Time to think | Book recommendation

I had a coaching session a few months ago and my coach recommended reading, Time to think by Nancy Kline. I enjoy tucking into a good book so this was the perfect recommendation.

The key thing 'Time to think' focuses on is creating a thinking environment as being able to think can lead to some really positive results. However, it can be really difficult to have a space to think openly especially in the workplace where sometimes people can be quite competitive and it can be hard to have the space to think and speak.

So what can you do to think well for yourself and help others think openly as well?

• Let others speak fully. Try not to interrupt when someone is speaking as the quality of someone's thinking depends on the quality of listening. So it is important you listen actively and without speaking over someone. Remember, when you give someone the space to speak they give the same space to you too.
• Appreciate the other person. Appreciate what other people have to say even when you might not completely agree with them. People can have different perspectives and giving them the space to speak can help you learn or they can learn from you.
• Find a thinking partner. When thinking alone, our assumptions and limiting thoughts can go unchallenged. So find someone who you can think well with and have a good discussion with. This can help you get your best ideas and think clearly. The key is finding someone you can create a good thinking environment with.

The book delves deeper into creating a good thinking environment inside and outside of an organisation. Whilst I could write pages and pages on my learnings from this book because there were truly so many. The key thing for me was this quote:

“The most important factor in whether or not they could think for themselves, afresh, at a given moment seemed to be how they were being treated by the people with them.”

We have a role to play in how others are able to think so ensure you are giving people the space to think and speak. Since reading this book I have tried to listen more actively and encourage people to think and speak through asking the right questions.

Whilst a lot of these learnings have been helpful for me as a coach but they have also helped me in my life in general as I speak to people in a personal and professional space.