Beeing Productive with NLP

NLP Mindset

NLP involves making artful use of metaphor and imagery. That is part of the reason why NLP is now seen as one of the most powerful communication tools available. Here is a good metaphor:

There is so much mystery in life. We as yet are unaware of so much. Science is often used as a sort of religion, but it really offers us very little in terms of really understanding the world. The science of management has also offered us very little in term of understanding what we can actually do. Success is more often a matter of artful and productive behavior.

One useful metaphor in NLP involves the humble bumblebee. Science and what we know about aerodynamic principles dictates that a bumblebee shouldn't be able to fly. Its wings are too short, its body not aerodynamic and so on. But it does! NLP is much the same. Scientific understanding cannot explain the intricacies of the mind or NLP.

NLP works nevertheless. So when confronted with scientific (mis)understanding, it is simply a matter of us understanding that situation and getting on with the processes of learning and using NLP. When we try it four ourselves, we adapt and see/hear/feel the success of NLP. Its an experience as mysterious as the flight of the bumblebee. We don't need to explain it, only to go ahead, go through the processes, adjust, and reap the rewards.

I believe NLP is based upon natural processes. And agreeing with nature is the smart thing to do. NLP offers practitioners far more than science can. That is why NLP has become so influential in the world. NLP is something that practitioners do and teach. Its influence in the world is due to its natural alignment with results.

The Power of NLP

As a modeling technique, NLP has a lot of power. Its about the most powerful set of methods extracted from the psychological repertoire.

Proof of Power?

There is a lot of confusion over proof. First off, scientific proof is not particularly relevant to NLP, and its a bit of a waste of time looking for it. The problem with the scientific validation approach is the notion that nothing is true unless it can be empirically verified using the scientific method.

NLP practitioners accept that the techniques will not necessarily be powerful in every situation with every person. Actually, it is accepted that all situations are unique and intrinsically changeable. Also, scientific testing is only probabilistic. If a series of controlled scientific tests shows that an NLP technique does not show success in probability terms, its just that the success didn't show. That doesn't means it failed. NLP is still about the most powerful set of techniques and methods around.

The real test is field testing a technique taking into account all the relevant variables. Try it for yourself. When you see results for yourself, you know it works. Thats all the evidence that is required for good evidence based practice in NLP.

Other proof can be obtained by attending well organized workshops in genuine NLP. Well qualified and experienced NLP practitioners can offer you far more specific and detailed understanding of what is happening in NLP than any independent scientist in a lab. It stands to reason; a scientist following a set of steps, even from well written NLP literature, will be in no way qualified to judge how to apply those steps properly.

I believe its true to say that you need to be quite an uncertainty tolerant individual in order to make proper use of NLP. And it is also true to say that uncertainty tolerance can lead to positive excellence and creativity. There is a system involved here. A circuit! It also follows that genuine NLP can make a person more uncertainty tolerant, more flexible, and better at using NLP to attain excellence.

Note: We will all have different experiences of the power of NLP. Feel free to comment.

Genuine Neurolinguistic Programing

What is NLP?

A Process:

There are a lot of definitions of NLP. However, here is a simple and genuine way of thinking about NLP. NLP is modeling. NLP allows the modeler to:

• Identify the essential aspects of an "excellent person's" thinking and behaviour, which enables them to achieve the same "excellent" results
• Codify the core aspects of relevance
  
• Utilize the codification to teach other people how to enable them to achieve the same "excellent" results.

Excellence

NLP is about modeling excellence. Here is some history:

Richard Bandler, the originator and co-developer of NLP, was fascinated by the work of Gestalt therapist Fritz Perls and family therapist Virginia Satir. Without really understanding how they were achieving it, Bandler and fellow student Frank Pucilik were able to imitate the activities of these therapists so accurately that they could also replicate their results.

Then John Grinder (a linguist) joined the team and was able to consciously understand what was happening in detailed linguistic terms. This gave rise to a specific formalization of the process. Over time, NLP has allowed many people to achieve excellent results hence the popularity of NLP in therapy, business and human resources, and personal development.

NLP can allow you to be involved in a positive spiral of experience. Find a good source, try the process for yourself and flexibly improve towards excellence. The positive evidence will be undeniable.

Note: Everyone will have their own view of what NLP is. Feel free to comment.