I was first introduced to Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) by Alaric Naiman (http://www.transitionstates.com/index.html)while I was working at NIKE. Alaric was a consultant who had the coolest job I had ever heard of. We became fast friends and he suggested that I explore NLP. I went straight to the bookstore and picked up a few of Richard Bandler’s books. I was intrigued. Alaric also mentioned that I might be interested in Milton Erickson and Gregory Bateson. He was right.
Alaric emphasized however that the only way to really “get it” though was to go to a training. So I signed up for a weekend with Lindagail Campbell and I was blown away. One of the most tangible outputs of that first weekend was an “outcome frame” that I worked through with an amazing trainer named Beverly.
In NLP, defining an outcome is an essential step toward achieving any goal. It must be stated in the positive, be completely under your control, of an appropriate size (i.e. not too broad), ecological (i.e. congruent with the system to which you belong) and recognizable in specific sensory terms. You can learn more about the outcome frame at and much more about NLP at Robert Dilt’s site by perusing his Encyclopedia of NLP.
My outcome was something like “support myself doing the work I want to do”. Defining my goal through the outcome frame so clearly and effectively set in motion the most remarkable transformation in my life. Even before I finished the nine month course with Lindagail, I started consulting, discovered Nitinol and medical device engineering and began taking control of my career.
I since studied NLP with Robert Dilts, Richard Bandler and many other great trainers. I did two NLP Practitioner programs, NLP Master Practitioner, Trainer Training, NLP Health Certification and NLP Success Factor Modelling. I also trained with Stephen Gilligan and have read every book I could find by Robert Dilts and many others. If anyone is interested I could eventually publish my NLP bibliography on here.