178 Part III: Opening the Toolkit
Figure 11-1:
The logical
levels of
experience.
Purpose
Identity
Beliefs & Values
Capabilities & Skills
Behaviour
Environment
Although we present the levels to you in Figure 11-1 as a hierarchy, looking
at them as a network of interrelationships or a series of concentric circles
is also helpful, because all the levels relate to each other. The visual of the
model simply creates some structure and understanding about how it works.
In many instances, gathering information at the lower levels on the diagram is
easier than at the higher levels. So, for example, a company would find doing
an audit of the buildings (environment) easier than measuring whether the
values of the organisation are being realised by the leaders and employees
(beliefs and values), or assessing its image in the marketplace (identity). Each
level impacts those above and below it; the key value of the model is that it
provides a disciplined way to unpack the structure of your experience, which
is the essence of NLP.
The French have an expression to describe the feeling you have when you’re
comfortable in yourself and everything is running smoothly: ‘elle va bien dans
sa peau’ (literally translated as ‘she goes well in her own skin’). Similarly,
NLPers use the word congruence to describe precisely how you are when
you’re truly being yourself. The term means that you’re comfortably on track,
and consistent. The logical levels of environment, behaviour, capability,
beliefs and values, identity, and purpose are all lined up. Look out for this
alignment in organisations as well as people. When companies or individu-
als are going through periods of change, some misalignment is likely to exist.
People may behave in unpredictable ways that aren’t a true reflection of what
they really believe is right or fits with their true identity.
