The private finance initiative (PFI) is a procurement method which secures private funding for public institutions in return for part-privatisation. PFI is also an operational framework which transfers responsibility, but not accountability, for the delivery of public services to private companies. PFI projects aim to deliver infrastructure on behalf of the public sector, together with the provision of associated services such as maintenance.

For those of us working in hospitals trying the deliver efficiencies, the lemming like race over the cliff over last 12 years to invest through PFI has meant that the taxpayer will have been ripped off and public bodies have a disproportionate amount of fixed cost tied up in badly built estate around hospitals up and down the land.

Having played snooker a number of years ago, recently I have joined padiham snooker club in North East Lancashire a hotbed of snooker where players from age 6 to 76 play to a variety of standards. The club is run br Paul Rinaldi a former ex professional who is well known throughout the game. The revisiting of an old pastime is interesting as the standard of this club is much higher than other clubs I have previously visited.

Incongruity is often referred to when describing behaviour presented by an individual. Where an number of differences occur that are misaligned with the whole. For instance a person on a diet that still stocks up with unheathy foods or a person who is seeking to become less alcohol dependent that frequents pubs and bars every evening. The outcome may be desirable but the behaviour demonstrates a difference in purpose. Consciously the individual wants to give up but unconsciously the pursuit is to continue as was.

In organisations this is common where there appears strategic dysfunctionality. The organisation seeks to achieve a number of objectives that operate in conflict or where different groups operate with different outcomes in mind. The part,whole, larger whole relationships are critical in aligning all parts of the organisation in its direction to achieve common objectives.

In lean philosophy and practise the 7 or 8 wastes are referred to as the hidden wastes that can be removed in facilitating flow in a process or reducing unneeded resources. This results in providing a more effective supply chain to the customer as well as a cost efficient product. Here is an extension and addition to those types of waste that can be evidenced in the NHS.

Cost Improvement is now embedded in many NHS organisations. Here are some examples of the type of waste encountered in a typical organisation:-

Test the model, test the evidence! In Lean Methodology there is a principle Go and See! Go to the Gemba - which means so to the workspace or where the action happens. In modelling and NLP we talk about going to the territory. Go see what is actually taking place. Going onto the shopfloor and being present.

The modellers of NLP purport that is about the study and modelling of excellence,behavioural excellence. That is, you can model an example that is "excellent" then transfer the skills to others. Excellence seems one of those concepts that has been overmarketed and oversold in business. "We plan to be a centre of excellence, world class or leaders in the field." Not many organisations plan to be plain average. Excellence is presented as destination, a trait, an innate quality rather than an ongoing journey or a direction to pursue.

There are plenty of business modellers that have not been exposed to DBM (Developmental Behavioural Modelling) or NLP that have replicated similar business practices and products. Just look at number of coffee houses and fast food chains out there. Starbucks, Costa Coffee, Rizza etc are just very similar processes on a theme. Its not Rocket science selling a comparatively cheap product at premium prices. Faster, Cheaper, Better! For me if your paying £3 for your cup of coffee that costs around 50p they should at least serve you at your table.

Dont you just hate the standardised, generic, predictable, brand optimised schmultz. The same offering on every single corner. Give me the small, unique, ideosyncratic, undersold, underexploited offering every time. Let me go out and explore and experiment and discover something new rather than just another repeat experience in every nook and crannie. Id rather risk that potential really crap oily tea than the totally predictable mediocre beverage.

There are opportunities to develop language to influence in many different ways. Both DBM and NLP utilise language models to elicit information and to develop a detailed understanding of internal processing. How does someone model the world and their experience of the world.

Direct Explicit - What do you think about Google?

Direct Implicit - Whats the top rated search engine?

Indirect Explicit - Its important to be well ranked on Google?

Indirect Implicit - When your searching for important content you need effective tools

When some organisations go for a culture change they go directly to change their mission and values. Transformation rather than transition. Worse still they go for some espoused or aspirational position. In an ideal world this is how we will be, this is how we will operate. Sometimes little attention is given to how they got where they are now and why? Cultural change is often an adaptation to a change in the environment rather than by management design. The conditions have changed and often employees will just continue to make things work - just better!

This creates controversy! Cause Effect thinking can be improverished as a means for describing the world in which we live. It does create the illusion of making life seem simple. It is economic, sometimes efficient but often inaccurate. In DBM ® Developmental Behavioural Modelling there are alternative models to more accurately describe that part of the world being modelled. We separate parts from what were wholes, then stick sometimes rigidly with those selections.

Much of business uses cause effect tools to solve problems such as root cause analysis or 5 Whys model - a lean tool. These have mixed results.

Culture Change is never easy.Many times in organisations, the change required is described as a culture change. This generally means that the prescribed change should be applied across the organisation at both a general and universal level. The problem is it is just left at that. The change considered is detailed in isolation rather than a complete cultural design. If even that can be achieved. If culture includes everything then everything must be changed.

There can be few who would dispute that Richard Feynman was a great scientist, an interesting character and a true genius as a legendary teacher. Many of the foundations for the wisdom of the man were laid down by Richard's Father Melville. Feynman made this explicit in his writings and in his 1981 interview on the BBC progamme, Horizon. So what can we learn from this exquisite style of teaching.

When a client comes along, either an individual or organisation, they have often diagnosed the problem and created their own prescription for the self modelled solution. The prescription is a given and has not necessarily modelled accurately. Consultants and trainers are often pressured into providing a solution that is doomed to failure or at best just surpresses a few of the presenting symptoms.

In NLP exemplar modelling (1 to 3 NLP subjects) are utilised to create a model. Some NLP models are treated as generic some NLP models as exceptional. A generic model would use at least 3 examples with a differential description abstracted from the modelling process.

Milton Erickson the famous therapist and hypnotist was one of key people modelled, in developing NLP, and the result was the Milton Model, a set of language patterns that Milton used with his clients. Also non-verbal patterns were elicited by Bandler and Grinder. It was a significant piece of work but it did not capture the full essence of the man and his therapy. Jay Haley would be another modeller along with Ernest Rossi and others who attempted to model his therapy.

One of the biggest challenges when an organisation goes through a significant change is making the change stick. Ensuring that the initiative remains robust and in place once the conditions begin to move. The process of sustainability is often overlooked and the maintenance of change is treated as a given. 

NLP Training is now widespread and there are now hundreds of NLP training companies to select from. In the early days of the late 80s there was only a handful of NLP trainers to select from. So what questions might help select a trainer and get the best training for you? Some people argue that NLP has been focused on the commercialisation of the product rather than the development of the model. The modelling technology has not been applied to itself.

In a strategy lecture in Manchester Business school I remember the lecturer taking exception to the word "holistic". He thought it was bullshit in relation to an explanation of developing a company's strategy within a competitive environment. He may have been right as an evaluation of my explanation. However there is a skill in thinking holistically.

What is it that contributes to a exceptional performance by character actor? How does an actor model a character with precision? Well Michael Sheen gives more than a few hints in his performance of Brian Clough in The Damned United probably the best football movie ever made. Realism,the  nostalgia of 70s football (not soccer), gritty determination, working class charisma, 4 dimensional acting all rolled into a single performance.

Its not easy finding an actor that had trials playing for Arsenal as a boy and someone who has a close resemblence to Clough. A footballing mindset in a complex character. A man with more sides than most!

In Business we are constantly striving to improve the models we utilise.NLP & DBM provide a technology to understand those models more deeply. Entrepreneurs, Business Executives and line managers seek to develop their models with no formal training in NLP or DBM,modelling tools created to model behaviour. 

So how do we develop the skill of thinking simultaneously about a number of issues connected to performance? Well there are a number of ways. This is not something that you would find on a standard NLP training. In fact, it is part of a model that is utilised in DBM (developmental behavioural modelling),developed by Sensory Systems in Glasgow.

One of the major issues in facilitating any project or programme is getting sufficient buy-in from senior management or from the body directing the will of the organisation.  Buy-in is one of those terms, that is easy to the bandied around, but that it sometimes proves difficult to get the engagement required to make the program a success.  That person sponsoring the program doesn't understand the technology and methodology used and how can it be supported in a meaningful way.

Having attended a number of NLP Business Practitioner Trainings, many of them simply transfer the NLP Practitioner syllabus into a business context without much in terms of fresh models or NLP modelling that have been developed from the business environment itself.

About 9 years ago on a NLP modelling training course near Tottenham Court Road in London. Richard Bandler, Paul Mckenna et all presented a NLP course on modelling. Richard chooses not to give much away directly and explicitly in terms of modelling.

One of the main issues with problem solving in organisations is that each problem is dealt with in isolation. Then each solution is processed in a single sequence. The sequence often undermines the solution.