Experience has shown that the following things tend to wreck thinking club sessions - even though these things at first seem attractive.

• Lack of time discipline and an over-running of a discussion that has become 'interesting'.
• Lack of focus on the specific thinking skill that is being practised at the moment. The result is general waffle and discussion.
• Ego type argument and the need to prove the a point, prove yourself right, prove the other party wrong.
• Tackling too many solemn or 'heavy' subjects and getting bogged down in stereotypes and parades of facts.
• Inability to see that simple processes practised on 'fun' items do build up to a powerful skill.
• Too much ambition and too much hurry to apply the developing thinking skills to 'real matters' or to solving the personal problems of members. In time this is an aim of the clubs but not for quite a while.
• General sloppiness and the feeling that structure does not matter.
• Getting too bogged down in the subjects rather than regarding them as practice items.
• Being unwilling to look at the 'thinking' involved and not just at the subject.
• A feeble organizer, or attempts to rotate the functions with the result that a feeble organizer is reached.
• Lack of humour.
• Political or ideological bias.

All these things can be avoided through a rigorous attention to focus, structure and time discipline. Waffle, ego and arrogance are the great enemies. Motivation is important. If a member is not sufficiently motivated to attend the meetings, throw him or her out.