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

By developing our ability to experience situations from different
perceptual positions we gain a balanced approach in thinking,
not only about outcomes but also about any other situation. In
situations where you feel there is little or no understanding or
progress, perceptual positions can provide a way of developing
understanding and creating new choices. This is a very powerful
technique for finding congruent solutions that are likely to
transform your experience of the whole situation. Putting
yourself in your client’s shoes transforms your ability to present
yourself and your business in a way that fits for them. It doesn’t
matter whether that client is someone you know well or
someone you have never met, and may never meet, someone
who lives on the other side of the world.
Perceptual positions are an elegant and powerful way of
creating choice and understanding in situations that might
otherwise be blocked. The ability to take on different positions
is a way of stepping beyond the limitations of everyday
behavior and appreciating the different maps of the world from
which we all operate. It is a way of understanding situations
from others' perspectives. It is also a way of removing yourself
from the emotions of a situation when you need to be able to
think in a more detached and objective way about what is
going on. And it is a way of getting in touch with your own
feelings and desires.
The balanced use of these positions, either as an individual
or as a company, gives you flexibility and an increased chance of
achieving a win/win outcome to which all parties are committed.

NEGOTIATE YOUR WAY THROUGH LIFE: PERCEPTUAL POSITIONS 323

SUMMARY

THOUGHT PROVOKERS

1 What could be the positive intention toward you of the following

behaviors:

aYour manager refuses to let you take on the extra responsibility

you have requested.

b A colleague appears not to listen to what you have to say.

c The senior management team in your company reorganizes the

structure of the company just as you were beginning to feel

settled and secure.