Creating Time to Think

Just over a week ago, I arrived on the most beautiful morning at the Henley Business School and took a deep breath of fresh autumnal air. This was a good start to the day. Time to Think was a book recommended to me 15 years ago by a colleague. I have read the book and have witnessed the application of appreciative enquiry and a deeper level of listening where we all commit to not interrupt, within my action learning group. It took a day with Nancy Kline, observing as a true apprentice the master at work, to really bring this concept to life.

We think we listen, but quieting the analytical brain, searching for the next clever question and simultaneously categorising and diagnosing as we ‘listen’, is a true challenge. We are driven in every minute of our day to multi-task. The process of generative listening is a major antidote to this normality.

Henley Business School

No course book was handed out and no presentation powered up, we sat in an immediately disarming circle and the die was cast, this was going to be a different kind of day.

From the beginning Nancy welcomes you like an old friend, everyone is given an equal hearing. The introduction or as she called it, ‘the round’ was so different to that of many courses. Her assertion was ‘until you have spoken you haven’t arrived’; this really resonated. She has experienced this process with up to 90 people and the secret to its success? ‘To honour the round with your own brevity’ which was such a delightful way to say, keep it brief. Her New Mexico accent soothed as she regaled us with her journey to the ‘time to think’ process through experimentation and iterative learning and practice combined with acute observation. The result, listening worked, simple.

So here am I thinking, I’m a good listener, right? Well, this is listening at a whole different level. Disengage the analytical brain and sit with the person with absolute high regard for their ability to solve this problem if given the room, time and encouragement to simply think. It made me realise how little true thinking we do, especially in organisations, where process and routine leads us through the merry dance of daily/weekly meetings with depressingly formulaic outcomes.

The chance to practice the two simple questions; what would you like to think about today, and what are your thoughts? Quietening down the analysis and freeing oneself from the pressure to generate the next powerful question that wows the client, was truly liberating as a coach. This allowed space to listen and watch in wonder as the individual took their own path of rich thought.

A couple of other things stuck out for me. Nancy asked us to go to the edge of our problem. To challenge ourselves’ as the client and not do the back story for the coach. This too was a breath of fresh air as the focus for the client is on the quality of thinking and getting to the real issue as opposed to briefing the coach so that they can offer their wisdom through questioning. Again, the foundation of this approach is that the client holds the solution and as the coach, your role is to step the hell out of their way, by giving them space and time and attention. Secondly, Nancy would watch in wonder as the client explained and grappled with an issue. She believed that the joy of coaching lay in wondering just how far someone can go with the simplicity of this approach.

Two 40-minute sessions where we all watched as Nancy take a course participant through the process cemented in my mind, the subtleties of her style. I got so much more from observation within this day and it brought the process of enabling a Thinking Environment to life. I left with a renewed respect for listening skills well applied and a thirst to try more within my coaching sessions and facilitation. If you have never read her book, Time to Think, please pick-up or borrow a copy, it is worth a read.