The Thinking Environment is not a set of techniques. It is a way of being in the world - Shirley Edwards.

The Big Idea

The Thinking Environment® is a framework, developed over the past 25 years by Nancy Kline, of Time to Think, based on the fundamental principle that:

The quality of everything that we do depends on the quality of the thinking that we do first.  

Over the years we and our colleagues confirmed that the most important factor of whether or not people can think for themselves is how they are being treated by the people with them while they are thinking. Behaviour in the listener is more important than IQ, education, experience or background in the thinker - Nancy Kline

The Behaviours

Over time we noticed that ... if we behave in ten particular ways, people around us will think for themselves, often brilliantly and thinking improves spontaneously - Nancy Kline

These behaviours are:

• Attention
• Equality
• Ease
• Appreciation
• Encouragement
• Feelings
• Information
• Diversity
• Incisive Questions™
• Place

The Results

The Thinking Environment® often reports impressive quantifiable financial outcomes, but it also naturally starts to build a deepening sense of corporate authenticity, motivation, team pride, collaboration and genuine support for the outcome.  How so? Because a Thinking Environment allows people to feel that they matter. As a by-product, people begin to treat each other with an unusual degree of respect and politeness.

"We now have inspiring, energetic, focused meetings with impressive outcomes. And our meetings are places where everyone is thinking and contributing."

Thinking Environment® expertise:

• Is easy to learn
• Builds engagement
• Produces stunning results
• Works anywhere
• Generates time
• Is yours for Life

"People continue to marvel that such a simple process produces such stunning results" - Nancy Kline, More Time to Think