Why People Claim That NLP Doesn’t Work

Why do some people claim that NLP doesn’t work?  How come it works for others?  What do the people for whom NLP doesn’t work have in common?

Only one factor

NLP doesn’t work because many people use NLP to attack only one factor of a system that makes something in their lives not work. We are systems. We live in systems. And we create systems of beliefs, strategies, thinking, actions. Everything is connected. If you use NLP for tackling only one element of a system and leave all other elements intact, there’s absolutely no wonder that NLP won’t work. Many NLP techniques even include a step that checks the ecology of a new solution or strategy. Many people don’t use this ecology check. Not using it results in NLP not working.

NLP doesn’t work if people use it to attack only one element of a system. This is just like becoming slimmer doesn’t work if a person only exercises, but doesn’t eat the right things in the right quantities at the right times and sleep enough. Luckily NLP won’t do any harm while exercising might aggravate the joints and doshas in such case. But the person’s generalisation that NLP doesn’t work will do harm. It will do harm to all the diligent NLP people who make NLP work in millions of lives. And it will do even more harm to the generalising persons, because a generalization is impoverished by the nature of being a generalization.

People take the claim that NLP doesn’t work on the face value

Saying that NLP doesn’t work is also a generalisation. And generalisations are easy for listeners to take on the face value. When a listener hears someone say that NLP doesn’t work, the listener can fixate in his mind that NLP doesn’t work, because the listener highly likely won’t look beneath the surface of the speaker’s statement. And also because the word of mouth can be very influential. The listener hears only the tip of the iceberg of the speaker’s experience. If the listener doesn’t drill into the iceberg, he will never know what led the speaker to saying that NLP doesn’t work.  Everything gets more and more superficial in today’s society, thus I doubt that many listeners will drill into the speaker’s iceberg. They’ll just be influenced by the word of mouth that NLP doesn’t work and carry on living. What a pity!

If you believe it, you will achieve it

NLP doesn’t work also because a person may believe that NLP doesn’t work. S/he may have tried or heard that NLP doesn’t work. Hence s/he may have formed the belief that NLP doesn’t work. Even if you prove to such person that NLP does work, s/he will still believe – and spread the word – that NLP doesn’t work unless s/he changes the belief that NLP could or even did indeed work for him/her. Beliefs are again systems, so you’ll highly likely get the idea. If not, read the first paragraph again.  That should give you the idea.

People claim that NLP doesn’t work because they don’t give change enough time

If you give yourself 2 weeks and expect to be slimmer by 10cm, I doubt that you will. Time also matters. If you give yourself 2 months and strictly adhere to all other factors of slimming, the chance that you will be slimmer by 10cm is far higher. The point is that time matters. Yes, NLP can create many a change overnight – if we want it enough and apply it immediately. Then NLP does work, right?:) But people who claim that NLP doesn’t work most often refer to changes that require longer than overnight. But exactly these people are too impatient to give themselves – and NLP – time to work. This article may also interest you. It is directly connected to what I said in this paragraph.

Finally, whether NLP works also depends on the intelligence and skill of the practitioner who helps you. If NLP hasn’t worked for you so far and after reading this you feel the pull to give it another chance, let’s talk.