[Neurons] 2011 Meta Reflection #45

[L. Michael Hall]

From: L. Michael Hall

Meta Reflections 2011 - #45

September 19, 2011

History of NLP Series #16

 

 

CREDIT NOT GIVEN

TO A CO-FOUNDER

 

 

At the end of 2010, I wrote one of the Meta Reflections (#58) on Frank
Pucelik (November 29, 2010).  It was number 14 in the History of NLP Series.
Number 15 was on Robert Spitzer.  And then I stopped writing on the history.
Since that time I have exchanged a few emails with Frank and with Ken
Winston Caine and especially from the email exchanges with Ken did he help
me understand what I now consider a very plausible reason as to why Frank
Pucelik was cut out from recognition as a co-creator of NLP, that is, why
credit was not given to him.  It's an interesting chapter in our history.

 

To set that up, a brief description of my initiate meeting with Frank.   I
first met Frank last November (2010) at the NLP Conference in London.  At
that time, I was genuinely and actually surprised to find a very friendly,
affable, warm, and charming person.  I say "surprised," because those are
not the words anyone uses when they meet Richard Bandler or John Grinder.
In fact, Richard and John are usually experienced as the opposite-
unfriendly, arrogant, smug, closed, etc.  John even acknowledged such about
his personality in his book on Whispering and there he defended his
"arrogance."  That, however, is another story!

 

But not Frank.  Today Frank is very friendly, warm, and someone who brings a
joyfulness to the room when he enters.  I didn't know if that was something
he put on for the Conference or something developed over the years, but
through correspondence with Ken, I have come to think otherwise.

 

Ken shared with me memories and impressions of the young, pre-NLP Frank
Pucelik.  He knew Frank and "Judy" (Judith Delozier) when all were students
at Southwestern College in San Diego in 1970-71.  Frank was student body
president that year.  Frank and Judith transferred to University of
California Santa Cruz's Kresge College which had just opened.  And there
Frank met Richard Bandler; that was the summer semester of 1971.

"One of the innate talents I saw in Frank - in addition to his affableness
and ability to create quick, warm rapport with people - was his role as a
deep listener, encourager, and connector." (Personal correspondence with Ken
Winston Caine)

 

So in terms of meta-programs, I'm guessing that Frank was the matcher and
Richard and John the mis-matchers.  (Of course they were, and are; their
gift and their inability to provide leadership!)  Frank was the one who
connected Richard with John in the first place to create the synergy out of
which came the original NLP model.  When I first heard about Frank, Andrei
Pligin in Moscow told me that Frank could create energy and motivation in a
group.  He was good at that.  But that after awhile Frank would tell the
same stories and jokes and not get to the depth that they were wanting.

 

And indeed, when I sat in Frank's workshop at the Conference, he was
excellent in getting group rapport, creating humor, and was a clever comic
in numerous ways.  His content about applying NLP "state" was good,
foundational but solid.  And his application of NLP to drug recovery very
good, but again, basic.

 

Ken described Frank in the following way:

"I knew him as a catalytic sort of person.  He connected people, inspired
and encouraged and made things happen.  But he didn't take credit.  He gave
credit.  (Like the teacher who is proud of his/her student- how the student
took what was taught and accomplished something great and unique with it
versus the teacher who grumbles, 'I taught 'em everything he knows.'")

 

So here's a theory regarding the beginning of NLP, inspired mostly by the
exchange with Ken and his memory of Frank's role and person.  Frank Pucelik
played a key role in that he saw the genius of what Richard was doing and
helped to formulate the original group.  He then connected John to Richard
and by using his gifts of encouragement, was able to bring out the best in
both of them and facilitate the synergy between them.

 

But then there were also several "personal relationships" between all of
these key players which got messy.  And out of that mess, Frank left.   For
example, long before Frank came to Santa Cruz, he was with Judith DeLozier
and they had a son, Eric.   Later they moved to Santa Cruz and then somehow,
for some reason, Judith left Frank and got together with John.

 

Frank was then with Leslie Cameron and again, somehow and for some reason,
Leslie left and got together with Richard.  The joke Frank tells is that he
prepared wives for both Richard and John (although I recall he put it in a
little cruder form in his telling it to me!).  The truth is probably that
being the mis-matchers that they are, both Richard and John didn't want
Frank around.  And Frank having the less ego-demandingness of the three just
left.  I've also heard other tales, those of Frank being threatened and that
to make peace which he eventually did, he reluctantly left.  But that's, as
they say, another story.  I like what Ken speculated in one email:

"Frank was an active participant, the gracious encourager and 'the muse'
that made the original chemistry work."

 

It took twenty-five more years, but eventually John put Frank back into the
story as "the third man" in the history of NLP.  He did this in his
Whisperings book (2001).  So here is some history updating of the story: NLP
began through the collaboration of three men, two wild geniuses who were
tremendous at mis-matching and seeing what everybody else couldn't see and
one incredible connector, encourager, and unifier.  But because the two
mis-matchers were as much victims of their gift as users of it, they were
unable to welcome and value the gift that Frank Pucelik brought to the mix.
And sadly for NLP, this has been perhaps the biggest downfall of the model
and the field.

 

The field of NLP has been sadly missing the kind of integrative genius that
was evident in Frank Pucelik- it has lacked the model that he provided, a
person who could lead through encouraging, unifying, and inspiring.   So I
dedicate this entry to Frank and to his contributions and especially to his
ability to inspire and connect.  May it be viral in the field of NLP.

 

[After writing this, two months ago I sent this short article to Frank
Pucelik.]

 

 

 

 

NEURO-SEMANTIC NEWS

 

If you are thinking about Meta-Coach Training and you already have the first
two prerequisites (which is NLP or Coaching Essentials and Meta-States or
Coaching Genius) then here are the next three: 

.         If you are interested in becoming wealthy in your core coaching
skills, the next Module III of Meta-Coaching is in Oct. in Auckland New
Zealand --- Oct. 8-15   Contact: Lena Gray, lena at ignition.co.nz 

 

.         Next one after that, Guangzhou China, Oct. 30-Nov. 3 and Nov. 29-
Dec. 3.  Mandy Chai, mandy at apti.com.hk 

 

.          

.         In Pretoria, South Africa October 28 through November 4, 2011.
Contact: Cheryl Lucas, cheryl at psacoaching.co.za 

 


If you are thinking about Trainers' Training, the next NSTT for licensing as
a Neuro-Semantic NLP Trainer: 

            Date: Oct. 17-27, 2011

Venue: Regal Riverside Hotel, Shatin, Hong Kong

Investment:  There's a special $500 saving right now.

Contact Person: Mandy Chai

Email: mandy at apti.com.hk / alex at apti.com.hk

 

            Part of that includes The Psychology of APG

Date: 17-19 October   and again special savings prior to Oct. 1

 

 

 

 

 

L.  Michael Hall, Ph.D.

Neuro-Semantics Executive Director  ----   <http://www.neurosemantics.com/>
www.neurosemantics.com

P.O. Box 8

Clifton, CO.  81520 USA                             ----
<http://www.self-actualizing.org/> www.self-actualizing.org

1 970-523-7877                                               ----
<http://www.meta-coaching.org/> www.meta-coaching.org

 

     

For a free subscription to Neurons--- the International  egroup of
Neuro-Semantics, go to the front page of  <http://www.neurosemantics.com/>
www.neurosemantics.com.   You can  subscribe and unsubscribe there.   Meta
Reflection articles by Dr. Hall are sent out every Monday (Colorado time).
Trainers' Reflections are on Tuesdays and Meta-Coach Reflections on
Wednesdays.   Contact Dr. Hall at  meta at acsol.net  

 

 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://eight.pairlist.net/pipermail/neurons/attachments/20110919/22f79abd/attachment-0001.html>