Creating a thinking environment
Last week I attended a workshop led by the fab Linda Aspey (quite the legend in the sustainability coaching world) about creating a thinking environment.
I want to share this experience with you because creating a thinking environment is super simple, you can put it into practice today – and it will improve x10 your work and personal relationships - as you know, I'm fairly convinced that good communication and relationships lead to a better world.
A concept formulated by author Nancy Kline, a thinking environment is a safe space within which individuals can think deeply, freely, and creatively. It involves a set of principles and practices designed to foster a supportive and encouraging atmosphere for intellectual exploration within meetings.
Nancy Kline defines them as:
- Attention: Providing undivided attention to the speaker.
- Appreciation: Recognizing and valuing the contributions of others.
- Ease: Creating a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere.
- Encouragement: Offering support and encouragement to think deeply.
- Diversity: Welcoming different perspectives and ideas.
- Information: Providing relevant and timely information.
- Feelings: Allowing space for individuals to express their emotions and thoughts.
- Equality: Ensuring that everyone's voice is heard and valued.
- Place: Creating a physical environment that is conducive to thinking.
- Incisive Questions: Asking thought-provoking questions that stimulate deeper reflection.
The experiential evidence is that by cultivating a thinking environment, individuals can feel more empowered to share their ideas, challenge assumptions, and engage in productive problem-solving.
In practice, this means establishing some ground rules at the beginning of a meeting:
- Anybody who wants to speak will have a chance to speak – time permitting;
- No one can interrupt the speaker;
- Everyone will listen deeply and attentively;
- If you are facilitating the discussion, when the speaker has finished talking, ask: “Is there anything else you want to say or think about?” Surprisingly, this final question often provides the deepest insights.
A thinking environment will allow people to open up because they know they won't be interrupted and, as a consequence, they'll feel their opinions and thoughts matter, they will think better and share more than they would usually do – when we interrupt people, we stop their natural train of thought and the consequence is poor thinking.
In fact, Kline says that “the quality of our attention determines the quality of other people’s thinking” and in turn, the quality of our thinking determines the quality of our actions.
Additionally, people who want to share their thinking will relax and start listening more to others, knowing that their turn to speak will come soon.
I invite you to try it at your next meeting, but also, think about the quality of your listening when you have a chat with someone today...
How can you create a thinking environment for them?
This article was originally written for the Green Gorilla weekly newsletter. If you liked it, subscribe to receive more articles like this and learn how to communicate sustainability better, how to be more productive without selling your soul to the work devil, and how to make an impact in the world. Here is the link: https://newsletter.thegreengorilla.co.uk/