Excellence Beyond Boundaries : General Information : What is NLP?

What is NLP? That is an interesting question, as there is no one definition that neatly describes it. It was originated by John Grinder and Richard Bandler in the mid 1970’s. They set about creating a new and exciting way of understanding self and others and did this by modeling communication experts of the time like Dr Milton Erikson, Virginia Satir and Fritz Perls.

NLP has 3 basic areas:

(N)euro - Humans process all experiences via five main senses (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, smell, taste). This is channeled through the nervous system, more specifically, the mind
(L)inguistic - How we use language and other non verbal communication, and how it affects us
(P)rogramming - How we use the programs that we run inside our heads to communicate with ourselves and others to achieve our goals

As it is an art and a science, there are many ways it can be interpreted. So, here are numerous definitions that when put together create a complimentary overview of NLP.

NLP Defined:

How we use the language of the mind to consistently achieve our specific and desired outcomes
The study of excellence – absorbing how excellent people and organisations achieve brilliant results and then modeling that to replicate excellence
An attitude and a methodology, which leave behind a trail of techniques (Richard Bandler)
An accelerated learning strategy for the detection and utilisation of patterns in the world (John Grinder)
An opportunity for people to choose the life they want to live. By choosing their thoughts, feelings, words and actions at any given moment in time
A set of tools and methodologies to enable self empowerment

Most everyone can enjoy a good story. And as you read this one you’ll understand NLP better. And you can, can you not?

There was a young woman who used to work with a fabulous, quirky and talented manager in the Mental Health Sector. There were many occasions where they took a little time away from the challenges of clients, cleared their heads from their work lives and focused on the many other ways their lives were full and enriched. They used to swap travel stories and experiences and memories that had real impact on their lives. While they talked about adventures spanning the globe, and ways that they had developed and pushed beyond who they thought they were capable of being, one of the manager’s stories really stayed with the woman. It was Kate’s memory of a water bearer she met when traveling through India. They sat on the banks of a river one day as the Indian man shared a story of his humble and very fulfilling life.

Kate described that the water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water.

At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his house.

The water bearer told how of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.

He went on to report that after two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologise to you. I have been able to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house. Because of my flaws, you have to do a lot of this work, and you don’t get full value from your efforts", the pot said.

The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side? That’s because I have always known about your flaw, and I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you’ve watered them.

For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you just being the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house".

With that the pot smiled with delight and newfound knowledge in its ability to contribute in such a way to someone’s life. The pot felt joy and a real sense of achievement as he revealed to the bearer “Thank you - your words have changed the way I view myself and my abilities”

That’s NLP!

Guiding Philosophy of NLP

There are some guiding ethical principles for life, 13 presuppositions, which NLP is hinged on. They are central to all NLP theory and techniques. They include:

Respect for the other person’s model of the world
All behaviour and change are to be evaluated in terms of context and ecology (study of consequences of self, others, society, planet – the larger system)
Resistance by a client is just a sign of a lack of rapport – become a more flexible communicator
People are not their behaviours – accept a person and change the behaviour
Everyone is doing the best they can with the resources they have available to them – ALL behaviour is motivated by positive intention
The most important information about a person is their behaviour
You are in charge of your mind, and therefore your results
People have all of the resources they need to succeed and to achieve their desired outcomes – it is unhelpful emotional states that get in the way
People respond to their experience and not reality itself
All procedures should increase wholeness
There is only feedback – NO failure, just feedback
The meaning of communication is the response you get (regardless of the what message you thought you delivered)
All procedures should be designed to increase choice
The law of requisite variety – the person with the greatest flexibility will control the system