Chapter 11: Working with the Logical Levels 179
Asking the right questions
As you begin to gather information about a person or situation, consider
asking questions that apply at these different levels, beginning from the base
of the pyramid illustrated in Figure 11-1:✓ Environment refers to the factors that are external opportunities or
constraints: answers the questions ‘where?’, ‘when?’, and ‘with whom?’.
✓ Behaviour is made up of specific actions or reactions within the envi-
ronment: answers the question ‘what?’.
✓ Capabilities and skills are about the knowledge and skills, the ‘how-tos’
that guide and give direction to behaviour: answers the question ‘how?’.
✓ Beliefs and values provide the reinforcement (motivation and permis-
sion) to support or deny your capabilities: answers the question ‘why?’.
✓ Identity factors determine your sense of self: answers the question
‘who?’.
✓ Purpose goes beyond self-consciousness to relate to the bigger picture
about your mission: answers the questions ‘what for’ or ‘for whom?’.
Taking logical levels step-by-step
The logical levels enable you to think about what’s happening in the world
around you. These stepping stones help you to understand the structure and
pattern as well as the content of different issues, events, relationships, or
organisations, as we explain in this section and the next.Why is ‘why?’ the hardest question?
In her early career as a business writer, Kate
spent many happy years of corporate life inter-
viewing chief executives and leadership teams,
interpreting their vision, and publishing their
words of wisdom in an easily digestible format
for employees to understand.
The ‘who, what, when, where, why, and how’
questions form the essential journalist’s weap-
ons. Yet, only when coming across logical levels
in NLP did Kate realise just why some questions
meet blank stares, even hostility, while others
receive a warm welcome.When you want to know something about a sub-
ject, work up the logical levels. Start with gath-
ering information that relates to the environment- the where, when, and with whom. These ques-
tions are factual and so easier to answer. Then
move through the what and the how. Leave the
why question to last. Answering ‘Why did you
do that?’, which rushes headlong into the realm
of beliefs, is harder than answering ‘How did
you do that?’, a much gentler approach; or even
‘How did that happen?’, which disassociates the
person from the question.