4. Strategies and Metaprograms

Related Reading

Activities are based on Chapter 4, “Strategies and Metaprograms,” in Healing with Language.

TOTEs
Every strategy employs one or more TOTEs. The initial T indicates the Test for knowing when to begin a strategy. The O indicates the Operation(s) required to execute the stategy. The send T indicates the Test(s) to determine whether it is time to E Exit the strategy.

Spelling Strategies

Are you a good speller? If not, perhaps you need a more effective strategy for spelling English words correctly. English is less phonetic than many other languages, which means that many words can’t be spelled buy “sounding them out.” Note that “caught” and “cot” sound the same. If you were to spell “rough” the way it sounds, you’d end up with “ruff.”

Communication Skills

An effective communication strategy employs the sequence, Pace, Lead, Blend Outcomes, and Motivate. The principal problem with communication is that people tend to assume that their own skills are good, so they blame others for anything that goes wrong. One of the NLP presuppositions is that “The meaning of a message is the response it elicits.” While it isn’t necessarily true, it is useful to assume that it is so that you can change the message to get the response you desire.

Strategies and Patterns of Thinking

Developing better strategies requires an effective strategy. A strategy for developing better strategies requires the sensory acuity to know whether your strategy is providing you with the results you want as quickly and enjoyably as you desire.

Metaprograms

Metaprograms are patterns of behavior that tend to persist over time and across contexts. Those who are “impatient,” for example, tend to be impatient in a wide variety of circumstances, even though in some cases they may exhibit patience, such as when interacting with a child.

1. Select two or three things you do with regularity (such as brushing your teeth, driving to work, or going to the store) and identify the TOTE in the strategy you use to accomplish the activity. What is the Test to begin? What (and how many) Operations are required. What is the Test that lets you know that it is time to Exit?
2. What is an effective strategy for spelling in English, and what is it about English that makes spelling more of a challenge than it is in many other languages?
3. Have you established an effective communication strategy?
4. What (exactly) happens at each stage of the sequence that enhances the quality of communication?
5. Describe the advantages of moving up Jean Piaget’s developmental sequence of mental cognition. What are the stages, and what makes each subsequent stage superior to those that went before.
6. What kinds of questions would you/could you ask to elicit someone’s metaprograms?

7. Select two or three of the principal metaprograms for which you have exhibited the most polarization (such as tendency to be a Rule Breaker or a Rule Follower) and provide some specific examples of your tendencies. Also, consider the advantages and disadvantages of your preferred tendencies.