NLP At Work : The Difference That Makes the Difference in Business

Outcome-oriented organizations

set market trends

success for long. The climate inside a company of this style is

typically one of tension and worry.

When Unipart managed a turnaround of its business against all

market predictions, it did a number of things. One was to change

the way that it ran meetings. Managers recognized that the

emphasis in their meetings previously had been on problems,

even though they were nominally called progress meetings. They

acknowledged that they did not consider or imagine what they

really wanted from their meetings or their projects prior to

considering how to get there. So they began every meeting with

a discussion of what they did really want—an outcome.

Outcome-oriented organizations, on the other hand, have a

clear vision of where they are heading. This is an expression of

what the employees in the company really want. Because of

this there is a high level of motivation and commitment to the

future. Staff enjoy their work. The vision is an inspiration both

to those who work within the company and to those with whom

they come into contact, their customers, and their suppliers.

This style of company sets market trends. It influences its

customers to move forward with it to their vision of the future.

Outcome-oriented companies are innovative and influential.

They do take account of market trends, the economic climate,

and competitors, but they do this in the context of having a

clear, compelling outcome and business plan.

Lentern Aircraft, discussed in Chapter 13, is a family business

making components for aircraft. The family spirit extended to

everyone in the business and the members of the board

especially had a strong rapport with each other. They decided to

invest in their development as leaders and underwent several

teambuilding exercises that strengthened rapport even further.

They then took time out to imagine the outcomes for the

business. Collectively they imagined what future they wanted for

the business so that they could see, hear, physically feel, smell,

taste, and emotionally feel what that was like. They did this

individually and then shared their thoughts.

The measure of their rapport was that what they had each

imagined individually was either identical to or complemented

280 NLP AT WORK