Meta Programs (also known as sorting categories) were brought to prominence in the early days of NLP (Neurolinguistic Programming) – though some people refer to them as Meta Programs. If you feel like Googling for more info then the founders of NLP – Richard Bandler and John Grinder are worth looking up but also Shelle Rose Charvet’s book, “Words That Change Minds”, is worth getting and reading (even though it’s pretty heavy-going in places!).

There are several conflicting stories of how meta-programs found their way into NLP but the most widely-accepted story is that Leslie Cameron (and her colleagues) did research in order to discover whether patterns could be found that were typical to a person across various different contexts. Through their research they found varying thinking patterns and called them meta-programs. Meta-programs indicate how people make sense of the world and how a person may react in a given situation.

by Benedict Campbell - Wellcome Images

Rodger Bailey and Ross Steward built on this to design a commercial application, commonly known as the ‘Language and Behavior Profile’ (or LaB Profile) which enabled interviewers to detect 13 distinct categories of meta-program that are important for job motivation and performance. Their work was further extended and developed by Shelle Rose Charvet – and is considered the best source for information on the subject by many NLPers.

Here’s a list of 4 common patterns (it’s worth remembering that, by their very nature, these patterns are generalisations and should not be used as labels for yourself or other people):

• Generalise (big picture) – Specific (detail)
• Internal Motivation (do what you please) – External Motivation (do what pleases others)
• Towards Motivation (seek pleasure) – Away Motivation (avoid pain)
• Matching (look for similarities) – Mis-Matching (look for differences)

So, now you know the background and the basic patterns – here’s how you can use this knowledge to expand your brain beyond your habitual thinking to tap into enhanced creativity…