Why does rigorous thinking matter and how can a Thinking Environment help?
When you have to make a decision, do you ever find it hard to figure out what will give you the best outcome? You wish you had more time to explore the options and to consider their implications. When you’re trying to solve a problem, where do you start? Maybe you assemble information that’s relevant, you think back on past experiences, you consult others for advice. Yet sometimes, you end up with a solution that only works temporarily. The problem doesn’t really go away.
In this blog, I’d like to tell you how using the system and practices of a Thinking Environment® will bring depth and rigour to your problem-solving and your decision-making. It will help you make sustainable decisions and will deliver better results.
What is a Thinking Environment?
The Thinking Environment is a system and a framework underpinned by two observations made by Nancy Kline (founder of Time to Think Ltd). These are the observations that the quality of everything we do depends on the thinking we do first and that the quality of our thinking depends on how we are treated when we are thinking. Recognising that the way people behave around each other impacts on their thinking led to the identification of the Time To Think (TTT) Ten Components, ten ways of being, ten behaviours, that have been shown to dependably make a difference to how people think for themselves. Being in the presence of even one of these conditions can make a difference to someone's thinking. When all ten behaviours are in place, creating a thinking environment as a system, it can be transformative. To embody these behaviours is to be a Thinking Environment for people around you.
This approach has been developed over many years of practice and is borne out by what neuroscience tells us happens in the brain. Contrary to what some believe about putting people on the spot, the brain performs better when it’s at ease. When negative feelings engage the fear threat centre, it generates cortisol, which impacts on the prefrontal cortex, the area that enables strategic thinking and decision making. Driving up adrenaline can shut down the creative and decision-making part of the brain. The good news is that when the right conditions are in place, when people are at ease, encouraged, appreciated, they are more likely to think well. When a person feels their thinking matters, fresh thinking and new possibilities can emerge.
Whether you need to think for yourself or with others, creating these ten conditions will support superb independent thinking. I’d like to share with you how being in a Thinking Environment can bring rigour and depth to whatever challenge you’re facing or whatever change you want to make. The principles behind this approach are supported by evidence that the quality of one person’s attention determines the quality of another’s thinking. When were you last in the presence of somebody who gave you their full attention, who was interested in what you were saying, who encouraged you to think for yourself? Did you notice what happened because of that, how it felt, what it enabled?
How does being in a Thinking Environment deliver better results?
Whether you’ve to make a decision or solve a problem, let’s start with being clear about the outcome you want. I’ve learned, both for myself and through my work as a facilitator and coach, the value of setting aside time at the outset to gain clarity on what question you most need to think about in order to reach your desired outcome. Dedicating time for this can save you time in the long run. I’ve noticed that people are often surprised when they find that the question that most needs their attention isn’t necessarily the first question that came to mind. That thinking this through can result in greater clarity and precision about what’s needed.
For those who are action-oriented, this can be a challenging step; they may feel it’s a waste of time, an unnecessary delay. The opposite is true. Having even a short length of time, in the right conditions, where you can think clearly in the presence of a listener who promises not to interrupt is worth the investment of time. It’s a way to illuminate what needs attention, and can help you avoid focussing on the wrong problem or overlooking an underlying issue. It’s not overthinking. It’s purposeful, rigorous thinking.
When you’re clear on the outcome you want, what’s next?
What information do you need, is there anything you’re missing or overlooking, where are the gaps? When people find it hard to make progress, it can be due to a lack of information. One way to source information and broaden your knowledge is to ask others. A word of caution about this. Some people may offer a mixture of information and opinion. To avoid the danger of receiving opinions represented as facts, it can be wise to check “what’s the evidence for that?” or to ask “what’s the data behind that?”. Checking information rigorously can save you from opinions that are biased or founded on flawed information.
The need for rigour equally applies to content you obtain online. Is the content accurate, is it true, is it complete? If the content is coming from Artificial Intelligence (AI), remember that even if data is factually correct, AI doesn’t take account of context or nuance, it’s not capable of feelings or empathy. When you are making complex decisions, where nuance or ambiguity have a place, where context matters, it’s important to apply your own reasoning and judgement, to have time for your own rigorous thinking.
Maintaining and strengthening skills of thinking for ourselves has never been more vital. As Margaret Heffernan says in this Ted Talk “the more we let machines think for us, the less we can think for ourselves”
In order to arrive at sound decisions, you need both accurate information and time to think thoroughly and rigorously about it. One of the challenges of the world we live in is not having enough time to process and absorb all the data that’s coming at us. The avalanche of information can be overwhelming. This problem can be exacerbated if you’re under pressure or pushed for time. In those conditions, your brain can’t perform at its optimum. You may not think deeply enough about the information and assumptions may go unchecked. Setting aside boundaried time in a thinking environment can solve this, by giving you time to examine, question, absorb and make sense of the information. The component of Ease in a Thinking Environment puts this simply “Ease, an internal state free from rush or urgency, creates the best conditions for thinking. Ease creates; urgency destroys” .
What if you come up against a block in your thinking? The obstacle that’s getting in your way may come from something you’re assuming. Untrue assumptions can limit our thinking, and our choices, They can limit our lives. It’s important to be rigorous and examine assumptions that might be holding you back, to challenge them and and to free yourself from them.
What’s special about being listened to in a Thinking Environment?
In a Thinking Environment, a listener creates a place where a thinker can ask and answer questions for themselves, and can explore assumptions. When a thinker knows the listener won’t interrupt, won’t try and impose their views, when a thinker can sit in silence and allow their mind to wander, allow their thoughts to surface, it can lead them to explore new territory.
As a thinking partner, offering this kind of attention to someone encourages them to go further than they might have if they were thinking alone. It’s an opportunity for a thinker to rigorously examine what’s limiting them, maybe to face something they’re avoiding or denying. When a thinker feels at ease, appreciated, encouraged, they may discover how they really feel about the problem or challenge, and uncover insights and awareness that help them move forward with greater clarity and confidence.
Being listened to with attention that’s generative, that’s catalytic, can be transformative. When I first experienced this myself, I was surprised at what I heard myself say. Sometimes you need to hear yourself say what you think to realise the truth.
When people discover their own truth, find their own strength, they are far more likely to move forward. That’s why listening in this way matters. It’s why thinking with rigour matters.
“When you listen generously to people they can hear the truth in themselves, often for the first time.”— Rachel Naomi Remen
What can happen when you create these conditions for a group or a team?
The best decisions are made when you have full and accurate information and have time to think things through rigorously and thoroughly. This is true whether you’re thinking for yourself or with others. The Thinking Environment is a framework which can be applied in meetings or workshops, in any gathering. It is a system of behaviours and practices that enables people to focus on what needs attention. The TTT practices of Round, Pairs, etc. are an effective and dependable approach to dialogue and discussion, structured so that you hear all voices, not just the voices that dominate. With boundaried time, and promises not to interrupt and to be succinct, it can lead to constructive and engaged discussion and unlock the best thinking of everyone in the room. A thinking environment is where superb decision making and deliberation and discussion will happen.
Having time to think is this way can help people make sense of complexity. It is important when you’re facing complex problems to give people the space to think with rigour, not just skimming the surface. To encourage them to apply their own reasoning and think rigorously. To create a place where you access the richness of human intelligence, to think in a way that AI can’t, thinking creatively and with imagination.
Have you ever discovered after you made a decision, that a colleague had information that could have helped you?
Creating a Thinking Environment where every voice can be heard is a way to access the information, knowledge and experience of everyone in the room.
What happens in a meeting where only some people speak? What information or knowledge is missed? It’s not always the case that a person who is silent in a meeting has nothing to offer. It may simply be that they can't get a word in or that they feel inhibited by the behaviour of others. They may not feel that their thinking matters. The way to address this is to create an atmosphere where people know that their input will be welcomed and valued and that they have equal opportunity to contribute.
By not listening to others, we deprive not only them of being heard, but we deprive ourselves of the opportunity to hear something that might shift our perspective. That’s one reason polarisation is so dangerous: people become fixed in their positions, not allowing for views that are different.
Having the opportunity to listen to different perspectives can build connection and lead to greater collaboration. It can spark fresh thinking and generate ideas. Gathering information from everyone will enrich the discussion and may open up new avenues of thought. Rigorous thinking helps people to make unexpected connections and can lead to innovative solutions.
A Thinking Environment is a place for robust and respectful debate, a place to apply rigour to thinking individually and collectively so that you make better decisions. it’s a simple yet effective way to gather the wisdom that's in the room.
Do you want to learn how to create a Thinking Environment for yourself and others?
In a world of uncertainty and complexity, it has never been more important to think deeply, not to settle for the first solution that comes to mind, not to limit your choices. Would you like to learn how to be a Thinking Partner for others, so that they can think rigorously and find their own answers? Do you lead or work with others, and want to encourage discovery and innovative thinking?
On my Thinking Environment Programmes, you can experience what happens when you’re given time to think for yourself without judgement. You’ll also learn how to create an environment for others that encourages superb thinking and more robust problem solving. Whether you want to build your skills to work with groups or you want to be a Thinking Partner in a one-to -one setting, there is a Programme for you, see the details here. If you’d like to know more, book a Discovery Call or email me at mary@mary.pyne.ie
