What an agile mindset is, and why we then want to coach on a growth mindset, I described in my previous two articles An agile mindset - what is that actually? en Coaching towards agility = coaching towards a growth mentality. In short: an inquisitive growth mindset at an individual level is necessary to achieve an agile mindset at team level.
The question now is: how do you ensure that team members, but also management and stakeholders, get a growth mindset? My experience has taught me that the "agile box of tricks" does not always offer a solution. Individual transformation to a growth mindset requires more than extensive retrospections, or a team game of Celebrity Rescue, or drawing up a Definition of Fun.
(text continues below image)
In my Master NLP training (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) I came into contact with the application of the so-called Milton model. By applying specific sentence constructions or language patterns, you as a coach can address the subconscious of the other. You pass, as it were, the critical (and unruly) part of the brain. You can gain access to underlying emotions, values and beliefs in the other person - provided you really master the Milton model. An excellent technique to get a "fixed mind" open (again).
Milton language patterns are named after the American psychotherapist Milton Erickson. The language patterns consist of indirect suggestions and presuppositions. It offers ways to be "effectively vague" in language by omitting specific information from your sentences. This encourages the other to give substance and meaning to what you say, based on his or her own context and experience.
The more detailed the descriptions, the more likely something will conflict with the other person's frame of reference. This reinforces a fixed mindset in the other. That is why we consciously omit, distort and generalize in our language. If you do that carefully, you can use such filtering to agree or create new openings and options. This opens the door to a growth mindset in the other.
Milton is often used in a therapeutic context. But handy sales people also apply such language patterns. There are many different language patterns. Below are some of the Milton language patterns with examples.
Language pattern | Example |
---|---|
To read minds You indicate that you know what the other is thinking or feeling without indicating how you know | "I know you're wondering ..." 'I can see you ...' |
Eternal truth Make value judgments without the person who judges | "It's best to ..." 'That is perfect!' |
Cause and effect You imply that one leads to another | "If you ask that question, then you understand." |
Complex equivalence You compare two things and make them equal | 'Just being here now means you want to change' |
Presuppositions With the words in your message, you assume something while drawing attention to something else | 'You are constantly changing' 'You are learning a lot' |
Nominalizations You "freeze" a verb by putting it down as a noun | 'All your new decisions show your confidence' 'This gives you new insight and understanding' |
If you Google Milton, you will find many more language patterns and examples. The idea is that you frequently apply different language patterns in a coaching conversation. You avoid (too much) detail and realization and instead you are effectively vague. This allows the other to open up to your message, to change and growth, and thus to a growth mindset.
Personally I think Milton language enriches my agile coaching practice, although effective application in coaching conversations is not always easy. It takes a lot of practice. And I also had to cross a threshold. When I first started working with Milton, it felt quite manipulative to me. As an agile coach you do not become concrete, do not say what it is about, do not show the back of your tongue. It is not my natural way of communicating.
Milton Language Patterns are part of our training NLP for Agile coaches. In this training we practice with the different patterns so that you as a coach get a feeling for this and can use them in the workplace with the aim of stimulating the Growth Mindset.
What an agile mindset is, and why we then want to coach on a growth mindset, I described in my previous two articles An agile mindset - what is that actually? en Coaching towards agility = coaching towards a growth mentality. In short: an inquisitive growth mindset at an individual level is necessary to achieve an agile mindset at team level.
The question now is: how do you ensure that team members, but also management and stakeholders, get a growth mindset? My experience has taught me that the "agile box of tricks" does not always offer a solution. Individual transformation to a growth mindset requires more than extensive retrospections, or a team game of Celebrity Rescue, or drawing up a Definition of Fun.
(text continues below image)
In my Master NLP training (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) I came into contact with the application of the so-called Milton model. By applying specific sentence constructions or language patterns, you as a coach can address the subconscious of the other. You pass, as it were, the critical (and unruly) part of the brain. You can gain access to underlying emotions, values and beliefs in the other person - provided you really master the Milton model. An excellent technique to get a "fixed mind" open (again).
Milton language patterns are named after the American psychotherapist Milton Erickson. The language patterns consist of indirect suggestions and presuppositions. It offers ways to be "effectively vague" in language by omitting specific information from your sentences. This encourages the other to give substance and meaning to what you say, based on his or her own context and experience.
The more detailed the descriptions, the more likely something will conflict with the other person's frame of reference. This reinforces a fixed mindset in the other. That is why we consciously omit, distort and generalize in our language. If you do that carefully, you can use such filtering to agree or create new openings and options. This opens the door to a growth mindset in the other.
Milton is often used in a therapeutic context. But handy sales people also apply such language patterns. There are many different language patterns. Below are some of the Milton language patterns with examples.
Language pattern | Example |
---|---|
To read minds You indicate that you know what the other is thinking or feeling without indicating how you know | "I know you're wondering ..." 'I can see you ...' |
Eternal truth Make value judgments without the person who judges | "It's best to ..." 'That is perfect!' |
Cause and effect You imply that one leads to another | "If you ask that question, then you understand." |
Complex equivalence You compare two things and make them equal | 'Just being here now means you want to change' |
Presuppositions With the words in your message, you assume something while drawing attention to something else | 'You are constantly changing' 'You are learning a lot' |
Nominalizations You "freeze" a verb by putting it down as a noun | 'All your new decisions show your confidence' 'This gives you new insight and understanding' |
If you Google Milton, you will find many more language patterns and examples. The idea is that you frequently apply different language patterns in a coaching conversation. You avoid (too much) detail and realization and instead you are effectively vague. This allows the other to open up to your message, to change and growth, and thus to a growth mindset.
Personally I think Milton language enriches my agile coaching practice, although effective application in coaching conversations is not always easy. It takes a lot of practice. And I also had to cross a threshold. When I first started working with Milton, it felt quite manipulative to me. As an agile coach you do not become concrete, do not say what it is about, do not show the back of your tongue. It is not my natural way of communicating.
Milton Language Patterns are part of our training NLP for Agile coaches. In this training we practice with the different patterns so that you as a coach get a feeling for this and can use them in the workplace with the aim of stimulating the Growth Mindset.
It is our mission to help customers get their change ambitions to come true.
Our location in Amersfoort is located directly opposite the main entrance of the NS station and is therefore easily accessible by public transport.
If you come by car, it is best to park at the Q-Park P+R Barchman Wuytierslaan, approximately a 5-minute walk from our office.