s For
Leaders and teams responsible for driving change, innovation, or cross-functional collaboration.
What It Does
Builds a clear, repeatable process for collaborative problem solving on real business challenges.
What You Get
Faster, better decisions; stronger cross-functional relationships; and sustainable business results that people feel proud of.
So leaders and teams move forward with clarity, confidence, and results that hold.
What Is the ThinkUp Framework™?
When your success depends on your team’s ability to collaborate, innovate, and respond to change, it can feel like you’re carrying a lot — expectations, uncertainty, and the responsibility to “figure it out” with others.
The ThinkUp Framework™ gives you a practical, people-centered way to bring people together around complex work, so you’re not holding it all alone.
It’s more than a training program. ThinkUp combines leader development, organizational development, and change management so leaders and teams work on a real challenge while they learn how to:
- Tackle complex, ambiguous problems with more structure and confidence
- Collaborate across functions and break down silos in a constructive way
- Build the transferable skills organizations need today
The Transferable Skills Your Organization Needs Today
ThinkUp builds six interlocking capabilities — the everyday skills leaders and teams use to keep moving forward together.
The result: teams that are innovative, resilient, and ready for anything — and more connected and hopeful about what they can take on together.
The Transferable Skills Your Organization Needs Today
ThinkUp builds six interlocking capabilities — the everyday skills leaders and teams use to keep moving forward together.
Hover or tap a cardCreative Thinking
Creative Thinking
Generating new ideas and approaches for complex, evolving challenges.
Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking
Analyzing information, testing assumptions, and making grounded decisions.
Collaborative Problem Solving
Collaborative Problem Solving
Working across roles and functions to explore challenges, define problems, and design solutions together.
Change Leadership
Change Leadership
Leading people through uncertainty and transition with clarity, empathy, and courage.
Decision-Making Under Complexity
Decision-Making Under Complexity
Choosing a path forward when information is incomplete and stakes are high.
Communication & Facilitation
Communication & Facilitation
Structuring conversations, surfacing different perspectives, and helping groups move to action.
The result: teams that are innovative, resilient, and ready for anything — and more connected and hopeful about what they can take on together.
How It Works
Three steps: Align, Equip, and Apply that take leaders and teams from a challenge to a clear, shared path forward — together.
Align — Clarify the Challenge and Goals
Step 1 of the ThinkUp Framework™
We start by making sure you're tackling the right problem — and that people understand why it matters.
We Work With You To:
- Confirm the scope and goals of the engagement
- Define how success will be measured — for the business and for people
- Understand your current state vs. desired future state
- Connect with team members to understand their work context, pressures, and development goals — so the work feels relevant from day one
This step ensures everyone is aligned on where you are now, where you need to get to, and the shared story of what you're trying to do together. Underneath the structure, it gives people more clarity and safety to engage.
Equip — Build Skills, Shared Language, and Tools
Step 2 of the ThinkUp Framework™
Next, we equip your leaders and teams with what they need to work differently.
As a Certified FourSight® Presenter, Master Trainer and Consultant, I often draw on three core workshop elements inside ThinkUp engagements:
Three Core Workshop Elements
FourSight® Mindset Reveal 2-Hour Session
An interactive session using the FourSight® Thinking Profile — a valid, reliable assessment available in multiple languages — to help people discover their individual and group thinking preferences and introduce the universal stages of problem solving: Clarify, Ideate, Develop, Implement.
FourSight® Team Insights & Tools 3-Hour Session
A team session that surfaces how the team as a whole thinks and behaves on real work and introduces practical tools to support each problem-solving stage, supported by the FourSight® platform.
FourSight® Challenge Sprint 3-Hour Session
A facilitated problem-solving session where we use the FourSight® Challenge Navigator to work on a live business issue — from clarifying the challenge to generating ideas, developing solutions, and planning implementation.
You Also Get
Access to the FourSight® Platform
Online access to the entire FourSight® Problem-Solving Toolkit and step-by-step instructions on how to move through a challenge.
Keys to Collaboration Masterclass
Where I share the exact methods I use to:
- Enhance team and cross-functional collaboration
- Structure and guide stakeholder engagement so they are aligned and equipped to support you
- Bring clarity to roles and responsibilities so everyone invited to collaborate understands what’s expected and how the collaborative problem-solving process will unfold
Within ThinkUp, this makes Equip a powerful accelerator: people don’t just learn tools, they learn how they think together, how to use thinking differences as a strength and how to navigate collaborative problem-solving with confidence.
Sessions are engaging, experiential, and immediately usable — not theoretical.
Your Team Leaves This Step With:
- A shared language, process, and toolkit they can put to work in their day-to-day roles
- A deeper understanding of how they and their colleagues approach challenges, and how to collaborate more effectively
This is where people start to see that there is a workable way forward, even when things are complex.
Apply — Use It on a Real Business Challenge
Step 3 of the ThinkUp Framework™
Finally, we apply everything to your real work.
Your team uses Action Learning Labs to apply what they've learned to live business issues.
In the Process, Together We:
- Coach leaders and teams as they use the ThinkUp Framework™ and FourSight® process and tools on real projects
- Help them navigate ambiguity, competing priorities, and cross-functional dynamics
- Support them to design and implement solutions that deliver tangible results
This is where the ThinkUp Framework™ turns into working practices, not just workshop notes. People don't just talk about collaboration and innovation — they experience what it feels like to face hard things together and move through them.
When to Use the ThinkUp Framework™
ThinkUp is especially powerful in these moments — when the path forward isn’t yet clear, but the work matters too much to figure out alone.
A leader and team are tasked with leading change, and the path forward isn't clear.
Managers are expected to lead innovation but don't yet have a clear method or shared way to engage their teams.
Teams must work across functions to deliver on strategic priorities or major projects, and work keeps stalling in handoffs or misalignment.
You want leadership and team development that translates directly into better results, not better intentions or good workshop feedback.
Is ThinkUp Right for You?
ThinkUp is a strong fit when the work feels too important and too complex to figure out alone — and you want your team to feel both challenged and supported as you navigate it.
“A combination of training, organizational development, and change management that helps leaders and teams…”
- Start from their current reality
- Clarify the desired future state
- Build the problem-solving and collaboration skills to figure out how to get there
When to Use the ThinkUp Framework™
ThinkUp is especially powerful in these moments — when the path forward isn't yet clear, but the work matters too much to figure out alone.
A leader and team are tasked with leading change, and the path forward isn't clear.
Managers are expected to lead innovation but don't yet have a clear method or shared way to engage their teams.
Teams must work across functions to deliver on strategic priorities or major projects, and work keeps stalling in handoffs or misalignment.
You want leadership and team development that translates directly into better results, not better intentions or good workshop feedback.
What Leaders and Teams Gain
By working with the ThinkUp Framework™, leaders and teams build skills and ways of working
they keep using long after the engagement ends.
Self-Awareness
Greater appreciation of others' styles, strengths, and pressures.
Repeatable Process
A flexible problem-solving process applicable to any business situation.
Resilience & Confidence
The ability to face change and uncertainty with more steadiness.
Transferable Skills
Creative thinking, collaborative problem-solving, change leadership, decision-making, and facilitation.
Team Understanding
Deep insight into how the team thinks and collaborates — and how to use differences productively.
Connection & Hope
The experience of facing hard things together and coming out more connected, confident, and creative.
The impact is immediate and sustainable — many describe feeling more grounded, more connected, and more
hopeful about what they can take on together.
What Leaders and Teams Gain
By working with the ThinkUp Framework™, leaders and teams build skills and ways of working they keep using long after the engagement ends.
Self-Awareness
Greater appreciation of personal strengths and how to overcome blind spots.
Repeatable Process
A flexible problem-solving process applicable to any business situation.
Resilience & Confidence
The ability to face change and uncertainty with more steadiness.
Transferable Skills
Creative thinking, collaborative problem-solving, change leadership, decision-making, communication, and facilitation.
Team Understanding
Deep insight into how the team thinks and collaborates — and how to use differences productively.
Connection & Hope
The experience of facing hard things together and coming out more connected, confident, and creative.
The impact is immediate and sustainable — many describe feeling more grounded, more connected, and more hopeful about what they can take on together.
Ready to Talk About Your Challenge?
In 30 minutes, we can talk about what you’re holding, explore how an Align · Equip ·
Apply engagement might support you and your team, and identify practical next
steps.
Prefer email? Contact Janice at janice@touchpointslearning.ca
Ready to Talk About Your Challenge?
In 30 minutes, we can talk about what you're holding, explore how a ThinkUP engagement might support you and your team, and identify practical next steps.
Book a 30-Minute Discovery CallPrefer email? Contact Janice at janice@touchpointslearning.ca