Thinking Sessions

By Thinking Partners The quality of everything we do depends on the quality of the thinking we do first.

- Nancy Kline, “Time To Think”

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What are Thinking Sessions?

Thinking Sessions are facilitated group meetings undertaken by a Thinking Partners facilitator. These sessions are specifically designed and delivered to ensure that group members are able to bring their freshest and most creative thinking to matters and subjects that are pertinent and critical to them.

A Thinking Session is a particular structure and context for having conversations that matter.

Based on the specific organisational context and scenario, we would design a Thinking Session by choosing a certain line of inquiry; which could either be to unearth deeper thoughts and feelings, to uncover unconscious beliefs and assumptions, to explore current reality, to discover purpose and values or any combination of these and more approaches. We then craft skillful questions that would aid the chosen line of inquiry. Through systematic combinations and rounds of individual reflection, paired conversations and group conversations, people in a Thinking Session engage with the questions and unravel a rich tapestry of thoughts, perspectives and ideas. Our expertise lies in respectfully challenging the individual or the collective thought processes of the group with the aim of stretching the limits of thinking.

We are trained to be keen observers and listeners; in our Thinking Sessions, we take opportunities to reflect back to the group our insights about the group dynamics, about what works and what might not be working so well. In these scenarios, we invite the group to engage in productive dialogues regarding our feedback and insights and create a path towards creating healthier group environment. Whilst the participants are able to reflect on their agenda, our sessions promote dialogue skills, self and collective awareness, raising the Emotional Intelligence of the individuals and the group. Hence, along with meeting the immediate objectives, our Thinking Sessions also lead to individual and group development.

In our Thinking Sessions, we create an environment that encourages equal participation, divergent thinking and diverse perspectives. Teams or groups are enabled to create action plans that represent collective views and have been put through a rigorous thinking process. Hence people arrive at solutions or conclusions that are both holistic and sustainable in nature.

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After thinking in a logical, linear fashion all day, suddenly generating big-picture, creative ideas can, not only be tricky, but almost impossible.

Limited time, pressing deadlines and all-day frantic meetings impose a limit on our ability to generate deeper, fresh or out-of-the-box thinking.

Traditional meeting structures, such as presentations and leader led discussions, sometimes do not allow the depth and breadth of issues to be surfaced. Also, despite encouragement, the quiet members struggle to voice themselves and the more expressive ones can end up taking most of the space and time. This results in skewed discussions and solutions based on the thinking of a few members. Hence groups/teams are unable to realize their real potential in their meetings or brainstorming sessions and may inadvertently create incomplete or limited outcomes.

Presence of a trained, objective and non-judgmental facilitator can make all the difference in overcoming the above challenges. A Thinking Partners’ facilitator can support the group/team in having vibrant discussions and meetings that result in complete and valid understanding of the issues and hence, better solutions. Such sessions result in people being more engaged and vested in following through with the agreed action plans.

Why have Thinking Sessions?

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How Are Thinking Sessions designed?

We, at Thinking Partners bring together the latest research and insights from

Neuroscience about how are brains work at their best.

We weave perspectives from thought leaders and authors such as Nancy Kline, the

author of Time To Think, who created and pioneered the development of The

Thinking Environment, and William Isaacs, the author of Dialogue and the Art of

Thinking Together, who co-founded the Organizational Learning Center at MIT and is

a Senior Lecturer at MIT’s Sloan School of Management.

We advance innovative social dialogue models such as the ‘World Café’ and

‘Liberating Structures’ in designing and delivering our Thinking Sessions.

We also make use of creative mediums such as art, music, drama and story telling to

create Thinking Sessions where right-brain thinking is required.

We, from time to time, make use of creative spaces, such as art galleries, a theatre

stage or a particular kind of public space that can form useful backdrops for sparking

illuminating discussions.

Some of the above mentioned works form the context and the philosophy of our

work, whilst the others offer practical information on the structure of our Thinking

Sessions.

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Examples of Thinking Sessions

The World Café is more than a method, a

process, or technique – it’s a way of

thinking and engaging in conversations that

matter.

World Café is a social dialogue process that

begins with three or more rounds of

conversation for small groups seated around a

table. At the end, each member of the group

moves to a different new table; leaving one

person as the “table host” for the next round,

who welcomes and briefly fills the next group

in on what happened in the previous round.

Each round is prefaced with a skillfully crafted

question that encourages deeper and diverse

thinking. After the rounds, individuals are

invited to share insights or other results from

their conversations with the rest of the large

group.

Wicked Questions make participants think about

paradoxical challenges and possibilities that are

not so obvious. They bring to light paradoxical-yet-

complementary forces that are particularly

important during change efforts.

We introduce the concept of Wicked

Questions and paradox. Then we give the

following template, “How is it that we are … and

we are … simultaneously?” as the sentence to

complete by inserting the two opposite strategies

that are at play. First alone then in small groups,

each participant generates pairs of opposites or

paradoxes at play in his or her work using

the Wicked Question format.

Each group selects its most impactful and wicked

Question. All selected Wicked Questions are

shared with the whole group leading to further

social dialogue

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When can Thinking Sessions be conducted?

Our flexible Thinking Sessions can be used in numerous settings and scenarios – from solving problems or conflicts, to generating new ideas for products and services, creating and evaluating business strategy, envisioning futures, discovering and creating organisational values, to moving past an impasse, turning an idea into a solution, thereby, maximising performance and productivity when you need it most.

Our sessions can range from a single 90-minute session, to several sessions spread over a period of time or a full day session for senior teams. Thinking sessions are tailored to your workplace and focus on your particular situation.

Thinking Partners – Helping you bring your best thinking forward We can be reached at jinnyriat@gmail.com +91 8146650146 www.thinkingpartners.in