charles faulkner

8/14/2019 Charles Faulkner

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2007 Charles Faulkner www.influentialcommunications.com

Maps and Models&

Why They Matter

An Introduction to NLP

Part 1: The Premise

by Charles Faulkner


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The Map is not the Territory.

And this, essentially is what maps give us, reality, a reality thatexceeds our vision, our reach, the span of our days, a reality weachieve no other way. We are always mapping the invisible or theunattainable or the erasable, the future or the past, whatever-is-not-

here-present-to-our-senses-now and, through the gift that the mapgives us, transmuting it into everything it is not

into the real.

Denis Wood

The Power of Maps


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You dont believe it?


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Which one looks right?


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Well, what about this one?


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Or this one?


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Maps represent something

Cylindrical ProjectionStraight latitude lines show continent shapes accurately. Curving longitudes distort.Bonus: Makes Antarctica the largest continent.


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using the principles of the map

Gall-Peters ProjectionShows all land and water areas with accurate size proportional to each other.Makes southern hemisphere countries as big as they are with loss of shape.


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which we assume are in the world

Dymaxion ProjectionBased on a polyhedron, it has less distortion of relative sizes and shapes.Bonus: Theres no longer any up or down or northern or southern hemispheres.


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not in the map.


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Some Principles of Maps

Maps highlight some things and hide others.

Maps have an author, a point of view, asubject and a theme.

Maps are made for purposes sometimeshidden.

Maps are in the history they help to create.

Maps work through codes, icons and words.

Maps create worlds, not copy them.


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Maps highlight some things

and hide others.


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Maps are made for purposes

sometimes hidden.


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Maps have an author, a point

of view, a subject and a theme.


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Maps are in the history they

help to create.


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Maps work through codes,

icons and words.


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Maps create worlds,

not copy them.


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From Maps to Mental Models

If our maps of the physical world are so

necessarily selective and approximant, howmuch more so are the mental maps or

models we bring to everyday situations?


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Map Making is World Making

For a map to work - to fulfill its purpose -it highlights some things and hides

others if only to make it easier to read.

These are natural processes known asDeletion, Distortion and Generalization.


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We like order & certainty so much

Games have defined places, spaces,moves and rules.

Games simplify the world.There are winners & losers.


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we create multiple models of it

Sports have carefully constructed fields,roles, rules of play and time limits.


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in different aspects of our lives

Novels, movies and television episodeshave defined characters & orderly plots.


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and then use these models to

make sense of other situations.

Marketing needs a new game plan.

Send in Ted. Hes our MVP.

You just have to take a chance.

What have you got to lose?

I dont see a happy ending here.

Its your time to shine.


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The Map is not the Territory.

The Model is not the Situation. Human decision-making works by pattern

recognition. We see something we already know.

Something we already have a mental model of.

We make analogies with the mental models we haveto gain insights into the new situation to take action.

We need to make sure we are making accurate

analogies and taking worthwhile actions.


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About Our Mental Models

Mental models are incomplete.

Our ability to utilize them is very limited.

Mental models are unstable.

Mental models are not well defined.

Mental models are unscientific, even superstitious.

Mental models are parsimonious. That is, mental

complexity is avoided even for more physical work.


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Mental models are incomplete.

Business analogies to war leave out the fear, chaosand human toll.

Sports analogies leave out the long

practice, the regularity of the season,and often short professional career.


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Our ability to utilize them is limited.

We make analogies quicklyand look for confirmation.

We can consciously onlykeep track of about 7 plus orminus 2 items or elements.

We can mental manipulateabout 3 relationships among

these elements effectively.


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Mental models are unstable.

Details get deleted withdisuse.

Which leads to over-generalization.

Which further distorts their

effective application.


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Mental models are not well defined.

Similar names, analogies, types and/oroperations get confused with each other.

Different levels of detail are appliedwithout consideration for the situation.

Efforts go to attempting to make a fitthan seeking out better matched models.


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Mental models are unscientific.

They use analogies, notexperimentation and testing.

They satisfice - that is, aregood enough for right now.

The often have superstitious,

or at least unnecessary,

steps and/or elements.


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Mental models are parsimonious.

Simple is better than accurate.

Quick is better than thorough.

Mental complexity is avoidedeven for more physical work.


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How did we get here?

Survival favored quick,action-oriented solutionsto immediate situations.

Which meant using simplemental models and easyto apply analogies.

Reflection came later,

if you survived, and youhad the time and interest.


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Now, our situations are complex


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and most of our information gained

through maps and models.


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So our ability to manage our

mental maps & models is crucial.


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This is where NLP comes in

Short for Neuro-Linguistic Programming NLP describes how our mental models arerepresented in our senses and language.


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with specific behavioral cues to

detect mental model buildingLiterally see which senses their mental models are coded in.


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and strategic questioning to

develop details & connections.Literally hear how their mental models work and redirect them.


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NLP uses a programming analogyBecause you can always upgrade your software.


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by making finer distinctions

In what you see, hear, touch, taste, smell and feel


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by increasing your awareness of

yours & others mental models


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by mastering how language

influences our mental models.


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This is why NLP applies to

Management and to Sales Management creates and executes strategy

based on the mental models they have of

their business and its environment.

Sales seeks to fit their companys products or

services into compelling places in the mental

models of their customers needs and desires.


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As well as decision-making & creativity

Decisions are determined by what mental

models are used to decide and how much they

correspond to the conditions in the world.

Creativity in business is about finding

systematic ways to get out of existing mental

models and/or combine them in novel ways.


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We are all mental modelers.

What sense of NLP have you gained from this program?

What did you see, hear or feel that lets you know this?

You know, these form your mental model of NLP so far.

You might be thinking, NLP is like This is analogy making.Were quick to make models the same, but ignores importantdifferences like the different ways there are to map the world.

Your colleagues have watched this through their own mental models.Ask them their opinions. The differences you hear are due to theirhaving different mental models.

What differences can you detect now?


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The Map is not the Territory. This is an introduction to a key premise of NLP.

While efforts have been made to make this

experiential, it is more of a map.

To experience more of Charles work, go to:

shop.nlpco.com/Faulkner

charles faulkner

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