- Tue, 10 November 2026
When did you last have time to think in the presence of someone who gave you their full attention? What difference did it make to your thinking? And when did you last offer that time and attention to someone else?
What does quality thinking mean to you?
How often do you decide to take some time to think, then check a notification, get interrupted by someone coming into the room, or start going through your next few tasks in your head?
You know those lists we make? Books to read, films to watch, places to visit, albums to listen to, people to get in touch with… Then something else takes priority, and the list waits. That is what happened with Nancy Kline’s Time to Think, even though it has one of the best titles I could imagine. Eventually, I ordered it and started reading. Soon, I wanted to photograph pages, type out sentences and share so much of what Nancy had written more than 25 years ago.
I spend a lot of time reflecting, and creating time for reflection with others is part of my work. Still, this book has given me plenty to consider about the conditions we create for thinking. The distractions I mentioned earlier also made me wonder how much attention we have available for others, even when we intend to listen. How do we give someone our undivided attention, without interrupting, while allowing their thinking to take its own direction?
This matters in our one-to-one conversations, and when we come together as groups and teams.
The idea sounds straightforward: the quality of our attention affects how someone else can think. Yet how often do we listen while preparing our response, offer a suggestion before someone has finished, or fill a pause because we assume they need help?
Nancy describes ten components of a Thinking Environment. As I read, I began turning them into questions for myself:
Attention: Can I stay interested in where someone’s thinking will go next, without interrupting?
Equality: Do we give each other equal time to think and be heard, whether there are two of us or a whole team? How much does someone’s role influence whose thinking gets attention?
Ease: Can I give myself and others time without bringing a sense of hurry into it?
Appreciation: What do I value in this person, and have I told them specifically?
Encouragement: How can I encourage someone to take their thinking further? Am I bringing any need to prove myself into the conversation?
Feelings: Can I welcome someone’s feelings without rushing to make them feel better or move the conversation along?
Information: What facts do we need? What information might be missing or inaccurate?
Difference: What assumptions am I making about this person, their identity or their perspective?
Incisive Questions: What might become possible if an assumption I have been living with as true turns out to be untrue?
Place: Does the space where our conversation takes place tell each person, “You matter”? How am I caring for my body as a place where thinking happens?
Reading this book also brought up questions about obedience. How much have we learned to follow instructions, accept someone else’s answers and leave their thinking unchallenged? How often do we carry those expectations into our relationships at work?
And, on the other hand, when we quickly offer advice, what are we communicating about the other person’s ability to think? Even with good intentions, we may be suggesting that they could not have arrived at an idea themselves.
I have already started reading More Time to Think (the next one :)), and I am waiting for a third book to arrive. Meanwhile, I keep thinking about the many ways this could become part of everyday life: in a coaching session, a meeting, a conversation at home, or the time I set aside with my notebook.
I also found an online assessment that offered me more questions to reflect on. If you are curious, you can find it here: https://www.timetothink.com/online-assessment/
It takes attention, patience and trust to create the conditions for someone to think well for themselves. If you are a leader, a coach, or someone others come to for a conversation, what might you try differently after reading this?
What could you do to give someone more room to think for themselves?
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