Knowing what you client wants really is important in a therapeutic setting. This not only by definition defines the goal post but also fixes and directs your clients attention – remember that old one ‘ where attention goes energy flows ‘.
Free NLP Resources – Well Formed Outcome – Compass by Andy Hunt
To Access the Free PDF of the Compass – go to the bottom of this article.
Over Christmas I have done some shopping at shops ( not on -line ) and for the most part it was a good experience. There were three anomalies to that experience thought. Each time I knew exactly what I wanted.
The first I visited was the glitteringly infamous PC World, after waiting 15 minutes to be served by busy floor staff talking about what and who they did the previous weekend I was served by a woman, who attempted no less than three times to sell me products I did not want nor had asked for, then she tried to sell me anti-virus software ( all available for free on the internet ), telling me it was imperative I bought this to accompany and protect my product and then tried to sell me insurance ( that most home insurance will cover ). Finally when I had rebuffed the unwanted hard sales attempts, they did not have the product in stock – this took in total 35 minutes.
The Second anomaly was at the wonderful Currys where again I knew exactly what I wanted. Again I waited a long time to be served, and when I was served, the experience was laughable. When I asked if the product I wanted was in stock I was greeted with “I don’t know” After a long pause I asked “Well can you find out”, the response was awesome “I suppose I can”. Understanding this mans english was really tough too, 10 minutes later he came trudging back eating a biscuit and said “I don’t think its in stock I cant find it”. Again I asked the reasonable “Well can you find out when the next delivery is”, 10 minutes later “I dont know”. I found a similar ‘demo’ model and when I asked If I could buy this ( he couldn’t find the instructions ) was told he did not sell demonstration models and I should come back later when it might be in stock. Not being one for recursion I left. This took over half an hour.
The third and perhaps the best was at the Toys R Us store. I bought two electronic games, and when I got home I realised the prices I had been charged were not what was advertised on the Shelf. I found the store phone number ( It is not easy to find ) spoke to a woman who said she was afraid to give her name in case she got wrong off the manageress! The manageress allegedly said it was not Toys R Us policy to give refunds – and it is the customers responsibility to check all receipts in-store before they leave. – Incredible.
Now what do these three stories have to do with WFO’s? I would argue that the share holders and owners of these three once great stores ( well PC World was never great ) so these two great stores want to keep customers delighted, provide great service and keep their share holders happy by turning a profit. There is seemingly no feedback mechanism to make sure the desired results are indeed being met.
Perhaps the three most important parts of the WFO is knowing ‘What do you want’, and then just as important ‘How will you know when you have got it’. The third component is vital too, a responsive and self correcting guide that keeps you on track.
Those of you getting more to grips with the meta-model will see clearly that the questions are simply ‘what specifically’ and ‘how specifically’
My first introduction to the WFO process was one of sitting down with lots of questions. Yuk! boring and way too cerebral.
My college Andy Hunt ( Practical Wellbeing ) created a process that utilises the WFO structure yet additionally involves some movement and a degree of simplification. The process is called The Compass
To access the free NLP resources – The Compass PDF just click here
continued good health
nigel hetherington
Communicating Excellence
Excellence in Neuro Linguistic Programming and Clinical Hypnotherapy
