Understanding NLP – Strategies for Better Workplace Communication … without the Jargon

Citation

Zaman Ahmad, K. (2010), "Understanding NLP – Strategies for Better Workplace Communication … without the Jargon", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 31 No. 5, pp. 476-478. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437731011056498

As implied by the title, this book was written with the intention of making the technical subject of NLP, more comprehensible to the layperson. This is indeed a great justification for writing this book as there have been many complaints by people including those from personnel and human resources that the subject of NLP is somewhat technical, has far too many jargons and cannot be easily understood. This book was divided into two parts and 12 chapters as follows:

In Part 1, Chapters 1 and 2 describe the presuppositions of NLP which are basically useful beliefs and philosophies to have and live by. The authors have successfully adapted and modified the original 14 presuppositions of NLP and made them simpler to understand and apply. The authors have done a wonderful job at this. Chapter 3 describes how the mind can affect our emotions and therefore by simply controlling how we think, we can manage our emotions. Perhaps this chapter could be improved by making it shorter and simpler. Examples of practical activities, such as those found in NLP certificate courses should have been included so as to make this topic more lively and relevant. Chapter 4 highlights the importance of body language in communication. What is good about this chapter is that it points out that in NLP, we make no universal generalizations about the meaning of a particular body position or gesture. This is of course a different view from that taken by the school of body language. Chapter 5 mentions briefly (perhaps too briefly) about hypnotism and how it can affect the nervous system. Perhaps more descriptions as to what hypnosis is and what it is not, would be more beneficial to readers. Chapter 6 is somewhat incoherent and jumps from topic to topic. Chapter 7 introduces one of the most important topics on NLP pertaining to communication – the establishment of rapport. When the speaker achieves rapport with the listener, communication becomes easier and the messages are more likely to be accepted by the listener. Rightly, the authors stress the importance of establishing rapport. However, the technique of matching and mirroring should have been highlighted more prominently in this chapter. Chapter 8 advocates the importance of being able to influence others. Chapter 9, about learning, was not written well at all, and many aspects such as how to improve recall by simply altering the size and colour of the mental picture were notably absent in this book.

Part 2 contains chapters 10 to 12. Chapter 10 was about managing projects and meetings and motivation people and was written well with a more practical approach. Perhaps my most favourite section in this entire book is the analogy of the story about “Cinderella” to modern day office politics. Although this is not NLP per se (unless you treat this as a metaphor which is an NLP topic) I found this to be both interesting and insightful. Chapter 11 was supposed to be about personal development and chapter 12 contained miscellaneous topics. Both these chapters could be improved by having a common theme or thread linking the topics contained therein.

In conclusion, there is a justification for writing this book, in so far as NLP is a subject that is often not understood and worse still, often misunderstood by many. This book starts of well by modifying and simplifying the technical aspects of NLP. Important topics were included such as rapport and emotional control using the mind‐body connection. However, in my personal opinion, there is much room for improvement in this book. Perhaps what the authors should have done was to simply describe the topics in NLP, one at a time, and explain how these can be applied to the workplace. This would make the techniques in NLP much easier to understand and apply and readers would realise the relevance and usefulness of NLP at the workplace. Of course the really complicated techniques such as chaining anchors (useful for one to overcome the habit of procrastination) and parts integration (useful to resolve one's inner conflicts) can be skipped as these cannot be learnt from a book – one should attend classes. This book is titled Understanding NLP but the authors have included many things which were strictly not NLP (like time management), even though they may still be useful in the office. This will result in the readers being unsure of which techniques come from NLP and which do not, and this may have many readers confused even more about NLP. However, if readers merely wish to make a change from reading traditional management books or other self‐help books, then this book would be a good introduction to the world of NLP.