Paranoia and NLPers

I had a long conversation to someone today who found himself "banned" from an NLP newsgroup hving been accused of having a too confrontational attitude. As someone who was once banned from such a facility once for asking a few awkward questions of the owner who had a wonderful habit of deleting any posts he personally didn't like, I did have some sympathy with this guy! I pointed out that people who spend their whole lives online and in trainings often have a very limited mindset not unlike those who are attracted to cult like activities. In short they want to "belong to a club" any club that would have them as a member as that group mindset saves them having to think for themselves!

People often talk about "The NLP Community" but I have never found there to be any common agreement on what this actually is and it appears that everyone has their own versions and although "the map is not the territory" it seems that a great deal of emphasis is placed on "territory" rather than collaboration. There also seems to be a great deal of paranoia among many NLPers who "imagine" (visualise?) all manner of behaviours and motivations that are often at best a huge example of mindreading and not a great demonstration of individual discrimination.

David Crosby once sang "You know paranoia strikes deep, into your heart it will creep..." and from today's conversation it certainly appears to me that some NLP folks take themselves way too seriously and would do well to break the connection with whatever computer they are glued to, go outside, get some fresh air and interact with some ordinary folks!

There are some great NLP trainers around and some great practitioners, but the truly skilled ones are in the minority. The best practitioners are always in work and are developing their own approaches and style of working. Most don't have time for paranoia as they are focussed on more creative and rewarding activities!

Just a thought...

LOL