By Cindy Vallance
In the past ten blogs, I have discussed Nancy Kline’s 10 principles for a thinking environment (http://bit.ly//yE6Hhl).
Why not come up with your own way of remembering and practicing these 10 principles? Make them real by thinking for yourself and making them your own.
Attention
Equality
Ease
Appreciation
Encouragement
Feelings
Information
Diversity
Place
Incisive questions
And finally, there is much more in Nancy Kline’s book Time to Think, but to end this series, I will conclude with the practical tips that may make some of your meetings a more conducive environment for thinking:
- give everyone a turn to speak
- at the beginning ask everyone to relate something that is going well in their work or in the group’s work
- give attention without interruption to every open discussion during the meeting – try framing agenda items as questions
- when permission is given use incisive questions in pairs or with the larger group’s permission to help each other remove limiting assumptions
- when thinking stalls, divide into pairs and give each person five minutes to think out loud and without interruption about the topic
- go around in turns intermittently throughout the meeting to give everyone an equal turn to say something if they choose to
- encourage diverse views and information sharing
- permit the expression of feelings
- end the meeting by asking everyone what they felt went well and what they respect or appreciate about the person next to them
- do what you can to create a space for the meeting that demonstrates the value you place on the people
Thank you for sharing the 10 thinking principles from Nancy Kline’s book with us. Whilst the need to work at relationships outside of work is often acknowledged there is an assumption that good working relationships with your colleagues just happen. I particularly like the section on practical tips as it clearly shows how I can use the principles to inform my daily working life.
Thanks, Nicola. I’m glad you’re finding the postings useful. Watch this space for more to come.
Inspiring principles! Creating a conducive environment for thinking and valuing everyone’s input can make a real difference in meetings.
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