Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is a way of studying how we learn new skills, what differentiates people who excel from everyone else and most importantly, how we can learn from them!
It uses a number of models and techniques to do this and can seem very riddled with high tech jargon, however it is a very pragmatic art.
Here are a few key ideas which if they seem very obvious are no less valuable for that. It should also be pointed out that whilst NLP raided all the best 'toys' from every one else's toy-cupboard, pretty much every training program you have bee none has an element of NLP built into it.
The four principles of NLP are:-
- In any situation, have a clear outcome
- Be aware & alert enough to recognise if you are moving towards or away from your goal
- Be flexible enough to change your behaviour till it gets you the outcome you want
- Take action now
NLP makes a few presuppositions which can be very useful. Take a moment to think of a situation that you have been in recently that wasn't working for you, and check which one of these presuppositions you fell foul of:-
Communication is more than what you're saying.
- The body communicates constantly in ways that go far beyond words.
People already have all the resources they need to effect a change.
- The resources just weren't lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.
Choice is better than no choice.
- And that means for all parties!
Every behaviour serves a positive intention and has a context in which it has value.
- The problem is that we tend to repeat successful strategies and transfer them to inappropriate contexts. have you ever tried talking to your family like you talk to the people who work for you? How did that work for you?
There is no such thing as failure, only feedback.
- Every response is useful, you may hate the response but the knowledge you gain from it is valuable... if acted upon!
If someone can do something, then it can be modelled and taught to anyone else.
The map is not the territory.
- We each create an internal, virtual map that we call reality. However, it isn't Reality it is just our own version of it. You may ask "What's the difference?
- Think about the current world situation, the Americans see on version of reality, devastated buildings and bodies in New York. The Afghanis have a very different vision of what that same picture represents. And both parties are willing to kill and die for their version. If you can change some one's map you change the way they experience their world. Sometimes you don't need to change Reality, just the way we experience it!
The meaning of your communication is the response you get.
- If you thought you were being nice and get slapped, you know that you have a communication failure. If you take responsibility for that, then you can clarify this situation.
If you aren't getting the response you want, try something different.
- See above.
People work perfectly.
The mind and body affect each other
The most important information about a person is their behaviour, but they are not their behaviour
You can choose what you think, so you control your results