The purpose of the thinking clubs is to provide a place, time and framework for the enjoyment, practice, development and application of thinking skills. There are three stages:

1. Learning basic thinking skills.
2. Practice of these skills.
3. Application of these skills.

At first much of the activity of the clubs will be concerned with learning the basic skills so that they can be used fluently and deliberately. It is a mistake to assume that thinking will be learned just because a subject is being thought about and discussed. There needs to be a direct focus of attention on the skills as such. Later on, when the skills have been developed, thinking can be applied in a practical fashion to specific problems and tasks. These may be current issues, personal problems, design of businesses and many other activities. A particular book, article or television programme might become the subject of focused thinking. A member of the club may bring a personal or business problem to the meeting. The thinking may be directed to planning and carrying out a certain task (bearing in mind that 'effectiveness' is a very important part of the type of thinking in use in the clubs). All these are later stages and it is a mistake to try to feed them in at too early a stage.