One day a little teddy bear was sitting by a lake… quietly watching what was going on…. just enjoying being relaxed and calm… the little bear had one or two good friends among the birds and the other animals… but never really felt part of it…. like an outsider…. and didn’t know why…. whenever a big important animal came along … the little bear got flustered or embarrassed or said the wrong thing…. never knew what to do.
And the bear was thinking about this when a voice said “What would you like things to be like?” The bear looked around startled… and saw a cat with big floppy ears sitting on a low box, watching, the way cats do.
“Who are you?” said the bear.
“That’s not important”, said the cat with the large ears. “Do you know who you are? That’s what’s important”.
“How did you get here?”
“That’s not important, either.” the cat said, smugly, and began to nibble a tadpole.
“That’s a funny looking box you’re sitting on.” said the bear, at length.
“Oh this – it’s not a box, it’s a book, actually.”
The bear looked at the book for a while and said “It doesn’t look very comfortable. ”
“It’s not meant to be comfortable. It’s meant to let you do what you want.”
“Wow” said the bear, impressed. “Anything you want?”
“Mmmm”
“And would it let me do anything I want?” asked the bear, hopefully.
“Sure,” said the cat, who was now deep in the weeds at the edge of the water searching for another tadpole “Just imagine what you want and the book will open at the right page.”
The bear thought and thought… and looked hard at the book over there… there was something the bear had always wanted to do…. but never dared… it wasn’t possible, was it?…. or was it?… or maybe not… and while the bear’s woolly mind was busy wondering if the book might… could… the book suddenly flipped open.
“Ah…” said the cat through a mouth full of goldfish “I see you’ve managed to get it working.”
“But I’m not sure what to do next.” said the bear, nervously.
“Simple. Just look at the instructions, and apply them.”
The bear peered at the book, and sure enough, there were the exact instructions needed. The bear was elated. It was so simple. Just do as the book says. It was obvious what to do. So with a quick “Thanks, whoever you are!” the bear was off down the path to try it out.
And just a few steps down the path, a family of ducks turned up, complaining noisily about missing goldfish. And then all twelve baby ducks started crying and carrying on and in all the fuss and noise the bear forgot the instructions.
So the bear turned back and found the cat lying down contentedly scratching his belly with a stick. And the book was closed.
“What do I do now?” wailed the bear.
“Why not think of something else you would like to do?” said the cat.
So the bear thought and thought, and was busy trying to decide whether to ask about this thing or that thing, when the book popped open on its own. Surprised, the bear went over and peered into it, and again the exact instructions were right there…. how to do an even more important thing the bear needed.
Quick as flash the bear set off again down the path…. determined to ignore all distractions… bustling along as fast as possible… and tripped over a tree root. “Oh dash and pepperpots!” said the bear. “Why does this always happen to me? Why isn’t the path kept clear the way it’s supposed to be…” and going over those same old complaints soon drove the instructions clear out of that silly bear’s head.
“Back again?” said the cat, busy carving a flute out a fish bone. “Well, you should know how it works by now. You don’t need me to tell you. ” and left the bear to get on with it, blowing a few experimental notes on the flute all the while.
The bear had hardly begun to think when the book flipped open again, so hard that it spun right round before settling back on the ground. “Goodness, I am getting good at this.” thought the bear and in a moment was scurrying down the path again, pushing leaves aside and being very, very careful about roots. The bear was making good progress, getting on towards doing the most important thing of all….when it began to rain…. and that silly bear started to think about getting home and worrying if the windows were left open or not…. and before long was trudging back up the path again, dejected and miserable and now wet as well.
The bear found the cat settled comfortably in front of a cozy fire under a little shelter and trying out a new tune on the flute. And as the tune faded away… a few damp notes still hanging in the air… the cat looked over, took a long lazy stretch, and said…
“You know, I wonder if maybe you are making an assumption here?”
And the bear thought about it, and realised the cat was right.
Category: Other
A friend of mine is a musician and always seems to be learning new instruments, new tunes, and new ways of making music in cool ways. At the weekend, he loves to go into Central Park in the center of Nagoya during the daytime where lots of Japanese bands perform. Now, some of these bands are really really good, and some of them are – how shall I say this – a little less good. One of the things that my friend likes about watching all the bands is that it is free! And as he says to me, “Because something is expensive, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s good… and if something is free, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it has no value. You have to listen and look yourself and find out what is valuable for you. And of course, as you listen and look, you may learn very different things to someone else.”
So my friend goes every week when the weather is fine, and he says that he learns something from every single band! When he watches and listens to the really good bands, he says that he learns new riffs from the guitar player and cool rhythms from the funky drummers. I guess that it’s not surprising that you can learn a lot by watching excellent performers.
But what’s really interesting is that my friend says, “You can learn by watching and listening to the bad performers, too. When I watch a bad performer, I think to myself – wow, that’s another thing that I’m not going to do.”
So my friend gets better and better, learning from both good and bad performers. And he says that “you can have so much fun learning and improving in ways that you never even imagined!.”
The Dancing Centipede
Once there was a centipede who delighted in dancing. At night when the moon began to rise and shed its soft light onto the grassy slope below, Centipede would stretch one of her several beautiful long legs. “Aaaahhh…” she would sigh into the cool night air. And then, she would close her eyes and begin to sway to the music of the nearby stream as it splashed over the pebbles and stones. Slowly, at first, her numerous dainty feet started to move by two’s and four’s and ten’s in a carefully choreographed pattern, faster and faster, until she found herself framed in her spotlight from the moon. Head thrown back, legs outstretched she belted in true Ethel Merman fashion “I’m just a Broadway Baby… 100 legs-each kicking higher than the last, “Struttin’ my stuff…” 100 feet , each encased in a tiny gold slipper, “All over the earth to-night.” Now swinging from the branch of an abandoned hut, Bat wanted to join her – Top hat, tails, and all – but the movements were so … amazing! So brilliant! So dazzling! So absolutely out of his league! He would have to settle for admiration only – and a dream. From the water’s shallows, Frog ribbeted appreciation and Cricket chirped as Centipede executed one multi-legged split after another, finally concluding with a twisting top spiral balancing herself deftly on the tips of her 50th right and left legs, all 98 others tucked one round the other. Goose was absolutely energized by the evening’s performance and couldn’t stop honking “Bravo’s” as she waddled over to where Centipede paused still lost in her moment of artistic brilliance. “Simply stunning,” Lizard hissed and whistled. “Oh, please, show us how you do it,” cooed Dove from a branch. “Yeesss, pleeaassee,” they all shouted. “Tell us! Which foot do you start with? And which foot do you end with? How do you know what to do?” “Quiet, everyone,” said Centipede confidently untwirling herself with ease. Everybody moved closer to hear her words of wisdom. She smiled at the admiring audience in front of her, took a deep breath and said, “Well, first I…” She paused, looked at her feet, moved several of them this way and that.”I…”And, then, she wobbled – ever so slightly – and a curious, confused expression came across her face. From that night on, Centipede never danced again.
(Adapted folk tale)
Although the talented Centipede was baffled into paralysis by questions exploring her technique, had she studied NLP, she probably would have danced after that night and,what’s more, she could have learned how to share her skills with others. How can this metaphor be useful for teachers to learn about NLP and to share insights about behavior? Many teachers-and students-are like both the Centipede and her Admirers. They have a special skill (the Centipede) and, still they desire something more (the Admirers). They have a knack for doing some things well but suddenly become confused and stumped when trying to explain or analyze performance. What does that imply about skill or talents and, also, the thinking processes? How conscious are we of what we do? Is a particular skill inspired by the gods or is it a habit developed over time by persistence and practice? Viola Spolin, the American artist-educator and author of several books on improvisational theatre techniques for children and adults, strongly objected to the concept of talent as a special genius. Spolin insisted that each of us, at birth, has a capacity to experience and as we progress through life, we either expand that capacity or we limit it.
A woman is out for a walk when she falls into a deep hole from which there appears to be no way out. She cries out for help and a passing academic leans over and offers her advice on how to avoid such holes in future. Later a religious leader hears her cries and suggests she thinks about the true meaning of her predicament and says that there is a being somewhere who cares about her. Subsequently a therapist responds with an offer to help her explore how she allowed herself to get into this situation. Various other professionals offer advice as the woman sinks into deeper despair. Lastly a friend comes by, realises what has happened and jumps into the hole with her. The woman is pleased to have the company but also wonders why her friend has put herself in the same situation. The friend replies “I have been in this hole before, I know the way out”
While professional soccer is still struggling to find a firm foothold in the United States, in the 1970s the North American Soccer League marked the brave first attempt to introduce the game to American sports fans. While most teams had only limited success at best, one did manage to break through to genuine mainstream popularity – the New York Cosmos.
It was the brainchild of Steve Ross, a passionate soccer fan who was also a major executive at Warner Communications.
Max Ross told his son Steve: “In life there are those who work all day, those who dream all day, and those who spend an hour dreaming before setting to work to fulfil those dreams. Go into the third category because there’s virtually no competition”.
Source: “Once In A Lifetime – The Extraordinary Story Of The New York Cosmos” by Gavin Newsham
He was not good at drawing at school and never had his work displayed in the classroom. One day, by mistake, he completed a drawing having taken two sheets of paper instead of the usual single sheet. He noticed an outline of the drawing on the second sheet. This gave him an idea and he took a sheet of paper home and traced over a drawing he liked so an outline was left on the sheet underneath which he then took to school. In the lesson he drew over the outline and submitted the work as his own. After a couple of tries he had his work selected for display on the classroom wall. And so it continued for a whole term but then he started to feel guilty and decided he would stop cheating. Next term he drew without following an outline and found to his surprise that, with all the practice, his drawing was much better than it had been and after a few weeks he had a piece of work selected for display.
Once a had a car and I had it for awhile. It was well looked after, I washed it every day and use the highest grade products on and in it to make sure it was at it’s best.
I also had it serviced on time when needed and sometimes even before it needed it because it deserved the best.
One day I was driving it as I always do very carefully always under the speed limit, avoiding any pot holes or debris that might damage my vehicle, and then without any warning the engine blew up!
Recently, I was doing a coaching session with the owner of a small language school. Very quickly, I saw that he was getting very confused and overwhelmed by the number of different things that he had to do in his work. Like many one-person businesses, on any particular day a huge range of different types of work can arise. For example in his case on a typical day, the lessons need to be prepared, the students need to be taught, the paperwork has to be completed, new projects need to be planned, the office needs to be cleaned, the telephone calls have to be made, the sales projections have to be planned …
Anyone who has run a small business, particularly a one-person business, knows exactly what I am talking about here.
Not far from where I live is a place called Death Valley. Death Valley is the hottest, driest place in America, and nothing grows there. Nothing grows there because it doesn’t rain. Hence, Death Valley. In the winter of 2004, it rained in Death Valley. Seven inches of rain fell over a very short period. And in the spring of 2005, there was a phenomenon. The whole floor of Death Valley was carpeted in flowers for a while. What it proved is this: that Death Valley isn’t dead. It’s dormant. Right beneath the surface are these seeds of possibility waiting for the right conditions to come about, and with organic systems, if the conditions are right, life is inevitable. It happens all the time. You take an area, a school, a district, you change the conditions, give people a different sense of possibility, a different set of expectations, a broader range of opportunities, you cherish and value the relationships between teachers and learners, you offer people the discretion to be creative and to innovate in what they do, and schools that were once bereft spring to life.
A little girl is watching her mother prepare the Christmas ham for dinner in the way that she always does every Christmas. As usual, she notices her mother cutting off the edges to make it into a square shape before putting it into the oven.
This year, she was curious and asked her mother, “why do you cut the edges off the Christmas ham?”
Her mother stopped and paused for a second and said, “That’s a very good question. When I was a little girl, I used to watch my mother doing the same thing. Let’s call Grandma and see what’s up.”
So they called up Grandma, and they said, “why is that you used to cut the edges off the Christmas ham?”
And Grandma said, “well, that’s because every year Grandpa used to get a ham for a bonus. And our oven was so small that I had to cut off the edges to make it fit.”
And so they realized that it was no longer necessary to cut off the edges and from that moment onwards, they decided not to cut the edges off the ham.