“The quality of everything we do depends on the quality of the thinking we do first. The quality of our thinking depends on the way we treat each other while we are thinking.” – Nancy Kline

The ability to think independently is fundamental to producing high-quality work for individuals and teams, lawyers have been told at a pilot Law Society leadership development project today at Blackhall Place (14 March).

Good decision-making

Good decision-making, active engagement and productive results in a high-performance culture follow.

"This is about creating the environment and conditions for people to think at their best – individually and collectively – and therefore to make good decisions," said Chris Dunne of Hannah Carney and Associates, who joined Hannah as she led the workshop facilitation.

The pilot has been offered to senior leaders in the in-house and public sector legal community, introducing them to the philosophy, components and applications in process of the Thinking Environment™. This methodology was developed by Nancy Kline.

Hannah Carney said: “As this is a pilot initiative, it’s an introduction to the Thinking Environment™ method. We are looking forward to learning with the participants as to how the initiative can be best applied, to be valuable in their particular context.”

Over the course of the three-part workshop series, participants will discover and learn about the philosophy and components of the methodology, in the context of their professional/leadership roles.

They will also experience and practice its components and applications.

Positive change

Finally, participants will be invited to think about how a Thinking Environment™ could enable positive change, team effectiveness, and a culture of continuous improvement in their own context.

The initiative aligns with the three pillars of:

• Building high-impact professionals,
• Improving psychological wellness, and
• Enhancing dignity and respect across the legal profession.

These have been set out as the strategic aims of Law Society Psychological Services.