| A passage from the topic of our previous issues – cybernetics – on to neurolinguistic programming (NLP) seems quite natural to us, not because of the associations with the word programming, but, rather, in spite of them. In the essay on cybernetics we noted that it is a mistake to restrict this science regarding the general principles of management only to computing. Similarly, plenty of misunderstanding and sheer mythology has surrounded NLP. We asked one of the foremost experts in this field, Mikhail Grinfeld, to help us understand what exactly nlp is and how it can be useful to managers.
S. K-B.: Let’s start with the origins. Can we prove that NLP hinges on a strong scientific base and shows respect for classical psychology? Many people believe that NLP is a sort of revolution that subverts its predecessors (which is quite in our Russian tradition).
Ì. G.: NLP appeared when a mathematical linguistics teacher John Grinder, together with a psychology student Richard Bandler, started to model the pattern of how the outstanding psychotherapists, such as Virginia Satir, Milton Erickson and Fritz Perls, worked. The idea was to formalize their work patterns.
S. K-B.: Which means, those people themselves did not understand how they worked?
Ì. G.: Right, as it usually happens in such cases. It is extremely important to understand that mathematics was part of it from the very start. The task was to form models and to teach those models to others. But, first of all, let’s correlate the notions of NLP and psychology. I think that NLP is primarily an interdisciplinary language of description, which can define such areas as marketing, management, and psychology, within the same frame of reference. There are at least three overlapping areas that can be defined in that way. Asides from being a descriptive language, which sets a frame of reference for a range of humanitarian and socioeconomic areas, NLP is a socioeconomic and humanitarian technology. What it means, in a nutshell, is that NLP can be used in various humanitarian fields where psychology and psychotherapy are just one particular case. But there is also marketing, management, pedagogy. So, when I hear that NLP means psychology, it seems incorrect to me.
S. K-B.: Once we have started talking about sciences and management, we can’t forget about cybernetics. NLP is associated with cybernetics unintentionally in one’s mind, as soon as one hears the word programming. However, this connection is quite superficial – if not false. In our previous articles, we talked a lot about the fact that cybernetics is not about computers, which is what almost 100% of the population think, but about management, and it appeared as a result of investigations of the most complex systems – biological ones. But are these two disciplines really connected?
Ì. G.: In much of its development, NLP repeats the way of cybernetics, from a pseudo science to an integral part of the modern scientific world. There undoubtedly are connections between NLP and cybernetics – both genetic (the same roots) and methodological.
S. K-B.: I know that many founding fathers of cybernetics were psychologists. As for such a unique person as Gregory Bateson, he was the ideologist of both of the directions.
Ì. G.: Exactly. The emphasis on feedback (pure cybernetics), working with logical levels – all of that came into NLP through Bateson. By the way, it will be interesting to understand what NLP is from a methodological point of view, and how it can be useful for management by comparing NLP and cybernetics. It will be possible to understand what the two have in common. Firstly, cybernectic concepts of the black box, the feedforward and the feedback are all part of an NLP pattern. And the feedback principle is superior to any algorithm. If the feedback tells you that this particular algorithm doesn’t work, use another one. Now let’s pass on to what makes NLP different from cybernetics. First, NLPists have got into the black box we call “a human head” (“subjective reality”, more correctly) and redesigned it to the extent that the black box can itself be redesigned. Therefore the black box has become more transparent. When preparing the interaction, one has to do it with regard to what the black box contains. The second important difference is that NLPists recognize the subjectivity of the black box. A person, from an NLP standpoint, is a dynamic, living, self-organizing system. He or she has their own sources of will, and can behave the way he or she finds appropriate. The NLP provides us with a tool for effective interaction with this ever-changing black box. It is very important because, if you look at management and marketing, the subjectiveness of a person grows and it is no longer possible to treat him or her as an inanimate system. Management models have to take this increasing subjectiveness into consideration, they have to become increasingly personalized.
S. K-B.: Generally speaking, subjectiveness, probably, remains the same all the time – maybe it’s just that the person becomes increasingly aware of it and demands greater attention? Ì. G.: Anyway, it is crucial to take this into account in management and marketing, and NLP provides a tool to enable this. Another important thing that NLP is based on (and I’m not sure if there is such a thing in cybernetics) is the presence of more than one point of view. NLP does not strive for an objective description of reality. Rather, it aims to create multidimensional models. The task is not to give the only “true” answer to all questions, but to create a controllable multidimensional model that takes into account various subjective realities. Logical levels occupy a very important place in that multidimensional NLP model. They allow the solution of strategic management tasks connected with working out a mission, vision and values, and ways to influence the day-today activities of a company and to tie all the above with the corporate brand.
S. K-B.: To finally close the question of manipulation, can you say why this subject is raised so persistently over and over again?
Ì. G.: The first reason, as I see it, is a lame name. You know, at first nobody thought it would turn into a mass discipline, and it was given a name which was only meant to be used by “a narrow circle”. The second – and the main – reason is its methodological novelty, which is a paradigm that is different from the positivist approaches (which pretend to be an objective and, thus, the only “true” point of view). We posit that there is more than one point of view and create multidimensional description models based on various subjective realities and logical levels. You see, when there are a lot of “true” opinions and one person supports another, even though he doesn’t agree, he may be blamed for manipulation, from the positivistic standpoint. However, he does not manipulate; he shows respect for another opinion and works with it. The third reason is as follows: among NLP specialists, like in any other sphere, there are people who like to fish in troubled waters, they say: “We do manipulate, we do it skillfully, and we’ll teach you”. And the last reason: NLP is a fairly new discipline, and 99,99% of NLPists cannot say exactly what NLP is. They will repeat what is written in books. And the books say: “It is a science of mastery”. It sounds beautiful, but vague. Anything that is vague and lame frightens.
S. K-B.: And the final question: why may NLP be interesting to professional managers?
Ì. G.: Business owners and managers, especially those occupying top positions, often have to solve complex, poorly structured tasks that require integrated solutions. In my opinion, NLP is interesting, first of all, because it allows people to formalize and solve tasks with a complex structure, such as complex negotiations, strategic management of a company, or building brands. Secondly, it allows for the creation of integrated models that combine strategic management and strategic marketing.
Interviewed by Sergey Khromov-Borisov |
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