At another time you can ask a question other than the one your body answers automatically when confronted with that charging elephant, Confronted with a charging elephant the issue is one of survival. Seeing the big picture is important, and so is filling in the details. It’s essential to be able to do both and it’s essential to know when to do so. Like using a zoom lens, to zoom in or out. One of the key principles of NLP is flexibility, knowing what question to ask and when, being willing and able to change your perspective and acting accordingly. Knowing why the elephant is charging may be useful information, even though it’s not the first question to ask. NLP is concerned first with how to move from A to B, how to get out of the way of that charging elephant, and how to stay out of the way. For example, a person standing in front of a charging elephant needs to know how to get out of the way. Part of it has to do with looking for the big picture, looking at what works, howit works, and then finding ways to change your own actions based on that, in order to get more effective results for yourself. All those amazing techniques are simply the products of NLP. I was speaking to someone today about Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP), and saying how people get confused by the many brilliant techniques it is known for, and think that’s what NLP is. They are all looking at the same animal, but they assume that theirs is the only possible position on which to stand. It’s like three people arguing about the shape of an elephant, one looking at it head-on, one from the side, and one from the rear. and it soon becomes clear that most of the arguments are based on unexamined assumptions. Just look at any political discussion on Sunday television in the U.S. Asking “Why?” and “How?” finding new answers, and removing some of the imagined limitations and beliefs that had been holding us back. We can often get out of trouble best by changing how we think, changing what we think we know. If we get into trouble in life it’s often because we lose perspective. Was it the surprise of hearing a meowing primate? Was it the absence of fear in the eyes of its intended prey? Was the panther wondering how enormous the mother cat must be if the kitten was six feet tall? The panther turned and darted back into the forest, as though chased by an invisible force. The traveler began meowing like a kitten. How many ways can you use avocados? She was so focused on guacamole that she forgot to ask?Ī traveler walking through the Amazon forest realized that he was being stalked by a large panther. It was a breathtakingly clear example of how easy it is get stuck in self-imposed limitations. She explained by saying that there were no lemons for her to make guacamole. Once at a retreat at Manzanita Village, someone working in the kitchen threw out a bag of avocados. He was suggesting that big picture thinking could empower any plan, and usually allows for more choices and more options. Nanao looked up and said, “Hey guys, you know we don’t haveto survive!” He wasn’t questioning the value of what they were doing. While Nanao was sitting in a corner of the room translating his poems into English his friends were busy planning a local action to protest the proliferation of nuclear arms. The Japanese poet Nanao Sakaki came to stay with friends in California. If you’re resourceful enough you can make good use for just about anything. For many years, through the eighteen hundreds and into the early part of the twentieth century, photographs of the Tongan king could be found in houses across the islands, neatly mounted in an oval wooden frames. Western toilets were unknown on the island at that time. Many years ago, a cargo ship with a consignment of toilet seats was washed ashore on the Pacific nation of Tonga. Here are a few stories about the practicality of Big Picture thinking The King framed in a salvaged toilet seat.
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