“Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.”
WB Yeats, “He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven”P
eople sometimes express concerns about the
“programming” part of the name neuro linguistic
programming, which may be associated with
manipulation and brainwashing. Given that NLP is a powerful
tool, they are right to be concerned. My approach with
business is to make the unconscious conscious, on the basis
that through conscious awareness we have choice. I also feel
this is in line with the business goals of empowering and
developing individuals through awareness and choice.
It is interesting, then, that the truth is that we are
programming other people and ourselves most of the time. We
are manipulating our own and others’ responses and we are
brainwashing ourselves and being brainwashed just about every
moment of every day. The problem is that without awareness
and without training we tend to do it clumsily and often in ways
that are at odds with what we really want to achieve.In a group of which I was a member we were discussing an
important meeting that we were due to attend. The group leader
looked at us directly and said, “Don’t be apprehensive...”Our unconscious minds are obedient to commands—we seek
out the commands in a sentence and ignore the rest.
Embedded in the group leader’s sentence was a very clear
command: “Be apprehensive.” I wasn’t apprehensive until theWe are programming
ourselves and others most
of the time