Martin Messier

August 1, 2023

The two commandments of NLP Modeling

Let's start today's banter with a quote from wizards John Grinder and Richard Bandler taken from the "grimoire" Frogs Into Princes:

"We call ourselves modelers. What we essentially do is to pay very little attention to what people say they do and a great deal of attention to what they do. And then we build ourselves a model of what they do. We are not not psychologists, and we're not theologians or theoreticians. We have no idea about the "real" nature of things, and we're not particularly interested in what's "true." The function of modeling is to arrive at descriptions which are useful. So, if we happen to mention something that you know from scientific study, or from statistics, is inaccurate, realize that a different level of experience is being offered you here. We're not offering you something that's true, just things that are useful."

OMG!

No idea about the real nature of things?! Not particularly interested in what's true?!

This is sacrilege! These heretics must be burnt at the stake!

Seriously, though... This paragraph reveals the two commandments we need to know as we set sail in our NLP journey.

  1. Pay a great deal of attention to what people do instead of what they say.
  2. Build useful descriptions.

Everything else either distracts from these two commandments or helps fulfill them.

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