194 Part III: Opening the Toolkit
Perhaps you ask yourself from time to time, ‘Why am I successful in some
areas of my life and not as successful in others?’ Well, you may find that
you’re simply using less-effective strategies in those less-successful areas.
The great thing is that when you realise that you’re running a strategy, you
can more easily develop the tools to change those strategies that are less
effective. Even better, you can find someone else’s strategy that works well
and copy it!
In this chapter you discover the mechanics behind your behaviours, and
armed with this information you can add, modify, or delete your strategies to
put you in the driving seat of your life.
The Evolution of Strategies
The NLP strategy model came about through a process of evolution. It
started with behavioural psychologists such as Watson, Skinner, and Pavlov
and was enhanced by Miller, Galanter, and Pribram, who were cognitive psy-
chologists, before being refined by NLP’s founding fathers, Grinder
and Bandler.
The S–R model
Back in the early part of the 20th century, behavioural psychologists based
their work on the study of human and animal behaviour. They proposed that
people either respond to a stimulus or develop a response through condi-
tioning or reinforcement. The most famous of the studies was that of Pavlov
and his dogs. The dogs heard a bell that they associated with the arrival of
food (stimulus) and therefore salivated (response). Ultimately, the dogs sali-
vated merely at the sound of the bell (without the food). A behaviourist may
argue that humans simply respond to stimuli in a similar way. For example,
when John’s baby gurgles and smiles (stimulus), John feels a warm glow
(response), or when Mark sees a homeless person on the pavement (stimu-
lus), he reaches for spare coins in his pocket (response).
Although behaviourist ideas remain influential in modifying behaviour,
most people generally agree that humans have more sophisticated powers
of thought.
The TOTE model
Miller, Galanter, and Pribram built on the S–R model of behaviourism and
presented the TOTE (Test, Operate, Test, Exit) model, which is illustrated in
Figure 12-1. The TOTE model works on the principle that you have a goal in
