BOOKS
TITLE: More Magic of Metaphor:
TITLE: The Sourcebook of Magic: a
Stories for Leaders, Influencers & Motivators
comprehensive guide to NLP patterns.
2nd Ed.
AUTHOR: NICK OWEN
PUBLISHER: Crown House Publishing
AUTHOR: L MICHAEL HALL
ISBN: 1904424414
PUBLISHER: Crown House Publishing
RRP: 18.99
ISBN: 1904424252
Softback 335 pages
RRP: 18.99
REVIEWED BY: PAUL JONES
REVIEWED BY: PAUL JONES
For those of you who missed the 1st edition of this excellent
In this second volume in the Magic of Metaphor series we
book, there is now a second chance to pick up this modern
are treated to more of Nick Owen's collected teaching tales.
classic. The premise of the work is that many NLP books are
Further to the first volume, the stories are connected by a
available that contain, within extensive "padding", only a few
meta-story that runs through the whole book.
patterns, some books just one or two. Hall achieves his goal of
separating the wheat from the chaff admirably with all the
Not only being a collection of very interesting and inspiring
objectivity of a Haynes car manual, leaving this pragmatic work
stories, the book begins with a short explanation of Ken
refreshingly academic yet accessible. Like a cookbook it is
reference driven allowing the practitioner access to these
Wiber's model of "a theory of everything", Grave's "spiral
powerful patterns without the contingency of having to wade into
dynamics" (which appears loosely based on Leary's 8 circuit
battle against the author's literary aspirations.
model and Maslow's hierarchy) and the influencer vs.
manipulator dichotomy.
What are these patterns?
These models help us deconstruct the stories and help point
Most of these patterns are primarily action orientated, simple
exercises to be run through step by step with regard to specific
to their potential usefulness as well as offering likely
ends. The other few are, more fundamentally, explanations of
interpretations of the messages contained within each
NLP assumptions, such as the principle of well formed outcomes.
parable. Very usefully, a small alternative-contents page lists
Hall begins by introducing the reader to an overview of NLP and
the stories by theme allowing you to pick certain stories out
levels-of-processing that is indispensable, as within the
that explicate various attributes. So, if I want a story that
instructions to the patterns he falls back on a few technical
shows a single minded trailblazer, it tells which stories have
concepts without further explanation, such as "test and future
pace".
elements of this in them.
Then we come to the patterns themselves. Organised roughly
The book finishes with a few very interesting small sections
according to their level of processing, the book allows you to
detailing our useful models, spiral dynamics and `everything'
easily select a pattern for your goal. Included patterns are;
more closely, examining perspective-shifts within these
collapsing anchors, resolving internal conflict, chaining states,
frameworks, a distillation of the qualities of great motivators
becoming intentionally compelled, responding to criticism, healthy
eating, spinning icons.....The second edition adds to the first;
and influencers.
some simplification of the procedures and a little more detail as to
the cognitive / behavioural mechanisms used in the patterns, and
I found this book to be a bit of a rarity, very useful yet very
a deserved revision of the introduction. In the first (and second)
user-friendly, quite acceptable bedside table material. It will
edition, Hall asserts that there may be as many as 200 distinct
appeal to everyone.
patterns and surely some that haven't been invented (or that
should be discovered?) yet. So I was expecting some new
patterns in the 2nd ed., but it's the original 77. I don't know how I
would start to define the distinction of a unique pattern (as
opposed to a variant) anyway. I find it unlikely that at a
computational, cognitive level there are 200 modes of action, so
it's safe to assume that all of the building blocks are here for you.
Hall hints that, a list of patterns touted as "exhaustive", would
promote dogma and stagnate inventive development, through his
legitimate assertion that all the patterns are largely prototypical
and are easily extended and adapted. Without being overly
complex, this book is dense.
London College of Clinical Hypnosis
22
Summer 2005