Amazon lists over 100,000 books about coaching. If you were to read only one title on this subject Time to Think by Nancy Kline would be a great choice. It’s a simple, effective, radical and highly compassionate approach. There’s plenty of research to back up the assertions in the book but I really like that her approach arose through her observations as a teacher and coach.

At its simplest, the Time to Think approach involves enabling someone’s best thinking by listening intently to them and using ‘incisive questions’ to remove any blocks that might be limiting that thinking. It sounds simple – and it is which I really like. But this simplicity can also be very powerful. The principles of this approach have application way beyond 1-2-1 coaching into leadership, parenting, education, politics etc.

Kline believes people do their best thinking when we create what she terms a ‘Thinking Environment’; and she identifies ten ‘components’. You don’t have to adopt the model in its entirety. Instead I see the Thinking Environment as a useful checklist in my work as a coach and facilitator. If you are involved in supporting others to develop and perform well then I think there’ll be something on this list you will find useful.

Her book offers a whole chapter exploring each component. Below I’ve briefly summarised each one to offer a taste of the book (go read it!):

Attention

Listening to others without interruption or judgment and with keen interest in their thought and perspective. 

The power of being really listened to, and the impact of not feeling heard, is hard to convey – it has to be experienced. If you’re interested in experimenting with ways of listening then try this short Liberating Structures exercise Heard, Seen and Respected.

Incisive questions 

Noticing the assumptions which might be limiting thinking and replacing with a freeing alternative. For example, if you’ve always seen yourself as shy and unable to speak up in meetings ask yourself ‘if I had all the confidence in the world, what I say?’. If you only try one thing from this book make it use a few incisive questions. The number of times I’ve seen individuals and teams completely transform their thinking when I’ve asked these beautiful hypothetical questions…. 

Equality

Treating each other as peers. In the workplace we have been conditioned to listen to those other power, as if their ideas are better. When I’m facilitating a group I like to highlight and challenge this assumption head-on when we talk about how the group wants to work together. 

There’s a fun acronym I picked up from Henry Stewart for one such assumption – the HIPPO (Highest Paid Person’s Opinion). I suggest to a group that there is no evidence that suggests people in more senior positions have better ideas than their junior colleagues, so invite them to banish the HIPPO.

There are some very simple techniques Kline uses with groups to encourage equality. These include turn-taking where everyone is invited to speak at the start (and again at the end) of any meeting. Interestingly, recent research at Google has shown that equality of contribution in meetings was a feature of the highest performing teams.

Appreciation

Kline states her research suggests a minimum ratio of five pieces of appreciation for every critical comment is needed to avoid defensiveness and encourage our best thinking.

One practical way to keep things weighted in favour of the positive I sometimes use in a review situation is to invite people to identify 3 things they like about an idea or situation, and only 1 thing they would improve or do differently.

Ease

Kline added this condition later, noticing the festishisation of busyness and urgency in many workplaces and how this was the enemy of creative thinking. As an endurance runner, I am reminded of the importance of pace – if we set off too fast we crash and burn. Trying to go too fast is a mistake at work too – resisting the pressure to rush, to do too much is important to ensure we perform at our best.

Encouragement

Again this runs counter a common but unhelpful assumption that competition produces the best outcomes. As has been thoroughly documented in Daniel Pink’s book about motivation Drive, competition is only useful in a very limited range of situations and in most workplace scenarios will produce worse results. For complex and creative situations we need collaboration not competition. Encouraging, rather than trying to beat, one another will serve us better.

Feelings

Counter to the prevailing attitude (in Yorkshire at least) that tears and emotions more generally have no place in the workplace, Kline suggests acknowledging emotions enabling better thinking. Shutting down emotions, seeing them as unhelpful, can prevent clear thinking and anecdotally I have seen many times a coachee suddenly come to a new realisation after a short episode of tears – as if allowing themselves to acknowledge their feelings has shifted their thinking. 

There’s a great, very simple, exercise I build feelings into group conversations – using the 4F review framework in which a group considers Facts, Feelings, Findings (implications) and Future (plans) in turn. The simple inclusion of feelings as part of the data gathering helps generate better quality thinking.

Information

If someone doesn’t have the facts, or they have incorrect information, then this will prevent their best thinking. On the whole we are often too quick to offer solutions to others and Kline cautions against offering information unless we’ve fully understood the situation. As a coach you only rarely offer information to a client, but sometimes it can be very helpful. Recently in my coaching I shared a simple framework with a client to help him generate a fresh perspective on team dynamics, for example.

Diversity

When I think about the big steps forward I’ve made in my own thinking or development it has been when I’m working with someone whose style, perspective and experience has been very different to my own. Difference can make things tricky at first, and be unsettling, but our best work happens when we can find ways to embrace rather than stifle or avoid it. 

Place

If the physical space in which we’re working says to us ‘you matter’ then this is helpful. Reading stories online of how people who’ve been forced suddenly to work from home have transformed their corner of a room into a better space to think seems to underline this. 

What I love about this book is the simplicity of the model and the ability therefore for anyone to put into practice things that will contribute to creating better outcomes across all areas of society: work, home, community action. Part two of the book is filled with practical examples of how to put these principles into action in organisations and teams, as well as 1-2-1 conversations. Anyone with any kind of leadership role  – whether a coach, manager, team leader, parent, teacher – can take away some useful tools from this book.

Maybe this list has whetted your appetite to find out more and read the book for yourself, or given you a few pointers about how you could best support someone else’s best thinking?