Learning to Think on Your Feet

The mental agility to quickly process information and to respond instantaneously is a highly prized skill. When put on the spot or asked an unanticipated question, the ability to think on your feet and respond in real-time with a clever or pointed answer suggests a powerful mind. 

Leaders who exhibit this skill in any conversation are thought to be smart and quick-witted, dazzling in their replies without a second’s delay. Their confidence seems unworldly. Like a magic trick we observe but can’t figure out, we want to know how they do it. It’s a maneuver we all want to learn and excel at. 

The foundation for getting better at thinking on your feet is clarity. The more you know about a topic, the easier it is to absorb what others are saying and to respond quickly with your view. Speed in response requires being prepared with answers or responses to almost any question or challenge. This takes practice and an ongoing commitment to know a topic or issue cold. 

Stand-up comedians are a great example of this committed preparation. The best comedians work painstakingly hard at thinking through every reaction, response, and trajectory of a joke. Aside from the joke itself, they don’t know exactly how they will respond to the unfolding moment after the quip, but they have thought through every possibility, giving themselves a palette of responses from which they can choose. The more they practice, the more confidently and quickly they can select from this palette. 

No one is fast on their feet on every topic. Pepper a leader with questions on a topic or issue they know virtually nothing about, and you will see they respond slowly and without the confidence clarity promotes. But for good thinkers, their ability to connect nearly any question to something they do know prevents the dreaded brain freeze, where they are completely at a loss for words. Knowing a wide variety of topics extremely well makes leaders faster on their feet more often. 

Smart leaders know what they already think on just about any facet of a topic, allowing them to be fast on the draw. This clarity allows them to listen to questions and reactions without the need to think about their response at the same time. They project that they are thinking on their feet, but what is really happening is very different. They are drawing upon a prepared set of thoughts that become more practiced every time they engage the topic. What looks like magic is really just hard work and repetition. You can do that work, as well.