Thinking Circle

The truth is that I subscribed to the training despite myself. Against my will and with the huge amount of resistance that – as I know today – points to opportunities of significant growth.

So, when we first gathered for the five-days-immersion into Thinking Circle I didn’t hold back: “I am here because I hate circles. And because I hope that it’ll somehow get better here.”

It did. Today, I love circles. I work almost exclusively with circles. The idea of front-class-teaching seems strange and far-fetched.

Allow me to briefly introduce Thinking Circle to you.

On a basic level TC is a toolbox for innovative, cocreative Leadership that evolves around the geometrical form of a circle. A lot of it goes back to the thinker and leader Nancy Kline. I learned it from the senior consultants Jutta Herzog and Matthias zur Bonsen.

Speaking in terms of effect and experience, TC is a safe space that facilitates deep, authentic, innovative, and very courageous thinking and ideating. Participants usually point out that they feel very safe, belonging, able to contribute in significant ways and willing to do so without any pressure from the leader or the group.

As a facilitator of Thinking Circle, I experience ease, precision, softness, and immense joy.

Whether I guide my students in the classroom or support my colleagues in workshops for innovative teaching and creativity, the experience and methods of TC have become both the CORE and VESSEL of my offerings.

Thinking Circle means sitting in a circle, yes. But it also involves the conscious use of structuring tools and micro-rituals such as a coherent Agenda, a regular Check-in, a consistent presencing-sequence. These tools seem small, really, a list of no brainers. Together, they install an atmosphere of high focus and deep relaxation where innovative processes unfold in almost effortless ways.

The challenge consists in getting people there.

In my practice I often meet the initial resistance I remember so well. The mere sight of the circle of chairs can cause strong feelings. As people trickle in the room I see disbelief, resistance, resentment, fear and even anger wash over their faces.

Psychology helps us to understand this phenomenon: Being part of a community, being safe in a group is a universal desire we share as social mammals. The form of the circle symbolizes and essentializes this desire. Yet it also feels challenging, as the circle will simultaneously EXPOSE and LEVEL all the group members.

Everyone is visible and, therefore, addressable.

Everyone is equal and, therefore, responsible. 

In other words: Everyone is a leader.

This is a big thing.

I don’t know about you, but I am a human being with changing moods, feelings, and resources. This means that on a good day I want to have a front-row-seat so everyone can see and witness that I have all the answers. On a bad day however I want to sit in the back row further barricading myself and my uncertainty behind piles of books and soothing screens.

My personal ambivalence points to a paradox of the human nature we all share. We really want to be seen. But we really want to be safe, too. In my practice Thinking Circle has proven to be the only tool that is able to fully meet and embrace both basic needs at the same time.

I see it as a potent Leadership technique and a deeply Healing Practice.

The meaningful message it conveys is this:

You are enough.

You have something important to say.

A doubt that needs to be expressed.

An intuition that needs to be voiced.

An insight that will surprise us.

Not only on a good day.

But on a bad day, too.

So, would you like to join? Please, have a seat, and be welcome to the circle.

Yours, INSA