NLP and Modelling: What Is It and How Does It Work?
Updated: 6 days ago
NLP modelling is the process of observing how skilled people think, communicate and behave, identifying patterns in their performance, and developing a model that others can learn from. Within Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), modelling is used to study effective performance and explore how useful skills and strategies may be transferred to others.
What is NLP and how did modelling begin?
NLP stands for Neuro-Linguistic Programming. It was developed by Richard Bandler and John Grinder in the early 1970s. Together, they asked a simple but important question: “How does one person get results while another person does not?”
Consider two students sitting in the same classroom, receiving the same instruction from the same teacher. One performs exceptionally well in an examination, while the other barely passes. Why does this happen? More precisely, how do their approaches to learning differ?
To explore this question, Bandler and Grinder studied three influential figures in psychotherapy: Fritz Perls, a pioneer of Gestalt therapy; Virginia Satir, known for her work in family therapy; and Milton H. Erickson, a prominent psychiatrist and medical hypnotist. These practitioners could not necessarily provide a conscious explanation for every aspect of their work. Bandler and Grinder therefore attempted to identify and describe the patterns underlying their therapeutic approaches.
What is modelling in NLP?
Modelling is a core activity in NLP. It involves studying the language, behaviour and strategies of someone who performs a particular activity effectively, then organising those patterns into a model that others can learn and practise.
The idea is that skilled performers may use distinctive patterns of behaviour and communication. By identifying these patterns, a learner can explore how to incorporate relevant elements into their own performance. The process generally involves identifying a skilled person, discovering how they approach a task, learning the relevant patterns and developing a way to communicate those patterns to others.
NLP modelling therefore focuses on how people organise their thinking, feelings, language and behaviour to produce particular results. It attempts to describe verbal and non-verbal patterns and make aspects of skilled performance more explicit. However, observing a successful person does not automatically establish that their behaviour caused their success. A model’s usefulness needs to be evaluated in practice.
What does “the map is not the territory” mean in NLP?
As the well-known phrase used in NLP states, “The map is not the territory.” Commonly attributed to Alfred Korzybski, it describes the difference between reality and our representation of it. Each person develops an understanding of the world through their experiences, perceptions, beliefs and values. Consequently, two people may interpret the same situation differently.
Within NLP modelling, the emphasis is on understanding how a person interprets and responds to their environment. Rather than assuming there is only one useful way to approach a task, the modeller examines which patterns may help achieve a particular goal. The objective is not necessarily to create a single, universally correct description of someone’s behaviour. It is to develop a model that is useful for the intended purpose, while recognising that usefulness does not automatically establish scientific accuracy.
What are the applications of modelling?
Some commonly discussed applications of modelling include:
1. Improving metacognition: It can encourage people to examine how they think, learn and perform tasks.
2. Understanding expert performance: Studying skilled performers can help identify behaviours and strategies that may be practised or refined, such as a manager’s approach to leadership.
3. Developing strategies for specific outcomes: NLP practitioners use modelling to develop techniques for personal development and other applications. Claims about treating phobias, allergies or clinical conditions require separate evidence of safety and effectiveness.
4. Applying skills across contexts: A strategy used to manage a sports team may provide ideas for managing a business team, although it may need adaptation.
5. Finding inspiration through observation: Arthur Conan Doyle’s portrayal of Sherlock Holmes was influenced by the diagnostic methods of his medical-school professor, Joseph Bell.
What are the levels of modelling in NLP?
Creating an effective model requires more than imitation. Depending on the purpose, modelling may involve examining several features of a person and the systems in which they operate. These include the person’s environment and circumstances, their specific behaviours, their capabilities and thinking strategies, and the beliefs and values that influence their decisions. A modeller may also examine the person’s identity, relationships and interactions with wider systems.
In NLP, these interconnected levels are often represented through the logical levels framework associated with Robert Dilts. The framework helps organise observations about how individuals and their environments may influence one another.
What are the three basic perceptual positions in NLP modelling?
NLP describes three perceptual positions for gathering and interpreting information. A fourth position, which considers the wider system, is also included in some NLP frameworks.
- First position: Viewing a situation from your own perspective and examining what you see, hear and feel. For example, when learning guitar from YouTube, you observe the instructor’s movements and practise them yourself.
- Second position: Attempting to understand a situation from the perspective of the person being modelled. In the guitar example, you try to understand how the guitarist approaches the song and coordinates their movements.
- Third position: Observing the person and their interactions from the perspective of an outside observer. You step back and examine their actions without relying entirely on your own judgements.
- Fourth position: Considering the wider system by combining the different perspectives to understand the overall interaction.
These perspectives can help a modeller examine an activity from multiple angles. However, imagining another person’s experience does not provide direct access to their thoughts or feelings.
What is the difference between implicit and explicit modelling?
When Richard Bandler and John Grinder began working together, Bandler had developed an intuitive understanding of the linguistic patterns used by Fritz Perls and Virginia Satir through recordings and direct experience. However, he could not necessarily describe every pattern he used.
Grinder, impressed by Bandler’s abilities, proposed a collaboration in which they would work to make these intuitive skills more explicit. This relationship is commonly described in accounts of NLP’s development as an important part of its origins.
Implicit modelling involves developing an intuitive understanding of a person’s skills through observation and experience. Explicit modelling involves describing and organising the observed patterns so they can be communicated and practised by others. Implicit modelling is largely an inductive process: patterns are noticed and interpreted through experience. Explicit modelling organises those observations into a more systematic description or method.
Both approaches have a role in the NLP modelling framework. However, intuition alone does not establish that a model is accurate, and an explicit description does not guarantee that it will work for everyone.
What are the three phases of modelling?
Phase 1: Observing the model
The first phase involves studying a skilled performer and examining what they do, how they do it and why they may approach the task in that way.
Observations may include behaviour and physiology, thinking strategies, sensory representations associated with VAKOG (visual, auditory, kinaesthetic, olfactory and gustatory), meta-programs, values, beliefs and relevant background knowledge.
Phase 2: Identifying what makes the difference
The second phase involves identifying which patterns may be relevant to the desired outcome. Questions include:
What behavioural patterns does the skilled performer demonstrate?
How did they develop their skills?
What distinguishes their approach from other approaches?
Which elements may contribute to the difference in performance?
These observations should be examined critically rather than assuming that every behaviour of a successful person is responsible for their success.
Phase 3: Designing a method to teach the skill
Once the relevant patterns have been identified, they are organised into a method that can be practised and communicated to others.
As with baking a cake, the sequence and combination of the ingredients matter. Similarly, learning separate elements of a skill without understanding how they fit together may limit performance. A model helps organise those elements into a coherent approach that can be tested and refined.
What are micro-modelling and macro-modelling strategies?
Strategies help organise thoughts and behaviours to accomplish a task. Within NLP, modelling strategies can be divided into two types.
Micro-modelling focuses on individual components of a skill, such as a specific behavioural, cognitive or linguistic ability. For example, a modeller might examine how a public speaker structures sentences or uses pauses.
Macro-modelling focuses on the different skills that combine to form a more complex ability. Leadership, for example, involves communication, decision-making, planning and relationship management.
In practice, modelling involves identifying people who demonstrate a desired skill, determining which of their characteristics are relevant to the learner, and organising those observations into a method that can be practised.
What are the steps in the NLP modelling process?
The basic steps of the NLP modelling process are:
Identify the people whose skills will be modelled and the contexts in which those skills are used.
Gather information through suitable methods and from different perspectives.
Examine the information for relevant cognitive, behavioural and communication patterns.
Organise the observations into a logical, coherent model.
Test the model across relevant contexts and evaluate its results.
Simplify the model while retaining the elements needed to achieve the intended outcome.
Identify suitable ways to teach or transfer the skills to others.
Establish how outcomes will be measured and identify the model’s limitations.
These steps provide a framework for studying skilled performance. The effectiveness of any resulting model depends on how well it is evaluated and adapted to the people and situations in which it is used.
Conclusion
NLP modelling aims to understand how people organise their thinking, communication and behaviour when performing a particular task. By observing skilled performers, identifying patterns and developing a structured method, modelling attempts to make aspects of performance easier to learn and communicate.
The process involves observation, analysis, practice and evaluation. Rather than simply copying another person, the goal is to understand the relevant patterns and determine whether they are useful in a different context. As with any model of human behaviour, its assumptions and effectiveness should be examined critically.
References:
Dilts, R. (1998). Article of the Month Page. The Article Of The Month. http://www.nlpu.com/Articles/artic19.htm
Gestalt, A. T. N. A. (2021, May 6). NLP Modeling. Anil Thomas | NLP. https://www.anilthomasnlp.com/post/nlp-modeling
The 5 Steps to Modelling geniuses. (2012, March 28). [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv0fyItbnd0
This article on ' NLP - Modeling ' has been contributed by Sukriti Bansal who is a student of Psychology from University of Lucknow. and peer reviewed by Saumya Joshi who is a psychology student from Vivekananda College, Delhi University.
Sukriti and Saumya are both part of the Global Internship Research Program (GIRP), which is mentored by Anil Thomas.
Sukriti 's future plan is to Learn Psychology and raise awareness in subject .
Saumya is a psychology enthusiast.
GIRP is an initiative by (International Journal of Neurolinguistics & Gestalt Psychology) IJNGP and Umang Foundation Trust to encourage young adults across our globe to showcase their research skills in psychology and to present it in creative content expression.
Anil is an internationally certified NLP Master Practitioner and Gestalt Therapist. He has conducted NLP Training in Mumbai, and across 6 other countries. The NLP practitioner course is conducted twice every year. To get your NLP certification