NLPhilia Blog

It’s not failure. It’s feedback. And that matters more than you may realize.

The “P” in “NLP” stands for “programming,” as in “computer programming.” I’ve found it very useful to learn basic computer programming and to read what programmers write about what they do.

Programmers work in teams, and “soft skills” are increasingly important in the field. Today I found a reference to one of NLP’s Presuppositions:

I began to realize that nobody–including myself–was really taking the time to understand the motivations of their colleagues. When John presented the situation to me, he thought he understood Gargamel’s motivations, and I didn’t question that understanding. Similarly, Gargamel thought he understood Dr. Claw’s motivations and neither he nor his manager questioned that understanding. But I had met both Gargamel and Dr. Claw. They are both very nice, generous people who don’t resemble their cartoon villain namesakes in the slightest.

What happens when we just assume positive intent?

A little while back, BoingBoing pointed me to an article in Harvard Magazine. It’s a video and a transcript of author J. K. Rowling’s commencement address, and it’s amazing. One of my favorite parts:

…failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had already been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.

Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life. I love it.

Go read The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination, and/or watch the video.

…but, apparently, not always. Not when we limit our own choices. From the Freakonomics Blog:

Standard economic theory implies that we maximize our happiness if we have more choices. Yet we limit our choices — impose self-control mechanisms — voluntarily in order to improve our well-being.

Read the rest of Manipulating Yourself for Your Own Good.

…it’s feedback. We know.

From The history of WD-40:

It took them 40 attempts to get the water displacing formula worked out. But they must have been really good, because the original secret formula for WD-40—which stands for Water Displacement perfected on the 40th try—is still in use today.

I just thought it was interesting.