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 models are treated as generic some 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.

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.

The Process of lean is well known from manufacturing in the automotive and high volume sectors of production. More Recently lean has been applied to the service and public sectors. Results have been variable and some organisations have walked away without any benefit and in some cases just additional cost.