loading ... Processing Rhythms

A reflection on thinking rhythms, Creative Intelligence, and how we make sense of the world

Have you ever felt misjudged for being too quiet or scattered? Or maybe you often feel rushed in meetings, or steamrolled in conversations. There’s rampant frustration with team dynamics, where ideas don’t land or collaboration feels like compromise.

But what if the issue is hiding in plain sight, but we just don’t have the language to describe what we all feel and witness? What if how you process ideas, solve problems, and relate to others is distinct within the way you process information? 

As an executive career transition coach and someone who works across the realms of creative thinking and action, I think a lot about the way people think. Not just what they think, but how those thoughts take shape in the first place.

You wouldn’t be alone to assume that how people think is fixed: that you’re either good at brainstorming or better at planning, fast or slow, verbal or quiet. We confuse someone’s pace or style with their capability. 
But I don’t think personality traits alone explain what we’re seeing. 

I think it’s actually a processing rhythm. 

There’s Nuance

When we misunderstand there’s a rhythm to our thinking, it affects everything from how we show up in meetings to how we generate our most creative ideas. These aren’t just quirks or communication styles. They’re distinct rhythms of thought, and they influence everything from decision-making to creative flow, and from team dynamics to strategic insight.

This curiosity runs through my work as a coach and facilitator, and is foundational to my Creative Intelligence (CQ) framework, the interplay among imagination, emotions, and actions that fuels how we navigate, create, and communicate. In my book Second Draft, I explore a range of thinking styles, from analytical to relational, visionary to practical, and of course creative and innovative.  

One pattern I’ve come to better recognize, both in clients and in myself, is the difference in how people process their thoughts and ideas. Not just the content of the thinking, but the route, method, and timing. I observe how some formulate thoughts in silence and share only once they’re fully formed. Others discover what they believe as they speak. Still others toggle between both. 

Over time, I began investigating these patterns more intentionally, which led to this useful breakdown of internal, external, and hybrid processing, as language to help understand what’s going on within ourselves, and see it in others. Understanding how someone processes information helps us design better conversations, build stronger teams, and make space for insight - not just answers - to emerge.

This is not so much an academic exercise, it’s based on my experience and core to how I coach, how I teach CQ, and how I help people access their most creative, clear, and confident selves.

Shared Language

This understanding may also offer language and clarity for those who identify as neurodivergent. For some, it helps articulate a style that’s long been misread or dismissed. For others, it opens up space to say, “There’s nothing wrong with how I think. It’s just different.” And for neurotypical collaborators, it’s a reminder that difference in processing is far more common, and more valuable, than we’re often led to believe.

At the same time, I recognize the risk of oversimplification. No one fits neatly into a single style all the time. Context, stress, culture, trauma, or the presence of psychological safety all influence how you show up. A person may process internally in high-stakes meetings and externally when brainstorming with a trusted partner. Hybrid doesn’t mean indecisive, and fluidity doesn’t mean inconsistency. Like much of human behavior, it’s dynamic.

So rather than sorting people into boxes, this model invites us to become more curious and intentional:

What’s your rhythm? What’s theirs? 

Understanding your processing style helps you create the right conditions to think clearly. And when you share that style with others, you help them keep pace, make space, or even enjoy the ride alongside you.
I’ve come to recognize that my own style is a hybrid of internal and external processing. I write or speak to generate clarity, then retreat to reflect and refine. I toggle between conversation and solitude. It’s not a weakness. It’s my rhythm.

Naming these styles, and the space in between, has helped me:

• Support clients in honoring their natural rhythms
• Facilitate better collaboration across differing styles
• Expand my own Creative Intelligence by toggling with intention
  
  

When you understand how you think, you can stop judging it and start using it.

What follows is a more detailed exploration of the different processing styles I’ve come to recognize, with additional nuance around strengths, gaps, and how it relates to CQ.

The Three Processing Styles

Internal Processing
Internal processors think before they speak, and often before they’re even sure they want to speak at all. They need to  integrate their emotions and amorphous ideas through introspection. You might notice them pause when asked a question, eyes drifting up or away as they retreat inward. Their faces may mirror their thoughts. They’re present, but their energy is focused inward.

When they do speak, may be slow, deliberate, and structured, like they’ve mentally rehearsed it. Their tone could be steady, sometimes so steady it’s misread as disinterest.

Interruptions can derail their process, and pushing them forward before they’re ready could interrupt an insight in mid-formation. For them, silence is not intended to be awkward or dismissive. It’s their workspace. With time and trust, they emerge with thoughtful insights that show their attention and care. 
Internal processors may thrive in coaching scenarios where the coach acts as a creative thought partner who lets the silence sit as its own prompt and part of the discovery.

Take for example an employee in a new leadership role who’s been told they need to “speak up more” in meetings, but they actually process deeply and share only when fully clear. Her ideas, when voiced, shift the room. But she’s been misunderstood as disengaged. 

Similarly, take a junior team member on a fast-moving product team who’s overwhelmed by how decisions get made “in the moment.” He has deep insights, but they arrive late. The team thinks he’s checked out, but he's just slow to verbalize. 

We’ve all had that experience of coming up with the perfect comeback hours later. 

How can you spot an Internal Processor?

Typical traits:

• Reflective, private, and deliberative
• Prefers solitude to think deeply
• Needs time before responding
• Can be seen as “quiet” or overly analytical
  
  

Thinking styles that can be associated:

• Systems Thinkers
• Deep-Dive Thinkers
• Emotional Integrators
• Intuitive Pattern Seekers
  
  

Strengths:

• Depth of insight
• Strong metacognition
• Makes original connections
• Emotionally informed
  
  

Challenges:

• May get stuck in analysis
• Risk of isolation
• Difficult to test ideas externally
• Can misread group dynamics
  
  

External Processing
External processors think through talking, writing, drawing, or interacting with others. Thoughts happen out loud in this way. Ideas emerge as they express. They may start mid-thought, eyes scanning or jumping between people, hands in motion as if pulling the idea into form.

Their tone may be animated, their pacing fast. Some ramble, diverge, or non-sequitur their way toward clarity. Meanwhile, other external processors sound polished even while forming ideas in real time. That confidence doesn’t always mean certainty. It’s just their rhythm.

A common pattern is to revise aloud: “Wait. Scratch that. Maybe it’s more like …” They may thrive in conversation, and interruptions can spark more ideas. Heck, they may indulge in interruption themselves. But without reflection, they may miss nuance or quash quieter voices in the room.

But give them a listener, and they’ll find clarity; cut them off too soon, and they may never get there. External processors often thrive in coaching relationships due to having a dedicated listening partner who lets them find their thoughts.

One example is an expert preparing for a keynote or interview who says, “I just need to talk it out” to discover their thesis mid-rant. They’re brilliant but self-conscious that they’re “too much,” “not clear enough,” or “all over the place.”

And I can’t tell you how many times a client has apologized for rambling, only to land on a major insight after five minutes of winding speech. They’ll say, “I guess I just needed to say it to hear it out loud.”

A challenge for coaches is knowing when to strategically interrupt External Processors to capture insights in motion without disrupting the flow.

How can you spot an External Processor?

Typical traits:

• Verbal or kinetic processors
• Thrive in dialogue and spontaneity
• Think while talking or writing
• Pace and energy often high while they express

Thinking styles that can be associated:

• Improvisational Problem Solvers
• Rapid Prototypers
• Narrative Thinkers
• Connector/Bridge Builders
  
  

Strengths:

• Fast ideation
• Assumption-testing in real time
• Socially intuitive
• Energizes group thinking
  
  

Challenges:

• May lack depth or follow-through
• Prone to inconsistency
• May dominate quieter spaces
• Risk of being emotionally reactive and speaking before thinking
  
  

Hybrid Processing
Hybrid processors live in the space between, bouncing from thinking, creating, and deciding. They toggle and switch, often without realizing it. One moment, they’re talking something out, the next, they’re silent, eyes focused elsewhere, distilling.

Their body language also shifts in tandem too: expressive, then still. Their tone can start uncertain and grow confident, or flip. You might hear: “Let me talk this through…” followed by “Wait, I need a second to settle this.”

They layer. They adapt. They’re bridges in dialogue and systems. But when forced to stick to just one mode, they can feel scattered or misread, even paralyzed.

Their gift? They can help others toggle, too.

How can you spot a Hybrid Processor?

A hybrid processor client who finally stopped beating themselves up for “changing their mind” and realized they were integrating. Once they built in reflection after group ideation, their CQ blossomed.

How?

• Using internal processing to journal prompts before meetings to enter more confidently and cultivate the ability to contribute creatively simply because the conditions changed.
• Using external processing to switch from ideating to executing by adding a weekly solo reflection time to sift and decide. The toggle creates a noticeable shift in momentum.
  
  

Typical traits:

• Alternates between interaction and reflection
• Adapts thinking mode based on context
• Needs time to integrate after dialogue
• Often “feels” their way through an idea
  
  

Thinking styles can be associated:

• Reflective Improvisers
• Integrative Synthesizers
• Creative Generalists
• Narrative Strategists
• Embodied Thinkers
  
  

Strengths:

• Highly adaptive
• Excellent communicators
• Translate complexity into clarity
• Make others feel understood
  
  

Challenges:

• Can feel internally fragmented
• Risk of fatigue from switching
• May doubt their own rhythm
• Struggle in fast-paced or rigid settings
  
  
  

CQ Implications
Creative Intelligence grows when you enhance your EQ to understand your own processing mode. It grows more when you learn to toggle between styles, or support others in doing so. 

Other ways to grow your CQ depending on your processing style:

• All processors benefit from creative constraints, prompts, and gentle nudges into action
• Internal processors benefit from quiet preparation like journaling, reviewing an agenda ahead of time, and solo brainstorming
• External processors benefit from pause, structure, and post-ideation reflection
• Hybrid processors thrive when they design for their rhythm, with time for both idea generation and integration
  
  

Why This Matters
These distinctions are interesting, yes, and they’re practical.

Misreading someone’s processing style can lead to rushed decisions and team tension. Misjudgment of confidence or disengagement can dismiss your most creative allies, or downplay your own strengths. Collaboration breaks down, and frustration and resentment from these differences can fester.

So what if by better understanding your thinking style, and that of those around you,  better equips you and your team to navigate each other with stronger connection? 

For example, in workplaces, teams, families, when we understand how someone thinks, we create space for trust, timing, and better communication. That can reduce conflict, improve inclusion, and increase creativity.

As a coach, leader, and collaborator, you can apply these insights immediately, and adapt from context to context. When you understand these rhythms, when you learn to recognize the quiet architect, the verbal explorer, and the rhythmic shifter, you design better conversations. You pause differently. You listen more fully. You judge less.

That’s what happened recently with a client - a Chief officer whose CEO has an opposing processing style. He tended to make decisions mid-meeting because he can see the whole system in his head. But it turns out, the CEO benefits from a write-up 24 hours prior to think about the agenda. Early on, this caused real tension and misjudgment. Once they named it and adjusted the rhythm, they were able to accomplish those elusive KPIs.

Reflection Questions
Now ask yourself:

• When do you get your best ideas, alone or in conversation?
• Do you feel more energized after solo thinking or shared discussion?
• Do you need to “say it out loud” or “write it down” to understand, or silence to let it form?
• What would change if you shared your rhythm with others, and asked about theirs?

How you answer these will bring your own processing rhythm into focus, and grow your CQ along the way.