Monday, February 26, 2007

Learning from the Old Stuff

Hi,

I am re-working the Integration Program for our NLP Practitioner Training today.

Amazingly, I can still find so many new things to learn from those "old" stuff!

Keith
Explore, Exceed & Excel

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Coaching: Logic & Truth

Hi,

In coaching, we use logic and truth to help our clients to discover their blind-spots. Some of our participants in our Coach Training Programs find it difficult to comprehend. Here is an interesting example of logic and truth.

I found an inspiring story both from the web and books:


有一對老夫婦,女的穿著一套腿色的條紋棉布衣服,而她的丈夫則穿著布製的便宜西裝,也沒有事先約好,就直接前去拜訪哈佛的校長。校長的秘書在片刻間就斷定這兩個鄉下人跟本不可能與哈佛有業務來往。

先生輕聲地對秘書說:我們要見校長。秘書很禮貌地說:校長整天都很忙,恐怕沒時間見你們。女士回答:沒關係,我們可以等。


過了幾個鐘頭,秘書一直不理他們,希望他們知難而退。但他們卻一直等在哪裡。秘書終於決定通知校長:也許他們跟你講幾句話就會走開。校長非常不情願地同意了。校長嚴肅地而且心不甘情不願地面對這對夫婦。


女士告訴他:我們有一個兒子曾經在哈佛上過一學年的課,他很喜歡哈佛,他在哈佛的生活很快樂。但是去年,他出了意外死亡。我丈夫和我想在校園為他留一個紀念物。校長並沒有被感動,反而覺得很可笑,他不耐煩地說:夫人,我們不能為每一位曾經讀過哈佛而後死亡的人建立雕像的。如果我們這樣做,我們這裡豈不成了墓園。


女士解釋說:不是,我們不是要豎立一座雕像,我們想要捐一棟大樓給哈佛。校長仔細地看了一下條紋棉布衣服及粗布便宜西裝,然後吐一口氣說:你們知不知道建一棟大樓要花多少錢?我們學校的建築物超過750萬美元。


這時,這位女士沉默不講話了。校長十分高興,因為總算可以把他們打發了。

這時,只聽見女士轉向她丈夫說:只要750萬就可以建一座大樓,那我們為甚麼不建一座大學了紀念我們的兒子? 就這樣,這對夫婦離開了哈佛,到了加州,成立了一所大學來紀念他們的兒子,這所大學就是後來全球知名的史丹福大學。

This is a very inspiring story, but there are something really wrong with this story!


Here is our analysis:


1. Standford University was found by Mr & Mrs Leland Standford in 1891. Mr Standford was the former Governor of California. President of Harvard was quite impossible not to recognize him, because Mr Standford was already famous and rich.


2. The Standfords did lost their son. He was died of typhoid fever, but not due to accident. His son died when he was 2 months before his 16th birthday. It was too young for him to attend the Harvard, and in fact, he had never studied in Harvard.


3. The Standfords built Standford University because they decided "The children of California shall be our children." after the death of their young son. They want to provide good university education to the young people in California. At that time, all good universities were not in the West Coast (California is in the West Coast). They did not build the Standford University for their son, but for all the young people in California.


4. They did visited the president of Harvard before they built Standford. But not to request for a building named after their son. They consulted President Eliot of Harvard for opinion. They had 3 ideas: a university, a large institution in San Francisco combining a lecture hall and a museum, and a technical school. Eliot answered, a university. Mrs. Stanford inquired how much the endowment should be, in addition to land and buildings, and he replied, not less than $5 million. A silence followed. Finally, Mr. Stanford said with a smile, "Well, Jane, we could manage that, couldn't we?" and a grave Mrs. Stanford nodded her assent.


** The above 4 points are about Truth. A Truth must be supported by Evidences. You can find the evidence in the any book about the History of Standford University.




5. It was in the end of 19th Century when Standford was built. At that time, 7.5 Millions was a great, great, great amount of money. It is estimated that 7.5 Millions in 1891 is equivalent to $171,428,571.43 today! That amount can build a lot of university buildings. So, it is not logical. (Remember in the real Standford history, it only took them 5 Millions to build the whole university!)


6. At that time (and even nowadays), presidents of Harvard University were very well-educated scholars of great manner. They would not so rude in treating people. It is again not logical.


** Point 5 & 6 are about Logic. If you had already learned the 3+1 Points for Valid Causes from our Career Coaching Program, you will understand that both Point 5 & 6 are of Valid Causes.


When we get used to Logic and Truth Analysis, it becomes more difficult to mislead us.

Keith

Explore, Exceed & Excel

Friday, February 23, 2007

Personal Development: Good Manner

Hi,

I always think that I am having a good manner, all until I come across the quote by Wendell Willkie, which I posted as the "Daily Quote for Your Soul" yesterday.

Here is the quote again: The test of good manners is to be able to put up pleasantly with bad ones.

I always do my best to treat others good but am I doing the same when I deal with someone with a bad manner? I am shocked and I can't come up with an absolute "yes" answer.

Quotes are always great mirror for us. It gives us more awareness if you really read them with your mind and your heart. It is better than a coach!

Keith
Explore, Exceed & Excel

Monday, February 19, 2007

NLP: NLP is about Thinking Part 5 - Missing Perspectives

Hi,

This is Part 5 of our series of NLP is about Thinking.

There are 5 factors making "the Map is not the Territory". The first one we talked about in our last part is Sensory Channels. Here is our 2nd factor: Missing Perspectives.

You see what you see, but not what others see!

Einstein once said that nobody can really know the reality. It might be because everyone is just seeing from his/her own perspective. The more perspectives we have, the more reality we can see. But we can't have any additional perspectives if we are seeing things in our own position. We must shift position in order to see from different perspectives.

In NLP, there are at least 6 different Perceptual Positions that we can shift ourselves to get more perspectives. There are 3 most important ones, the First, Second and Meta Position.

1. The First Position, or the Self-Position is seeing things from our own position. Most of us get used to this position as we perceive everything from this dominating position at most of the time. Any additional thing, which can only been seen from other positions becomes our blind-spots.

This position is still very useful because the information we get from it forms part of the whole picture. But if you are too stuck in this position, it will cause you troubles. One of them is being too subjective. Another one is Phobia, the unrealistic fear. If you can see the same thing from other positions, phobia might simply go away.

When you are in this position, you see the situation and others who are involved. But you can't see yourself.

2. The Second Position, or the Others-Position is seeing from other people's positions. There can be a lot of Second Positions as there are a lot of other people, who can see the same situation. The more Second Positions you can gain access of, the more objective you are. Some people can get stuck in the Second Position. They think and feel like others think and feel. They lost their own self and sometimes co-dependency is resulted.

When you are in this position, you see the situation and yourself, might be some others who are also involved. But you can't see that person.

3. The Meta-Position, or the Observer-Position is seeing from a totally unrelated, imaginary person's position, just doing the observation of the situation, yourself and others involved. You see everything, everyone in this position. You are in a mindset of "this is nothing about anyone, anything".

How can we access the Others-Position and the Observer-Position? You must consciously and intentionally detach from yourself and move to these positions in your mind. Or if the situation is already over, you can physically move to different positions. After many times of consciously and intentionally moving to different positions, you will be able to do it non-consciously and automatically.

One of the key factors that makes people be able to move into different positions is that you must go into the Observer-Position first before you can go into Others-Positions. How can you jump from one position to another? You must go through the transition position of the Observer-Position first!

That means, when you are detaching from any positions, you tell yourself "this is nothing about anyone, anything".

BTW, if you want to know more about our NLP Practitioner Training, which is done only once a year, go to our website at www.excelcentre.net/nlppractitioner.html.

See you again in our next part of this series.

Keith
Explore, Exceed & Excel

NLP: NLP is about Thinking Part 4 - Physical Barriers & Sensory Channels.

Hi,

This is Part 4 of our series of NLP is about Thinking.

Let's me recap a bit. NLP is about Modeling and Modeling is about Thinking.

There are 5 factors making "the Map is not the Territory". We are going to discuss each of them in our coming articles.

The first factor is Physical Barriers & Sensory Channels.

We see, hear and feel to get the outside information into our minds. There are always barriers blocking our sensory inputs. It is always desirable to reduce these barriers, though this is quite outside the scope of NLP.

Expanding our Sensory Channels, Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic is a great way to enhance both the quality and quantity of information feed-in, even under the above mentioned constrain of Physical Barrier.

Expanding our Sensory Channels is of 2 folds. Both expansions can be done by intentionally using our Sensory Channels. Our sensory inputs are quite "passive" and we can expand them by actively using them.

1. Maximize our Sensory Inputs. We intentionally see, hear and feel more. We do not just focus on one single part. We consciously be aware of our Attention and consciously put our Attention to different parts of what we are observing. We can also consciously alter our Levels of Scope during observation to see, hear and feel more.

2. Using All our Channels. We habitually rely on a single channel, either Visual, Auditory or Kinesthetic (we call it the Primary Representational System in NLP). More channels means more information. We consciously use our "less-used" channels to force them to serve us. For example, I am heavily relied on Auditory in the past, so I consciously do more "seeing" and "feeling" during interactions with people and things.

Both the above takes time to see the results. Knowing something is different from have the knowledge. You need to practise it. There are so many people know NLP but not all have the knowledge to use it to enhance their lives.

Keith
Explore, Exceed & Excel

Sunday, February 18, 2007

品質最為重要?

Hi,

你是否認為現今競爭劇烈,我們必須不斷提升品質來保持競爭力?

如果你認為是的話,你可能只是看到事實的一面,而忽略了另一面。此話怎說?讓我慢慢道來。

黑膠唱片的音質比CD優越,但人們卻捨黑膠唱片而取CD;
CD的質素又比MP3高,但人們卻捨CD而取MP3;

書信比電郵有著更多表達空間,但人們卻捨書信而取電郵;
電郵比SMS更少辭不達意,但人們卻開始捨電郵而取SMS;

傳統電話比無線電話音質更好,但人們卻捨傳統電話而取無線電話;
無線電話的音質已經不算很好,但人們卻會使用令音質變得更差的藍牙耳機!

如果品質真的是最重要,上述情況絕不會發生,但它們真的已經發生了,為什麼呢?

因為品質不是真的最為重要,我們會捨品質而取其他條件,例如方便。

不要盲目相信或追求單一條件,很多時其他看似不是最重要的東西,反而左右著,甚至控制著人們的抉擇!

Keith
Explore. Exceed & Excel

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Problemology - How to Describe a Problem?

Hi,

I've just finished the Ericksonian Therapy Program last week. I like the program very much because I am not doing what most others do - teaching language patterns, metaphors, story-telling and even hypnosis. I tried to model Erickson at a "near source-code" level, i.e. how he decided what/how to do and what are happening behind what he did. I will talk about this "near source-code" level in my future postings.

During the class, one of the participants asked me how to help a client to describe his/her problem. A good question and it is very important. So even I did not planned to cover that, I talked about it on that day.

Clients come to you to solve his problem (no matter it is a therapy, coaching, facilitation or consultation session). If he/she can't describe the problem as near to reality as possible, it adds problems to the problem! It makes problem solving more difficult.

We all need to understand the Content of a Problem before we can help to recover the missing parts in the clients' description.

The Content of a Problem might include:

1. The Background of the problem, i.e. Time, People, Place.
2. The Unwanted Behaviour(s).
3. The Unwanted Feeling(s).
4. The Desired Outcome(s).

Helping your clients to comprehensively describe their problems is helping yourself for a smooth process.

Keith
Explore, Exceed & Excel

Monday, February 05, 2007

NLP: What is Knowledge?

Hi,

In my last article of NLP is Epistemology, we talked about the production of knowledge. Here are some of my ideas on Knowledge.

What is Knowledge?

According to Plato, Knowledge is the "Cross-Over" of Truths and Beliefs. When you believe in something, it is you thinking that it is a Truth. But you might be wrong. Then you might not be able to make use of it to do something successfully.

However, but if what you believe is also a Truth, then, it will become useful. To prove something is really a Truth, we need Justification. That means, one must have a good reason to believe something is true. However, the Justification must also be Indefeasible, i.e. it is impossible to override that Reason of Justification.

So, Knowledge might be defined as Indefeasibly Justified True Beliefs.

Since NLP only applies to Pragmatic Knowledge, the Justification in NLP Modeling is the workability of the modelled patterns. To make the Justification near to Indefeasibility, the pattern must be tried and tested under similar conditions as of the modeling process. So, for example, even one has tested a new communication pattern which was modelled from a professional speaker on many professional speakers, it cannot be classified as a Indefeasible Justification for layman speakers, unless one also test this on layman speakers, too.

I must admit that even such test had been done, it still can't be 100% Indefeasible, unless the sample size is big enough as a scientific proof! So, I never recommend application of NLP Patterns in clinical situations. Leave that to professional psychologists, who have been trained with scientifically proved techniques. But it can be useful enough for our daily life!

This also makes Simultaneous Modeling particularly useful. The pattern modelled is just applied for that person and situation at that moment of modeling. It will become obsolete once the situation is over. We model everytime when we encounter a situation.

Next time, we will discuss the Types of Knowledge and we can then understand what kinds of Knowledge we can apply NLP.

Keith
Explore, Exceed & Excel

NLP: NLP is Epistemology (Theory of Knowledge)

Hi,

Recently someone had read my article of NLP is about Modeling & Thinking Part 1 & Part 2. He emailed me and asked me what NLP really is.

This article is written to answer his question.

Firstly, NLP is NOT a branch of Psychology. Both the co-founders of NLP, Richard Bandler and John Grinder is not a psychologist. Their works can't be psychology. (Although some psychologists use their ideas and concepts in therapy)

Secondly, NLP can be best described as a kind of Epistemology (知識論), the Theory of Knowledge. Epistemology is the study of the nature and production of knowledge. It can also be understand as how we know what we know.

At the very beginning of NLP, the co-founders acquired the knowlede of Virginia Satir's and Milton Erickson's knowledge of psychotherapy through the NLP Modeling Process. Then, those developers of NLP modelled many different excellent people in various fields to produce different kinds of knowledge. These are known as the Patterns and Models of NLP.

Pattern is the single chain of behaviours, while Model is a collection of minimal number of patterns that creates result.

In today's world, we are facing Information-Overflow, but not Knowledge-Overflow. There is so much information out there, but not all can be used by us. Knowledge is the useful information that can be used by us. Learning NLP is to acquire the Knowledge of generating Knowledge. That's why it is important nowadays.

When you learn NLP, you are going to study at least 4 things:

1. The Modeling Process. This is the core of NLP if NLP is a kind of Epistemology. This process was invented to produce knowldge through modeling those people having that knowledge.

2. The NLP Presuppositions. These are the fundamental assumptions backing up the NLP Modeling Process. These help one to model easier and faster.

3. NLP Models. These are the results of NLP Modeling. Learning these doesn't imply you are learning NLP. Learning these models serves 2 purposes. Firstly, when you understand the very best models created by the NLP Modeling Process, it makes your learning of NLP better. Secondly, some of these models support the NLP Modeling Process. These might include the T.O.T.E. Model, Representational System, Eye Accessing Cues Model, Submodalities Model, States Model, Perception Positions Model and the Filters Model.

4. NLP Patterns. These are again just the results of the NLP Modeling Process. Learning some of them can make your understanding of the Process itself better. You can't learn all of them. There are thousands of patterns, increasing every moment.

In my next article of What is Knowledge, I will discuss withh you more on how to acquire knowledge more effectively.

Keith
Explore, Exceed & Excel

NLP: Simultaneous Modeling 同步模擬

Hi,

As I had mentioned millions times before, NLP is about Modeling. NLP is never about the NLP Patterns, NLP Models or NLP Skills that produced as a result of NLP Modeling Process.

No matter how many NLP Patterns, Models, or Skills you had learned (including the most famous Meta Model, Milton Model, Representational Systems, Fast Phobia Cure, Swish Pattern...), you still do not know NLP if you haven't learned and understand the NLP Modeling Process itself.

The usefulness of NLP is not just about modeling excellence in forms of Strategies and Models that we taught in the NLP Practitioner & Master Practitioner Program. It lies in Simultaneous Modeling of others and yourself during daily life. You meet someone or a situation, you can simultaneously model them during your interaction with them, all at the same time. So you can recognize their patterns and respond accordingly at each interaction.

There are limitations in any NLP Patterns and Models because they are the results of modeling someone else in the past. The one you are interacting with might not be similar to that someone else being modelled in the past. This is why some NLP Skills sometimes work while sometimes do not work.

The only model and pattern always work is the one you specially model for that situation - Simultaneous Modeling!

Modeling Excellence is not modeling excellence people and behaviours. It is Modeling to Excellence. Through modeling others, you continuously generate well-coping strategies to cater for the situation, you then achieve excellence.

I will incorporate this Simultaneous Modeling in all of my future NLP Programs. This is the Source-Codes of NLP. If you had already done my NLP Programs in the past, come and refresh and relearn (of course, at no charge)!!!


中文翻譯:

正如小弟之前曾提到無數次,NLP 是模擬;NLP 從來也不是 NLP 模式、NLP 模型,或 NLP 技術,這些都只是 NLP 模擬過程產生的結果

無論你學習了多少 NLP 模式,模型或技術 (包括最著名的超然模式,米爾頓模式,表象系統,快速恐懼治療,Swish Pattern...),如果你還沒有掌握 NLP 模擬過程本身,你仍然未懂 NLP

NLP 的有用性,不僅是我們在 NLP 執行師高階執行師課程中,教授的策略和卓越模擬,而是在於你在日 常生活中如何同步模擬他人及你自己。當你遇到某人或某種情況時,你能夠與他們互動那刻,同時對他們進行模擬,結果你當下便可識別其模式做出相應的回應

任何 NLP 模式與模型,都會帶有局限性,因為它們只是過去對其他人進行模擬的結果。

正在與你互動的那個人,可能跟過去模擬時的另一個人,並不太相似,這就是為什麼某些 NLP 技術,時而有效,時而無效了。

唯一能永遠有效的,是你特意為這種情況、這個人而模擬的模型,亦即是同步模擬了!

模擬卓越,不是模擬卓越的人又或模擬卓越的行為,而是以模擬帶來卓越。通過持續模擬不同的人事物,你可以不斷創建應對策略,用以應對不同情況,然後實現卓越。

我將在未來各個 NLP 課程中,加入這種同步模擬;這是 NLP 的源代碼,如果你以前已經完成了我的 NLP 課程,是時候再來更新重新學習

Keith
Explore, Exceed & Excel

Updated: Jul 9 2018