James’ Blog

I want a clean house

A transcript of Penny Tompkins facilitating with Symbolic Modelling using the Problem-Remedy-Outcome model and working ‘live’ with the client’s here-and-now embodied experience.

Choosing a modelling project

I was asked: (a) what a modelling outcome should look like, and (b) what I mean by: Scope, Timescale and Presupposition.

A modeller’s perspective

An investigation of a vital aspect of modelling – the perspective adopted by the modeller when modelling an exemplar for an ability or behaviour.

I Don’t Know What I Want

Given Symbolic Modelling is an outcome orientated methodology, what if a client cannot identify a desired outcome?

The Tree of Wisdom

When a client comes for coaching or therapy with a topic that presents a conundrum, what do you?

What are Double Binds?

Double binds defined and why “Be spontaneous!” and “Damned if I do and damned if I don’t” are not examples of double binds.

What constitutes Clean Language?

‘Clean Language’ has been used in many ways since David Grove coined the term in the early 1980s. This is my attempt at defining and contextualising it.

Setting up Clean Space

Attending more to the artistic aspects of Clean Space whihc contribute to the overall aim of encouraging conditions for creative emergence.

What is self-modelling?

A process whereby a person constructs a model of the way their system operates and in so doing provides feedback to the system from which it can learn.

Analysing Transcripts

How to model the pattern of facilitator/interviewer decisions from a session transcript.

Stochastic Tinkering

What drives most innovation, both of knowledge and technology? Making use of Nassim Nicholas Taleb ideas.

Ent-sprechen says it all

We do not ask clean questions so they are ‘answered’, in the traditional meaning of that word. We ask them to envoke Ent-sprechen:

Survival of the Sickest Part 1

Some comments on Survival of the Sickest: The surprising connections between disease and longevity by Sharon Moalem.

Survival of the Sickest Part 2

In Survival of the Sickest, Sharon Moalem examines the role of disease in the survival of populations. In doing so he highlights a number of features of evolution: The system

Robustness and Fragility Part 4

NN Taleb identifies the three ‘villains’ that make companies Black Swan prone. How do they apply to individuals?

Robustness and Fragility Part 3

“After the crisis, people asked me what we should be doing. The logical conclusion is to stay as far away as possible from certain exposures that make you Black Swan prone.” NN Taleb.

Robustness and Fragility Part 2

“There is an environment that creates Black Swan problems; a man made environment that I call ‘extremistan’ … where the exception plays a very large role”. NN Taleb.

Robustness and Fragility Part 1

“The problem with technology is that when it works, it is better; when it does not work, it is far worse.” NN Taleb

Fear of who I would be

‘A victim’ is a perspective on a situation which can develop into a perspective on life. The question is, do we also have the choice to be other-than-a-victim?

The dieter’s paradox

A new study which concludes that weight-conscious individuals are likely to believe in “negative calories”. But do they really?

Thinking is simulation

Cognitive scientists believe the brain simulates experience from the past in order to make sense of the world today, how does that influences who we think are?