Strategy (NLP)

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In Neuro-linguistic programming, a strategy is a mental sequence used to achieve a goal. Strategies are usually described in a sequence of sensory-specific terms of the representational systems and submodalities employed. They may include alternatives, fall-back strategies, and the like.

Contents 1 Representational systems and submodalities 2 Strategies 3 Elicitation 3.1 Notation 4 Uses 5 See also

[edit] Representational systems and submodalities

Main articles: Representational systems (NLP), Submodalities (NLP)

[edit] Strategies

Steps in a strategy might include listening to a person, asking oneself a question, imagining something, undertaking transderivational search internally, checking how one feels, and the like.

[edit] Elicitation

[edit] Notation

In documenting mental strategies and processing by the senses, NLP practitioners often use a simple shorthand for different modalities, with a letter indicating the representation system concerned, and often, a superscript to indicate how that system is being used. Three key aspects are commonly notated: The representation system being used (visual/V, auditory/A, kinesthetic/K, and occasionally, O/G), whether the direction of attention is internal ⁽ⁱ⁾ or external ^(e), and whether the event is a recollection of an actual past event ^(r) or construction of an imaginary event ^(c). Due to its importance in human cognitive processing, auditory internal dialogue, or talking in one's head, has its own shorthand: A^id.

Putting these together, this is a very simplified example of some steps which might actually be involved in replying to a simple question such as "Do you like that dress?":

Step	Activity	Notation	What it's being used for
1	auditory external	Ae	Hear the question
2	visual internal	Vi	picture to oneself the meaning of the question
3	visual external	Ve	look at the dress
4	visual internal constructed	Vic	create a mental image of the dress worn by the person
5	kinesthetic internal	Ki	get an internal feeling from looking at it
6	auditory internal dialog	Aid	ask oneself 'Do I like that impression?'
7	auditory external	Ae	reply

Logically, these or similar steps must take place somewhere in consciousness in order to cognitively make sense of the question and answer it. A sequence of this kind is known in NLP as a strategy - in this case, a functional outline of the strategy used by the mind in answering that question. In a similar way, the process leading to a panic attack of the form "I see the clock, ask myself where the kids are, imagine everything that could be happening and feel scared" might be notated as having a subjective structure: V^e → A^id → V^ic → Kⁱ, signifying that an external sight leads to internal dialog (a question), followed by internal and constructed images, leading to a feeling.

It's worth noting that usually, some of these steps (often the most important ones) occur extremely fast, and out of conscious awareness. For example, few people would ordinarily be aware that between question and even considering an answer, there must be steps in which the mind interprets and contextualizes the question itself, and steps which explore various possible strategies to be used to obtain an answer and select one to be followed. The mental occurrence of these steps is often identified by deduction following skilled observation, or by careful inquiry, although their presence is usually self-apparent to the person concerned once noticed.

[edit] Uses

[edit] See also