Knowledge is my motivator. In Dutch we have this saying: One day without chocolate / dancing / friends is a day I did not fully live, insert whichever noun applies. To me, the saying would be, a day without learning something new is a day I was not fully alive. So, I am a very easy employee to motivate. Just give me the opportunity to learn something new. This means I was having a very good day about two weeks ago when we had a full afternoon of training.
It started very, very well. It started with lunch. So I was one happy little muppet when I walked to the training room, munching on an extra sandwich I managed to grab before walking out of the canteen. The trainer asked our for our assistance and I was very happy to help hanging up some flags. Until..... I spotted 'NLP' on one of the banners. I joked around a bit about putting that one to bed a decade ago and made some very bad jokes that would be even worse in English, therefore I will not repeat. The trainer remained eerily quiet.
The reason for his silence became apparent at the start of the actual training. He was going to introduce us to NLP. He did not even flinch. I looked at my watch. Two more hours of bullshit. I was thinking of the things I could actually be doing that would be more constructive.
I am going to spare you the details of the actual bullshit. After all, this NLP bullshit is just one google search away, knock yourself out. Let me suffice to say it was a mixture of linguistic determinism, incorrect (1970s!!) mapping of the brain, anecdotal 'evidence', arguments from authority, evasive answering and some showmanship. The most important bit of the afternoon was when Mister Boss told us that we will start working with this method.
That evening, worried I may not have been clear enough when I rolled my eyes and made nast comments during the training, I sent an email to Mister Boss. In the email I linked to studies and articles explaing the nature of NLP and basically debunking the nonsense. Thought that would be the end of it.
Unfortunately, I did not realize that the school had already made up its mind. In an effort to keep up the appearance of democratic process, we received an email earlier this week asking for our opinion. Mister Boss did not neglect to inform us of his opinion.
For pure entertainment value, let me translate his exact words: "NLP may not be scientifically sound, but it may be a good method regardless". I had, what one might call, an What The Fuck Experience. My colleagues seem to agree, which leads me to question their familiarity with the Dijsselbloem Committe Research. For Dutch readers: http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parlementair_onderzoek_onderwijsvernieuwingen
Every cloud has a silver lining. A few afternoons of bullshit training may give me loads of material to blog about!
Hey,I like NLP. I have a background in supporting victims of crime and am very suspicious of 'therapy' I have seen the damage professionals can do to people and the transformation that can occur from simple client-centred work by properly trained 'amateurs'. NLP helps me to determine how someone sees their world and how they process information. I also like the language element but I would only use it as part of a range of techniques such as Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy! Heard of that one?
BeantwoordenVerwijderenHi Philip,
BeantwoordenVerwijderenREBT? Never heard of it.