Why add 'The Human Element' to your NLP toolbox? Ben Houghton

Have you ever been in a commercial coaching situation when the client has been doing a very good job of hiding from their conscious awareness the self-attributed thought processes that they were running in the background? As well as the many ways you have of dealing with this, would you like an extremely powerful tool that gives the client a little more control of the process and makes self-awareness almost unavoidable?

The Human Element provides a range of exercises and provocative tools to increase self-awareness and effectively elicit limiting or problem 'states' in your client without the need to 'Meta' question them into tears.

I'm not sure if you ever elicit limiting decisions from your clients: Usually after a degree of chunking them down on what they think or believe that allows them to think what they are thinking, or how they know, you are likely to arrive at a self attributed, comparative, unqualified statement like, "I am...X... or I'm not ...Y...".

After some time you begin to hear the similarities between these statements. In working cleanly with the clients language only and chunking them all the way down, I have only ever heard three different limiting decisions. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that these are the same three negative self concepts that The Human Element elicits.

My own experience, as well as my experience of delivering this to Practitioners, Master Practitioners and Trainers of NLP, would suggest that The Human Element can bring into your awareness unconscious limitations that remained undetected on your NLP journey. If you really want to be bullet-proof, why not make sure that you have addressed all of your stuff?

What is 'The Human Element' in NLP terminology and how can I utilise it?

It's a workshop that is rich with experiential re-framing from direct experience and living metaphor. Like all great workshops, it's not important that you believe the content to be true - you will have the opportunity to experience it through exercises that demonstrate the content of the model in a very real way, and attribute your own meaning to it.

You will also be licensed to use a set of 'Meta tools' that can be extremely helpful for coaching in commercial environments.

For the NLP Practitioner working as a coach, it empowers you with a tool that the client will pace the client nicely at the outset of a project as they will perceive it to be a 'professional' and valuable process. In reality, it's an elicitation of state - it will associate them into their stuff - and once they are associated you know what to do.

These 'Meta' tools 'chunk' the client down to the deep structure of their linguistic map on the neuro-logical levels of behaviour, feelings and self-concept, under three very broad nominalisations - inclusion, control and openness.

It is important to distinguish this from psychometric tools. The Human Element tools are used as an elicitation - without 'typing' the client or attributing 'meaning' to the results.

Isn't this a content imposition?

For the NLP Practitioner, there is always the concern that any psychometric tool is an un-ethical content imposition. Well yes, there is some content in the model and I would provide two answers to that challenge:

  1. It's less of a content imposition than:
    • Meta Programs (that are often used as a typing exercise and subsequently corrupt the practitioners' ability to impartially observe)
    • Content-based Values Hierarchies where the content of the neuro-logical ordering of the client is presupposed by the practitioner
    • Eliciting explicit limiting decisions thus presupposing that there is one
  2. It's only the Meta tools that are a content imposition: Will Schutz only designed the tools to empirically prove what he was consistently observing from his natural, experiential, content-free elicitations. Schutz himself stopped using the tools towards the end of his career - working only with
  3. The content-free elements of the workshop and the experience of participating with other people is incredibly valuable for any individual that has only studied human science from the perspective of NLP, providing an eye-opening experience of perception and projection in action.

Here's some feedback from Practitioners, Master Practitioners and Trainers of NLP:

I left The Human Element with the sense that something big had just happened. In addition to enjoying the vast learnings about myself and others I gained in the actual week of the course, my new found knowledge seems to be unfolding in my daily interactions like a Christmas gift that takes all year to fully unwrap. I felt the experience has given me a real, applicable insight into group dynamics and the quality of my own behaviour.

As a result, I have vastly improved the way I manage my professional group interactions with immediate reward - fascinating and very useful for any serious management personnel. Best of all, personal relationships and the relationship I have with myself appear to be compelled to a state of harmony! I read somewhere that maturity is defined as the extent to which you know yourself. Make no mistake; The Human element is a fast track to maturity, no matter your age. My sincere thanks to Noggin.'

Hiran - NLP Trainer

'I'm finally at peace - and the best thing is that I didn't have to wait until I died! I'm only 35 and thanks to the Human Element, I have a whole new, positive outlook on life, other people and myself.'

Jo - NLP Practitioner

'The Human Element workshop causes you to dig deeper into yourself than most business courses. I left the 5 days with a detailed awareness of my defensive patterns of behaviour and a way to change them. This work is key for anyone in a senior management role or anyone whose job involves getting the best out of people.'

Martine - NLP Trainer

'The Human Element allowed me to take a really good look at my defensive behaviours and the reasons behind them. I came away with a real understanding of what I needed to implement, especially in the workplace and I feel more focussed and determined than I can ever remember.'

Craig - NLP Master Practitioner

'I enjoyed the Human Element immensely. I found the pace and flow of the program excellent and Ben facilitated the group perfectly - knowing when to steer and question thoughtfully and when to allow the program space to work and trust the team dynamic. It should be compulsory for everyone!'

Karen - NLP Practitioner

'I loved the Human Element course; it was wonderful to witness the journey each of us took during the week. I was amazed at how each of us opened up and blossomed during the week. It was a transformational experience.

I was in the west of Ireland recently and I saw "Bongo" a sheep dog bringing a flock of ducks back. It was a beautiful thing to watch, he varied his speed, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, he changed his proximity to the ducks, he was sometimes completely still. His intention was to take them to a specific place, looking out for their wellbeing along the way. Ben's facilitation of the Human Element week was just as beautiful. I always felt safe and secure, as I moved in and out of my comfort zone.'

Mark - NLP Practitioner