Capturing Expertise with NLP Modelling

At the heart of NLP is the modelling of expertise and expert performance. Most of the fundamental models in NLP have been created through modelling projects. Unfortunately this area of NLP is typically neglected in most commercial NLP training programs, which instead have an emphasis on a reduced set of NLP applications such as NLP applied to coaching.

In addition to making the modelling of expertise and expert performance a fundamental part of their post-graduate program – the Grad Cert NLP, Chris and Jules engage in formal and informal NLP modelling projects to capture, codify, and transfer patterns of excellence from exceptional exemplars.

For organisations this ensures that patterns of expertise and expert performance of the best people for a particular role are retained and transferred to others in similar roles. This ensures that models of high performance for critical competencies remain in the organisation irrespective of high performing people leaving or retiring. The transfer of models of expertise to others in the same or similar roles can support significant growth in the business. Past modelling projects include;

Modelling a Derivatives Trader

Chris and Jules were approached by a successful derivatives trader to create a model of how he made his trading decisions for ‘taking a trade’. The instruments that he traded at the time were currencies and indices. Having been a successful trader for over twenty years he had developed a considerable unconscious competence for detecting patterns in the market. Interestingly, one of the markers of expertise is that these people often have considerable unconscious competence in their domain of expertise. That is they may not be conscious of one or more of the critical patterns that they detect or engage in to do what they do so well.

He would consistently have very reliable intuitions of when to take or close out a trade without a conscious awareness of what the pattern was that he was detecting intuitively.

The Brief

Chris and Jules task was to discover what pattern or patterns that he was unconsciously detecting. And to make this explicit.

The Result

Through engaging in a modelling project they were able to capture and describe the critical pattern that informed his intuition. He was then able to describe and test that pattern mathematically and in practise trading the market.

In the following months he was able to show a consistent increase in his profitability in trading the market.

The trader they modelled has gone on to further develop his own model of trading.

A General Manager of the Division of an Australian Multinational Corporation (1996)

Chris and Jules Collingwood were engaged to capture and codify the critical aspects of expertise of a General manager in two areas where he was acknowledged to excel in;

  • People management skills and
  • Leading very successful Cross-cultural Negotiations

People Management

The general manager, an engineer by training, had been a trouble shooter and had a history of solving very challenging problems in the organisation.

His exceptional skills in managing others helped propel him into senior management. At the time when they worked with him, he had turned his division into a model of excellence for the rest of the organisation.

We created a model of how he managed his relationships including some specific patterns for how he framed his interactions when managing down, sideways and managing up. And patterns for how he thought strategically in managing the corporate context (culture and politics) for managing others.

Leading Critical Cross-cultural Negotiations

The negotiation party was involved with negotiating complex long time frame join venture projects with a party from a different culture both nationally and organisationally. This model consisted of a number of patterns applied to the following;

  • Preparing and Developing Outcomes
  • Designing the negotiation team and selecting key personnel for the team
  • Development of negotiation strategy including contingency plans
  • Team rapport and strategies for managing team members state during negotiations
  • Post-negotiation debriefs, celebrations, feedback and integration of learning’s for future negotiations

Learn to Model Expertise and Expert Performance

We teach how to create models of expertise and expert performance as part of our postgraduate qualification in NLP – the Graduate Certificate in Neuro-Linguistic Programming.

Engaging us to Capture Expertise

For further information about modelling or arranging a capturing expertise through a modelling, assignment please contact us.

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Learn more about NLP, read our Ultimate NLP Compendium of NLP

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