I really was a model! But not like you might be thinking! Oh, I did model a suit way back in high school but that’s not exactly what I am talking about today. There’s a saying from NLP (neurolinguistic programming) that says “If one person can do something, others can too. That’s the modeling I am talking about.
My good friend David Gordon teaches people how to do what another does. He is one of the early practitioners of NLP and is quite well known in the field. He was teaching a multi-day course on modeling in Chicago which I was fortunate enough to be enrolled in. My fellow classmates picked four from the course who they all felt had a sense of humor and I was one of the one picked. Imagine that!
Here’s what happened… they put each of us in a corner of the room and asked us several questions to elicit what and how we thought about being funny. (there’s actually a book about all this and this very case study)
When the groups were finished asking each of the four of us (separately each in his/her own corner remember) several questions they charted our answers on separate pieces of flip chart paper and hung them on the wall. The results were spooky to say the least. With very few exceptions, the charts were the same!
So what does this mean to us today? I know for sure, I’ve seen it, I’ve done it! If someone is exceptional, good or proficient at performing their job… it can be modeled and then taught to others! It’s a process that works!
Leave a Reply