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Creativity and Ideas

For centuries, three factors have driven economies: land, labour and capital.

Now there are three new big “drivers”:

· Ideas.
· Brainpower.
· Information . . . especially scientific information. (From Gordon Dryden author of the learning revolution)

Is there a method to be more ideas and be more creative?

What is creativity? Professor Robert I Sutton of Stanford University says creativity is simply making new things out of old ones.

How to think for great ideas

A  program to teach yourself creative thinking

An idea defined: a new combination of old elements

1. Define your problem

2. Define your ideal solution and visualize it

3. Gather all the facts

4. Break the pattern

5. Go outside your own field

6. Try various combinations

7. Use all your senses

8. Switch off – let it simmer

9. Use music or nature to relax

10. Sleep on it

11. Eureka! It pops out

12. Recheck it

From my NLP training Robert Dilts proposes from his book SKILLS FOR THE FUTURE the S.C.O.R.E. model for managing creativity and innovation.

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Symptoms

Causes

Outcomes

Resources

Effects

The most noticeable & conscious aspects of the present state or problem state

Underlying elements responsible for creating and maintaining symptoms

Desired states or goals that take the place of the symptoms

Elements responsible transforming causes and symptoms creating and maintaining out comes /effects

Medium to long term responses to, or results of, achieving an outcome

I

I

I

I

More or less constant over time

in general less obvious than symptoms

Techniques/ operations

Positive effects reasons for, or motives for, the outcome

I

I

I

More or less remote origin in time

Structures sequences for applying resources

Negative effects: create resistance ecological problems

Maria Montessori

Some years ago, whilst I was actively involved with the project of ‘ecoles complementaires ’ directed by my dear friend Jean Noel Adolphe, I had to learn and to upgrade my knowledge in the subject. The ‘pedagogy of love’ used to be the theme developed by Jean Noel  as the differentiating factor between the normal school and ‘ecoles complementaires’ when presenting his project with the incompetent, non experienced volunteers that would ready commit to give in their time and energy to a great cause.

At the back stage of the organisation a fantastic team of committed real professional educationists ensured that the volunteers are trained fast and adequately to provide the learning that is expected. That slice of my life brought me to read and study Education, Pedagogy and learning. I avid read of methods devised by Jean Baptise de La Salle, Piaget, Montessori and many others. A new world was opened to me. I was introduced previously to this world through the opening of learning models of NLP. I was very keen on the accelerated learning methods developed following the discoveries of the brain.

For the reopening of the school year today in France, the French Radio in a talk show broadcasted the wonderful story of Maria Montessori. Did you know that in Italy of the 1890’s women were not permitted to study medicine in universities? Maria fought and managed to become a doctor. This has rekindled my interest in the marvellous life of Maria and the influence she had in the world of child pedagogy.

Aside from a new pedagogy, among the premier contributions to educational thought by Montessori are:

  • instruction of children in 3-year age groups, corresponding to sensitive periods of development (example: Birth-3, 3-6, 6-9, 9-12, 12-15 year olds with an Erdkinder (German for “Land Children”) program for early teens
  • children as competent beings, encouraged to make maximal decisions
  • observation of the child in the prepared environment as the basis for ongoing curriculum development (presentation of subsequent exercises for skill development and information accumulation)
  • small, child-sized furniture and creation of a small, child-sized environment (microcosm) in which each can be competent to produce overall a self-running small children’s world
  • creation of a scale of sensitive periods of development, which provides a focus for class work that is appropriate and uniquely stimulating and motivating to the child (including sensitive periods for language development, sensorial experimentation and refinement, and various levels of social interaction)
  • the importance of the “absorbent mind,” the limitless motivation of the young child to achieve competence over his or her environment and to perfect his or her skills and understandings as they occur within each sensitive period. The phenomenon is characterized by the young child’s capacity for repetition of activities within sensitive period categories (Example: exhaustive babbling as language practice leading to language competence).
  • self-correcting “auto-didactic” materials (some based on work of Jean Marc Gaspard Itard and Edouard Seguin)

Michael Phelps

True Michael Phelps is a great athlete, he has established a world record in gaining 8 gold medals at the same event. For me perhaps more than being an outstanding sportsman, he shows us the determination to target a goal and diligently and relentlessly work towards it. You will all recall than before the events he had declared his goal publicly and he made it. Bravo!

On good morning America yesterday:

Question to Phelps:
“What do you think separates the people who are merely gifted from those like you who in this instance, won?”

Phelps’ answer:
“For me when I watch other sports, when I watch Tiger Woods, when I watch [tennis player] Roger Federer, when I watch [tennis player] Rafael Nadal, the best athletes can compete under any circumstances. No matter what it is, no matter what the pressure, you can always overcome whatever is put in your way.”

Notice that he didn’t say “Superior conditioning”, or “I worked harder than everyone else”. In fact, here’s what Bob Bowman, Michael’s coach said on a completely different interview:

“It’s Michael’s ability to handle anything that comes up and turn it into something good.”

Bill Bartman wrote:
I bring up these quotes now because they’re just as applicable for a small business owner in Idaho as for an Olympic swimmer in Beijing. They’re universal truths of the hyper-successful in sports, business–and in life.

I almost forgot about my Good Morning America taping session as I sat there thinking about what Michael Phelps said. It resonated with my own experience of being a paralyzed 17-year old alcoholic. The same person who defied the medical establishment and not only later walked, but straightened his life out to the tune of becoming a self-made billionaire.

The difference between where you are right this moment, and achieving your wildest dreams may only be a matter of a handful of key shifts in your thinking. I know it’s true with me. I didn’t become literally 1,000 times more successful than millionaires by working 1,000 times as hard. I worked differently.

‘The difference that makes the difference’ is the nlp phrase that comes to my mind.

His physique notwithstanding, endurance may be Michael’s single greatest asset. He’s able to hold his stroke under pressure and when fatigue begins to creep in. From a mind over matter standpoint, Michael is also off the charts. His ability to relax, focus and block out the pain all at once is unique in his sport. He never seems nervous before a race, yet his intensity on the starting block is unmatched.

Nine Passion Liberators

You will recall on my previous blog where I revealed my EQ profile. In my strengths part of the profile written by Professor Leonard Young, came out: energy and enthusiasm as well as social skills. In a nut shell, my motivator could well be summarised in a single word: PASSIONATE.

The dictionary defines ‘Passionate’ as: having, compelled by, or ruled by intense emotion or strong feeling. Rightly or wrongly, the buzz words have been for a while : Emotional Intelligence is not it? To be moved by our emotions and to harness the intelligence of our emotions are now being taught.

Unlike the generation of boys of my age, when we were told, in my school days that boys or men should not openly show our emotions: on the contrary I grew up instead expressing mine openly. Hind side,  these open and un-braked expressions of emotions helped me during my days in dramatic art  to secure the top awards.

I would like to share with you now  the ‘ 9 PASSION LIBERATORS’ , so well described by author Omar Khan, and  used by world leaders to produce winning results.

Nine Passion Liberators

Here are nine ways to liberate passion:

http://www.leaderexcel.com/content/leadership/2008/0808/100808.jpg

1. Intimacy. Ask questions to probe, to understand, to articulate, and to listen. You’ll deepen your insight and rapport with others. Equally, let others in, help them to gain meaningful and helpful insights into your own values, emotions, and work style. Authentic relationships liberate passion, productive energy, purposeful debate, and powerful connection.

2. The right bull’s eye. Pick the right target for your business to deliver profits, grow share, and strengthen brand. Ensure your target delivers some larger goal. Finding the place where corporate passion, potential profits, and a company’s core competencies come together helps produce a shared, strategic vision. With everyone aligned, challenged and recognized consistently in synch with it, passion naturally flows!

3. Radical conversations. Identify three radical conversations that could be game-changing. Get to the root of such issues in a candid, empathic manner by looking at the larger shared aim and committing to it together. Such conversations achieve alignment, commitment, and breakthroughs.

4. Protecting possibility. Face the facts while retaining a sense of possibility. Recognizing limits in a positive fashion enables you to transcend those limits, transform them, or evolve beyond them. By framing challenges in broader, more varied ways, you may convert a seeming barrier into a bridge.

5. Provoking the future. Determine which past strategies to keep and which ones to transcend by bypassing limiting assumptions and paradigms. Co-create new options with key allies and stakeholders to formulate and realize a future that generates exceptional value.

6. Claiming accountability. Encourage all to take responsibility for building a desired culture. Discerning, real-time appreciation leads people to do more of a good thing.

7. Living vitality. Find ways to stimulate your senses, exercise your body, learn new things, unleash your creativity, solve problems, love and care for people, listen empathically, and concentrate on the most important tasks at optimal times.

8. Maximizing potential. Create contexts for expression of potential. Commit to the process by which you produce results. Know the talent profiles of teammates and develop their talents.

9. Coaching growth. Productive behavioral change begins with “doing” things in a better and more effective way, seeking synergy between “doing” and “being” for passion and performance.

Making It Happen

Make passion happen in four ways:

1. Make passion liberators a way of life. They foster joy, better results, richer relationships, and amplified brand.

2. Create a coaching and leadership culture. Create a dashboard for your team and pick the passion liberators you most need to work on together.

3. Hype it as it happens. To liberate passion, make a change, then hype it!

4. Remember that passion is natural. With the right relationships and targets, you’ll challenge and support each other to behave your way to your vision.

Change your mind and keep the change

Reading this week, Andre Comte Sponville philosophical works in relation to Time, reminded me of the NLP Time orientation. Our spatial representation of Past – Present- Future is linked to the vision and out look of our being. A change in the representation will certainly change our outlook thus operate a corresponding change in our behavior. Do you want to be a more future oriented person? Do you want to have a better Time Management? Read below an extract of the book: Change your mind and keep the change, by Connirae and Steve Andreas, my NLP tutors. It is one of the NLP books which I cherish.

Time Orientation
Let’s talk a little bit more about past-, present-, and future-oriented people, and how their orientations relate to their time sorts. For example, one person that I worked with had the past right behind her, the present directly in front of her, and the future going out ahead. Now, what kind of person was she with respect to time? If you try on that timeline, what will your orientation be?

Al: I’m not sure. It’s confusing.

Well, can you see the future?

Al: No, not really.

Not unless your pictures are transparent, and hers weren’t! If the present is right in front of you and the immediate future is behind that, so you can’t see it, what is your time orientation?

Sally: Present.

Right, and for her it was the immediate present. When she said “right now,” she really meant right now–this split second! Five minutes from now would be in the future for her. She had a very narrow sense of the present.

Now try this out. What if your future goes off to your right at an angle, so you can see most of what’s in each picture, and it gets bigger and brighter as it goes forward in time? The far future will be more important for you. You would tend to live for the far future, and respond less to the present and past.

If the near future or the present were bigger and brighter than the far future, you might experience difficulty with long-range planning or thinking about the consequences of your behavior, but be very good at planning immediate future events. Investigating your timeline can often give you some clues about how to change it in a useful way.

Carol: I started out being very present-oriented. My present was big, bright, and close, and both future and past were small and dim. We changed it so that I could keep all that wonderfulness of the present, but move some of that brightness into the next several weeks also, so that I’d respond more to the immediate future and get more done.

That sounds like a useful change. Here’s another timeline you can all try out. One man had his past on a line straight in front of him. His future went way off to the right. You know the phrase, “My past flashed in front of my eyes?” This man lived that way all the time. What does that do to your experience? It certainly focuses your attention on the past. Depending upon whether your past was wonderful or horrible, you might like it or not, but you wouldn’t pay much attention to the present or future. This is the kind of person for whom using the Change Personal History pattern will be very impactful, because he responds so strongly to representations of the past.

Carl: I’ve noticed that in certain circumstances I can focus a lot on the past. My past was right up here in front of me. So I just moved it over there to my left, and went, “Beep. Bang!” and slammed the door.

And how does that work for you?

Carl: Well, I don’t know yet.

If you now take this new timeline into future situations, you can get a good idea of how it will work, and if any adjustments need to be made. The ideal is to have some flexibility with your timeline–to be able to move the past where you can see it when that’s useful, and move it out of the way when you want to be more present- or future-oriented.

I think you are all getting the idea that in general, whatever is right in front of you and noticeable–big and bright, colorful, etc.–will be most compelling and you will pay most attention to it.

Fred: I’m interested in hearing about some useful timelines.

Well, the question is always “Useful for what purpose?” or “Useful for whom?” You’re getting a sense of what the possibilities are. Let me tell you some fairly standard ones. Most people have some kind of gentle, open curve, the way Linda has. The past is usually a line off to the left, the present right in front of you, and the future in a line to the right. Images may be stacked behind one another, but they’re usually offset or arranged at an angle, so that part of each successive picture is visible.

Deciding whether a timeline is useful or not depends on what your personal outcomes are, and what’s ecological for you. Saying “this is the right timeline” is like saying “this is the right way to be, and there are no other useful ways to live in the world.” A person’s timeline can make him unique. But if it gets him into trouble in certain situations, or if a different timeline would allow him to do things that he can’t now do with his own, then it might be appropriate to explore alternatives, at least for specific contexts.

Timeline Spacing

It’s often useful to find someone you think is very capable and skilled, investigate how she sorts time, and try it out. For example, people who are good long-range planners tend to have the future close in front of them rather than off to the side. We know a man who teaches business people long-range planning, and he’s very good at it. He has both his five-year and his ten-year plans right there in front of him, very detailed, and quite close. Ten years is only about two feet away. That works fine for him, and he really likes it, but when I try it, the future seems to press in on me too much. I want the future a little bit farther away and less detailed, so that I have more room to move in the present.

What difference might it make in a person’s life if his future timeline is really e-x-p-a-n-d-e-d instead of compressed, like that of the long-range planner I just mentioned? Try putting tomorrow halfway across the room, next week down the hall, and next month so far away on the horizon that it’s barely visible. What might be the behavioral consequences of having such an “expanded” timeline?

Anne: I wouldn’t be very motivated to do something that was way out there someplace! I’d feel as if I had a lot of time to kill before getting around to it.
Mike: How true! When I was writing my dissertation, finishing it was quite a way off in the future. There was lots of room to add other projects between the present and the completion date of my dissertation, so I kept taking on new jobs and putting off the dissertation. When I finally realized what was happening, I “reeled in” the deadline until it was so close to the present that there wasn’t enough room to add anything in between. Any new projects had to get added on after the dissertation was done.
Nice! That’s a good illustration of how compressing a timeline can help someone meet deadlines.

Lars: I think I need to do the opposite. My future is all bunched up close, and I always feel like the future is pressing in on me. When I spread it out a little more, I feel much more relaxed.

You look as if that might lower your blood pressure 30 points. Let’s check carefully for ecology, though. Imagine taking this new spread-out timeline with you through the next day . . . and the next week . . . Can you still get the things done you want to get done? Or are you too “laid back”?

Lars: No, not at all. In fact I think I can plan and schedule better. Before, my future was so bunched up that I couldn’t really see it to plan very well.

That sounds good. We’ve also noticed that for some people, having a long-range future that is filled with big bright goals literally gives them “something to live for” and they’re more apt to stay alive! One study on cancer patients found that survivors are apt to be future-oriented, whereas non-survivors are past-oriented.

Bob: I used to be much more future-oriented than I am now. In the past couple of years I’ve slowed down, and my future seems to be less clear than the way it was before. There are obviously advantages and disadvantages.

Absolutely. If you are too fixated on the future, you may not be taking care of things in the present. You may not notice that you’re having a lousy time now, and that your family’s having a lousy time, too. On the other hand, if all your attention is on having fun in the present, you won’t notice the future consequences, and your future won’t be as enjoyable as it could be. Depending on the consequences you ignore, it could be a lot shorter, too!

Sour Regency AGM

I took a lesson last night at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Regency Square Syndic meeting. Perhaps, it was a well learned lesson in humility and a trim to my overlarge ego. It took me some time to get to sleep after I climbed on my bed, my mind kept running like an engine. I could not stop myself from reflecting on the 3hours and a half session with my fellow co- owners. I was drained and felt non resourceful after attending to two of the co-owners. I really had to make a very special effort to contain myself from busting my temper. I applied my turbo brakes. My self- esteem dropped. My feelings were hurt. I sensed the reptilian portion of my brain flashing lights to start off. How is it possible that I have landed so low? I had two cases to deal with.

CASE 1

To be accused of incompetence, I readily accept, as nobody is perfect. But to accuse the Conseil Syndical under my chairmanship of cooking the books with the Syndic in public, ( which of course is false and unfounded)and taking us to task on a transparency issue, just because he was refused the right to take a copy of the accounts was really too much. Especially after the steps taken last year to change the bye- laws to give the Conseil Syndical additional powers to control closely the Syndic, we felt that our good faith was targeted. This was beyond my understanding! I could not read the motivation that drove such actions, in spite of all the supposedly knowledge & competencies (NLP) I have acquired in human behavior. The night through, in my mind, I scanned back to the past scene many times to identify signs and markers that I could possibly attribute to this unexplained behavior. I could not find a sensible answer. What has made this grieved soul so sour to accuse us? Is it possible that we inadvertedly caused him some pain? What has triggered such a foray to my integrity as well as that of the Conseil members? From my previous dealings with this fellow owner, I could only term him as eccentric and full of ego. I had the intuition that the AGM would be a tough one. (Refer to my previous blog on co-propriete).Luckily, I took the precaution not to chair the AGM and to avail of the possibility of nominating a meeting chairman. In the end, the incomprehensive behavior got the other owners to rally against him to bully him: I felt sorry for him.Why would somebody otherwise so intelligent get himself in such a predicament?

CASE 2

The second ache was caused by another co-owner who, according to me, was easy to deal with. From my past interactions with him, I had read his recurrent motives and have remedies for his unwanted behaviors. He only needs to be in the limelight and for this; he would take the floor on any subjects. Any experienced chairperson knows how to deal with over bloated characters with a voracious need for recognition and how to give them a rope to hang themselves. In addition,my impatience grew to break point level last night because the appointed chairman did not act fast enough to contain him.He souped up the precious time of all and got every body bored with his trivia. In hindsight, I have to admit that I should have briefed the acting chairperson beforehand.

Writing this blog now and sharing my heart, I feel, is my therapy for soothing the sour taste of last night.

How to Derive a Well-Formed Outcome

  1. What do I want?

Ask this question about the context you are considering. State what you want in positive terms, ie what do you want, and what do you want it to do? Where do you want it? When do you want it? Eg ‘I want to be, do or have X’. If the answer forms as ‘I do not want…’ then ask, ‘What do I want instead of …’.

  1. Is it achievable?

Is it possible for a human being to achieve the outcome? If it has been done by someone, then in theory it can be done by you, too. If you are the first, find out if it is possible.

  1. What will I accept as evidence that I have achieved my outcome?

What evidence will you accept that lets you know when you have the outcome? Ensure that your evidence criteria are described in sensory based terms ie: That which you can see, hear and/or touch that proves to you and/or third parties that you have done what you set out to do.

  1. Is achieving this outcome within my control?

Is it under your control, ie can you, personally do, authorise or arrange it? Anything outside your control is not ‘well formed’. Instructing your broker is within your control. So is buying in expertise. Asking your employer for time off is not. The time off will only become well formed if it is granted.

  1. Are the costs and consequences of obtaining this outcome acceptable?

Ensure that the outcome is worth the time, outlay and effort involved in achieving it, and that impact on third parties or the environment is accounted for.

  1. Do I have all the resources I need to achieve my outcome?

Do you have or can you obtain all the resources, both tangible and intangible that you need to achieve your outcome? Resources include knowledge, beliefs, objects, premises, people, money, time.

  1. If I could have it now, would I take it?

Are all costs and consequences of achieving your outcome, including the time involved, acceptable to you and anyone else affected by it? This is known as ecology. Consider the costs, consequences, environmental and third party impact of having the outcome.

This is an NLP version of SMART goals.You will recall on my earlier blog Practice Practice Practice where I write on goal setting.

SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY of Albert Bandura

Most entrepreneurs and more importantly marketers are in the business of influencing consumers to buy and consume their product or services. The basics principles of Attention, Retention, Motivation and Action have been the subject of deep study and publishing by Albert Bandura under his Social Learning Theory. I came to know the works of Bandura because of my reading on human behavior in respect of Modeling behavior and Learning in the business world.

Of particular interest to me today is Albert Bandura’s comments on the effect of Television in the mounting violence and aggressiveness of the society. Are we experiencing now greater violence than a few decades ago? Are we subjected to more sexual aggression? The story of Tyler Richie as accounted by the author is very telling. More so; Albert Bandura supported his theory with experiments and serious studies. I recommend you to read chapter 31 and to promote the reading his theory to our journalists and media.

Drugs addictions, violence in all its forms, pornography suggestive or otherwise are all gaining grounds in our society. Most of us, would not want to see the progress of these modern nuisances. We may well be encouraging and helping to the decay of our future society through sheer ignorance, by accepting that these negative values seep in. What do we hear on the radio and see on our TV everyday? Nothing wrong in openly talking or discussing these “news” items described in exciting formats it would appear? Would we be insidiously introducing counter moral values and unconsciously accepting them or seen to be accepting them?

“Bandura says that people learn from vicarious observation”.

“But arousal researchers note that people also get excited watching suspense, comedy, or sexy bedroom scenes.

In the morning news paper a fortnight or so earlier, the detailed description of the physical and sexual abuses that underwent a victim in the report of a legal court case was shocking to me. The news item was sheer voyeurism or sensationalism. Sometimes I wonder whether the motive of the press is for economic gain above all other considerations.

You will be glad to know that Social Learning theory is very much used in criminology.

Based on this theory,may be, we should support the campaign waged by Veronique Leclezio to ban all publicity on tobacco. Likewise, a total blackout on all advertising media should apply on Alcohol as well!

Fr. Luis Jorge Gonzalez

In 1998, I had decided to finish my NLP certifications and took the “NLP train the trainer” course with NLP Comprehensive in Colorado USA. Whilst, I was undergoing the training with Lara Ewing, Gerry Smith,Jo Salas and other tutors, I linked up friendship with Jenny Edwards who was one of the numerous assistants of the program. Jenny shared with me her path career and told me that I should meet up with Fr. Gonzalez who would be visiting Madagascar soon after our meeting.

On my return home, I immediately contacted Fr. Gonzalez, who was professor of the Urbaniana University in Vatican City, to set up an appointment with him during his visit that year in Antananarivo. He very readily accepted to register me in a 4 day retreat that he was giving to the priests and religious persons on spiritually and NLP.

There, a few months after, I landed at Itochoa, in a Carmelite convent in company of religious participants. A very funny anecdote happened to me. On the first day of the retreat or seminar, as it is customary, the participants were asked to present themselves. In turn, we heard: “Brother so and so, been in the Carmelite congregation since X year. I am presently in Y village, responsible for the orphanage.” “Father so and so, of X Company, chaplain of Y church covering the territory of Z district.” It went on the same format for a number of times from each participant. When my turn came I said: « Père de la famille YIPTONG depuis une vingtaine année, ayant pour responsabilite la gestion et le progres de la Famille composee de Madame YIPTONG et d une fille et un garcon » The whole assembly got out of the serious atmosphere in bursts of laughter !

Fr. Luis Gonzalez shared plenty of his experiences with us and the most I retained was the use of NLP principles to bring change in our life. He must have written some 60 books, mostly published in Spanish his mother tongue. Some of them have been translated in English. Later, he told me that he visited Mauritius some years before and had run seminars for the Mauritian clergy.

As most great man, he was very kind and simple in his approach and very soft spoken. Talking to him, I could feel goodness, passion and love being radiated from him to reach my being. Thanks to Jenny Edwards for the introduction and Glory to God for the meeting with Fr. Luis. I have a collection of the English editions of Fr. Luis Gonzalez books which I read and reread all so often? The one on my bed side table now is NLP Success and personal Excellence.

NLP Perceptual Positioning

In my last blog, I mentioned perceptual positioning and linked the words to the NLP University site.

A reader wrote back to me, to tell me that the term and the link is fine for guys who have the time to study the subject. Today, many of us are time scarce zappers he said. Give us the stuff in simple form!

For the benefits of those readers who are of the same opinion, I shall attempt to explain briefly the Perceptual Positions (PP). Mind you in a practictioner NLP course, the subject is taught for a minimum of 3 days. Luckily the concept is simple but to build up the unconscious competence in PP takes time.

These positions refer to the perspective you adopt, at some moment, to perceive your world, other people or your problems. NLP, “the science of alternatives”, shows you that when facing life and its difficulties you rely on different options to choose the perspective that suits you best.

You may choose, from among at least 4 different positions:

  1. Actor

You let the world in through your 5 senses

  1. Partner

You virtually enter into another person’s skin to feel through his senses.

  1. Observer

You transcend the 1st and 2nd position to observe another person and yourself from outside.

  1. Meta Observer or Creator(God)

If you are a believer, through faith you move into God’s heart to see the world and men with God’s eyes.

Surely, you can imagine how great men in history are able to choose from among these positions and make use of them according to circumstances.

If you want to be successful in the art of living, i.e. to keep life healthy and happy, you too need to use these different positions. For instance if somebody is aggressively abusing you and you are in 1st position, you’ll become his puppet. You’ll no longer be a person in his eyes. He’ll make you feel either very angry or very discouraged, as if he held the strings of your heart in his hands.

When dealing with a destructive person, a negative situation or a difficult problem, you should avoid taking the 1st position at all costs. Use the other positions.

On the other hand, before a beautiful landscape, a person, a constructive issue, you should open up all your senses. Take the 1st Position and cherish the moment, the here & now.

To enhance the understanding of your counterpart, don’t you often 2nd position the person? You need to get into his shoes to understand his perspective, his experience, his way of thinking.

The 3rd position also called the observer position, allows you to see things coolly and more objectively. It allows you to observe the interaction you might have with a counterpart and comment in your own mind the interaction. From this perspective, it will be easier for you to suggest ideas and actions to yourself that may lead to success. The 3rd position places you in a creative perspective.

The 4th position, the metaobserver or transcendental one, you can see the whole situation from a much wider point of view. Imagine being assisted by omniscience, omnipotent angel.

In a nut shell:The idea is to build in the Perceptual Positioning skills in your operating mode all the time. This will allow you in any interaction, to have perspectives: which allow you to feel your senses instantly (1st), understand your counterpart (2nd), comment, amend,enhance and criticize the interaction (3rd) and at the same time take in account a larger view point.