Thursday, 25 February 2010

Neuro-linguistic programming

Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) advocates people have logical levels that they work at:
  • environment
  • behaviour
  • capability
  • beliefs
  • identity
I'm not sure what the logic is and they seem not levels to me but more systemically interlinked. I wonder how they relate to engagement and if the personal intersects with the organisational level. So I have attempted to match the levels to what I see on IT projects.

Environment (where, when, with what?) is an office, usually, but can be a cafe, the car park, a bookshop, the pub or even a local hospital. It's usually week days.
Behaviour (what?) is listening, talking, writing, reading, but do they watch each other?
Capability (how?). The capabilities of my interviewees include management skills, project management, software development, testing, strategy development
Beliefs ( why?). People have values like believing that they are providing something for the nation or investing their efforts in something important for the government, and thus for the nation.
Identity (who?). Some people have expressed their identity, as in "I'm public servant" but more of them say what they do, or what their role is than who they are.

If these are system levels, then intervening at one level should cause change at another, so I suspect consultancy companies train their staff in NLP techniques.

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