Creativity in NLP and the lack of?

Like musicians, NLP trainers and Hypnosis trainers come in all shapes and sizes. IMO the best ones bring something new in respect of creativity, rather than simply copying what they have seen and heard previously.

Some NLP practitioners take the skills they learn and then develop their own style and approach, whereas others simply parrot what they have seen in their original tranings. I have seen NLP Practitioners, Master Practitioners, Trainers and "Master Trainers" (remembering that this is an honourary title, rather than a representation of a level of skills attainment!) present some really excellent skills and in other instances some truly dreadful work.
The creators of NLP modelled the best therapists they found at that time and then sought to create and develop NLP.
When I set up www.nlpmp3.com the idea was to bring together people who have done something different with NLP and mostly the interviews IMO represent this element. However that having said, considering the volume of people who have trained in NLP (one London company alone claims 50,000 since the mid 1990s) there are few IMO really creative trainers and practitioners who have taken the core skills and done something new with it! (just a personal view of course)

My recommendations for great material in respect of products mostly come from a decade ago and personally its a long time since I read a really great book from an NLPer, with the exception of my good friend Andy Austin's Rainbow Machine and Steve Andreas's 6 Blind Elephants. Similarly audio and video material is often lacking in creativity and mostly has terrible production quality while remaining extremely expensive for what you actully receive.

Recently I watched some of the old NLP comprehensive DVD footage and was seriously impressed by Bandler's Perceptual Grids DVD, which most people will probably not be aware of. I have mentioned many times my admiration for Dave Dobson's material (although I would not call him an NLPer, but a really creative individual) which never ceases to surprise. When looking for real creativity I keep returning to guys who have been around a while and most of these including Dobson, Farrelly and others are not what I would call "NLPers".

At the IASH SF conference I was truly impressed by a number of individuals I had previously not heard of and especially Richard Gray who has done amazing work in the field of addictions, which is a tough place to work in! The next interview on NLPmp3 is with Alison Hirons who has been using NLP in teaching with great effect.