Lucas Derks

Niederlande

www.sociaalpanorama.nl

Power struggle in the social panorama (C2)

In the mediation of political conflicts the notion of social power plays a mayor role. Only when we translate ‘power’ in terms of cognitive and representational operations, we will be able to apply NLP-like tools on it. What visions, beliefs and social representations create social power in people’s minds? How are concepts of power transmitted from individual to individual, and by what communicative strategies can these be influenced in a more productive way?

The connection between politics and religion complicates the mediation of conflicts. It is my view that the social panorama model may serve as an important tool in mediation. The model focuses primarily on changing the images people have created of themselves and of others. People interact on the base of these social images, also in the case of dominance and submission. Deeper insight in the universal social cognitive patterns by which power is created can be invaluable for the mediator, especially when this is combined with knowledge how the spiritual domain influences power.  The social panorama model offers NLP-like techniques to reconstruct human relationships. We may expect such techniques to play an important role in conflict resolution in the future.

Modelling as a misleading ideology in NLP (D1)

Bandler and Grinder used the term ‘modelling’ in retrospect of what they were doing with Erickson, Satir and Perls in the 1970ties. The concept of modelling was put at the core of many definitions of NLP. Currently people like David Gordon and Graham Dawes do present excellent workshops on the technique of modelling. But from the size of the attracted audience we may state that however magnificent these workshops are, they play a side role in NLP.  

Woodsmall and Grinder both criticized the NLP community for the lack of actual modelling that is being done. 

My thesis in this workshop is the following: Given the marginal role of modelling in NLP, we must reorient ourselves on what the core of NLP is. Because it is clear that NLP develops on the waves of marketable workshops and not on new products of modelling. Many of the newer models in NLP cannot be connected to the process of modelling at all: Who are the experts behind Meta Programs,  Graves categories, Enniagram or the social panorama? 

Because I stood at the cradle of the last model mentioned, I am able to explain the methodology used for that. I call that ‘population modelling’. Will this help us to formulate criteria for what does or does not belong to NLP? Or will everything that attract enough workshop participants be NLP in the future ?

About Lucas Derks

Lucas Derks is an NLP trainer who lives in the   Netherlands  and who fell in love with the work of Bandler and Grinder in 1977, when he was still studying social psychology at university. To him NLP did constitute ‘science fiction psychology’: pragmatic and focussed on human subjectivity. Lucas scepticism caused him to deeply investigate NLP’s claims. Since 1986 he left his position as a researcher of museum visitors to devote his energy fully to NLP-type activities. Ever since he is a trainer, developer and writer on NLP. His mayor contribution to the field is the social panorama model. His book entitled ‘social panoramas’ is also available in German, Dutch and Polish.