Time to Think: Listening to Ignite the Human Mind

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give attention without interruption to every open discussion during the meeting – try framing agenda items as questions And because you know I will not interrupt you, you will want, when you finish, to know what I think, too, even if we disagree deeply. You open your heart. And because you in turn promise not to interrupt me, I open mine. As with all her work, Nancy models the principles of the Thinking Environment and leadership that powerfully yet softly prompt a complete rethink of the familiar issues of our time. This book is for everyone, goddaughters and godsons, women and men. As living and working become more complex, the lessons and practices here will shift a sense of chaos to one of clarity and a mindset of fear to one of hope. It could not have come at a better moment.

I wrote about Pokey, my teensy metal mouse with rollers for feet. Mrs Murphy posted everyone’s writing around the classroom as if we were all Nobel Laureates. Just about everyone in that class loved writing by the time we went to the 6th grade.Of all of those assumptions, or any others that spring to mind, what are you assuming that’s most stopping you from taking that step?

No interrupting. Make a group commitment that you will never interrupt when someone else is speaking. The balancing commitment is to be succinct. It is important to recognise that the limiting assumption is not necessarily imaginary. The value is in helping the Thinker to face the issue and consider it from different perspectives. This generous, useful and important book is a delight to read and will fundamentally change the way you interact with people. Eventually I saw it, something I had been teaching in a different context for many years. It is a promise. ‘I won’t interrupt you.’ It is the promise, the promise, of no interruption, not just the serendipitous occasion of it. It is based on the principles and practice of the Thinking Environment, developed by Nancy Kline. It is not necessary for members of the group to be ‘experts’ in the topic you present. When consulted in this way, people are generally able to access experience and knowledge that is valuable to the thinker.Before we knew it, we had gone through 20,000 copies. People were giving them as wedding presents, bereavement presents, birthday, Bar Mitzvah, and anniversary presents. They were placing them strategically in their offices, their waiting rooms, their sitting rooms, by their beds, and in their loos. They even were required reading for an American university course. Something was going on. Not sure who might ever read this lovely thing, we told colleagues and friends about it, and Sage-Hunt printed it. We also distributed it in our workshops. We also noticed that the principles fell into three clusters which became sections: ‘Loving Ourselves’, ‘Loving Each Other’ and ‘Loving the World’. We added an introduction that was a little manifesto about making the world better. Every day over the years I have thought repeatedly that I had seen this promise in all its glory. I have thought each time I saw it that I had it down, that there was no more to see, no more to add to its definition or its effect. I have felt confident that I was doing it justice as I wrote, as I taught, as I spoke, as I tried every day to live it. I have committed to its treasure and been sure I held it all in my arms. But before I could breathe out, I have, startled, seen it as if for the first time. And I have had to smile.