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Time to THINK

For Impact Ideas | | Nick Fellers

"The Thinker" by Auguste Rodin


I’ve found that one thing For Impact coaches bring to our clients — force, (really!) — is time to THINK! Most of us don’t often enough call a time-out on the madness to think and record our thoughts. This is something Tom models really well. He starts almost every day this way. During the day, he takes walks to think and dictate. During group meetings, he pulls people out of the mix to get feedback, dialogue, and seize outcomes. And he does some of his best work at 30,000 feet!

Here are some thoughts from a plane on this:

  • Make Think Time.
    Since he’s The Old Guy, Tom can use that as an “excuse” to pull out. (As in, “I’m really old. I have to go away and think about this.”) We all have these excuses if we need them. Make the commitment to yourself, your team, your boss, your family. It’s GOLD.
  • Use FI principles and frameworks to ORGANIZE, SIMPLIFY and LEVERAGE your thinking.
    The ALTITUDE framework and Entrepreneur’s Mantra (Think Big, Build Simple, Act Now) are great for this. I just had a breakthrough the other day with two leaders using our PROSPECT framework (ID/Prioritize/Strategize) — on the design of their organization! At the beginning of the session, we only knew we needed a breakthrough. We had no idea where it was going to come from. The framework LEVERAGED our thinking about prospects to the ORGANIZATION.
  • Think time is not rest and restore time.
    Thinking takes muscle! Sometimes we say to ourselves, “I’ll think about that/plan that on the weekend/during my vacation.” How’s that working?! Rest and restore time is just as important as think time. (For more on this, see “The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy Not Time,” by Loehr and Schwartz. Tom introduced me to this book years ago and it changed everything for me.)
    I like to do whiteboard or flip-chart sessions to get my whole body involved in thinking. Some people like to walk and think. My daughter Kit likes to dance and think! Find what works for you. (For more on the brain-body connection, see “Brain Rules” by John Medina.)

Make time to THINK!