Modeling

Modeling is the process of taking a complex event or series of events and breaking it into small enough chunks that it can be repeated in a manageable way. The field of Neuro-Linguistic Programming has developed out of the modeling of human thinking skills. The NLP modeling process involves finding out about how the brain ("Neuro") is operating by analyzing language patterns ("Linguistic") and non-verbal communication. The results of this analysis are then put into step-by-step strategies or programs ("Programming") that may be used transfer the skill to other people and content areas.

In fact, NLP began when Richard Bandler and John Grinder modeled patterns of language and behavior in the works of Fritz Perls (the founder of Gestalt therapy), Virginia Satir (a founder of family therapy and systemic therapy) and Milton H. Erickson, M.D. (founder of the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis). The first 'techniques' of NLP were derived from key verbal and non-verbal patterns Grinder and Bandler observed in the behavior of these exceptional therapists. The implication of the title of their first book, The Structure of Magic, was that what seemed magical and unexplainable often had a deeper structure that, when illuminated, could be understood, communicated and put into practice by people other than the few exceptional 'wizards' who had initially performed the 'magic'. NLP is the process by which the relevant pieces of these people's behavior was discovered and then organized together into a working model.

NLP has developed techniques and distinctions with which to identify and describe patterns of people's verbal and non-verbal behavior - that is, key aspects of what people say and what they do. The basic objectives of NLP are to model special or exceptional abilities and help make them transferable to others. The purpose of this kind of modeling is to put what has been observed and described into action in a way that is productive and enriching.

The modeling tools of NLP allow us to identify specific, reproducible patterns in the language and behavior of effective role models. While most NLP analysis is done by actually watching and listening to the role model in action, much valuable information can be gleaned from written records as well.

The objective of the NLP modeling process is not to end up with the one 'right' or 'true' description of a particular person's thinking process, but rather to make an instrumental map that allows us to apply the strategies that we have modeled in some useful way. An 'instrumental map' is one that allows us to act more effectively - the 'accuracy' or 'reality' of the map is less important than its 'usefulness'. Thus, the instrumental application of the strategies that we have modeled from a particular individual or group of individuals involves putting them into structures that allow us to use them for some practical purpose. This purpose may be similar to or different from that for which the model initially used them.

For instance, some common applications of modeling include:

Understanding something better by developing more 'meta-cognition' about the processes which underlie it - in order to be able to teach about it for example.
Repeating or refining a performance (such as in a sport or a managerial situation) by specifying the steps followed by expert performers or during optimal examples of the activity. This is the essence of the 'business process reengineering' movement in organizations.
Achieving a specific result (such as effective spelling or the treatment of phobias or allergies). Rather than modeling a single individual, this is often accomplished by developing 'techniques' based on modeling a number of different successful examples or cases.
Extracting and/or formalizing a process in order to apply it to a different content or context. For example, an effective strategy for managing a sports team may be applied to managing a business, and vice versa. In a way the development of the 'scientific method' has come from this type of process, where strategies of observation and analysis that were developed for one area of study (such as physics) have been applied to other areas (such as biology).
Deriving an inspiration for something which is loosely based on the actual process of the model. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's portrayal of Sherlock Holmes which was based on the diagnostic methods of his medical school professor Joseph Bell is a good example of this.

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