Thinking Better Together: Introduction

“We laugh at people who still use Windows 95, but we cling to opinions we formed in 1995. Good teachers introduce new thoughts, but great teachers introduce new ways of thinking.” Adam Grant

Up until quite recently, I had not invested much time thinking about the quality of my own thinking.

Just as fish (I imagine) don’t routinely observe the water they swim in, the depth and quality my own thinking was all-pervasive, and yet it remained invisible, and unquestioned.

I can now see clearly that bringing awareness and intentionality to the quality of our thinking - both for ourselves and others – is perhaps the most essential capability for leaders today. Learning about a Thinking Environment® through two extraordinarily gifted teachers Candice Smith and Nancy Kline, has been nothing short of life-changing for me.

Now, more than ever before in the history of humankind we must step into more of our innate potential. In the words of Jean Houston “In this time of whole system transition we can no longer afford to live as half-light versions of ourselves. The complexity of our time requires a greater and wiser use of our capacities. The world can thrive only if we can grow.”

And, in response to this imperative for human growth, I feel called to meaningfully contribute to the creation of organisations that liberate our highest potential and serve the greatest good. The focus that has emerged in my work is to help empower leaders to activate the true brilliance of human potential.  

Over the past two decades I have developed in myself a wide range of capabilities to help enable me to live into this purpose, in the work I do with leaders. However, I have sensed that something was missing. I now understand that I had not yet discovered a methodology to activate human brilliance at scale in a way that was reliable and repeatable.

And this is precisely what a Thinking Environment® does.

I now understand that the gateway to activating our true brilliance is learning how to think for ourselves, afresh, so that together, we navigate the challenges and complexities of our time.

The quality of our relationships determines the quality of our thinking, which determines the quality of our actions, which determines the quality of our results.

Nancy Kline has discovered that the quality of our thinking depends upon how we’re being treated while we think.

A Thinking Environment® makes explicit how we really want to be treated while we are thinking, deepening our relationships, changing the way we think and act - and empowering us to reimagine “success”, and perhaps ultimately ensure our survival.

Nancy has dedicated her life to noticing and sharing what needs to be there to ignite fresh, independent thinking. Through decades of observation and research, Nancy has identified 10 ways of being, that come together to create what she describes as a Thinking Environment®.

I whole-heartedly agree with Nancy’s perspective that leaders have a responsibility, and an opportunity to create “the conditions in every interaction and in every meeting that will allow people at all levels to think for themselves—with rigour, imagination, courage, and grace” and that “a leader’s first job is to create a Thinking Environment®” and that “every subsequent act of leadership gains quality from there.”

A leader’s ability to create and hold a Thinking Environment® is vital aspect of true leadership.

“We will get to a new and better world with new and better thinking. Brave thinking that dismantles denial. Thinking that is the simplicity on the far side of complexity.” Nancy Kline

In this series of blog posts, I will be exploring the 10 Components of a Thinking Environment® and bringing each component to life by sharing my own personal experiences and stories of how these components make a positive difference in the world.

All quoted text is attributed to Nancy Kline, unless otherwise indicated.

The 10 Components of a Thinking Environment® are: Attention, Ease, Appreciation, Feelings, Encouragement, Information, Difference, Incisive Questions™ and Place.

Don’t be fooled by the simplicity of some of these components. When they come together, they create a powerful field in which fresh, independent, brave thinking can emerge.

We have created a series of 10 blog posts exploring each of these components in depth, we hope you enjoy reading them.

Having said that, the only way to really understand the power of a Thinking Environment® is to experience it.

In conclusion

Reading about how to think better together is awesome, however playing with the components of The Thinking Environment® in your work place is the only way we can activate the brilliance of those we work with.

The more we can playfully practice cultivating the conditions that activate human brilliance, and the more we experience the profound difference this makes to the way people around us think and feel, the more natural and easeful creating a Thinking Environment® becomes.

*NOTE: At Collective Brilliance, we have adapted Nancy Kline’s component of Incisive Questions TM to Questions to incorporate a broader range of questions that ignite the human mind to illuminate new possibilities - this includes the questions we ask AI.