Connecting people and projects, APM North West Branch Conference, 9 May 2023 Speaker: Tim Lyons

1. Understanding how humans work
within teams
APM People SIG
Tim Lyons MA FAPM ANLP Professional member
09/05/2023

2. © 2022 Association for Project Management 2
Disclaimer: most ‘ologies’, models, templates and grand plans are….

3. Why are we talking about this today? What problem are we trying to solve?
© 2022 Association for Project Management 3
Projects come with a long list of things that must be done and managed. The integrity and smooth working of the team can be challenged by
attending ‘everything, everywhere, all the time’. If the team itself is considered as one of the deliverables, the model we are going to show you
can help to keep that team working well, and delivering everything else….
Deadlines
Scope
change
Outcomes &
benefits
Interfaces
RAID matrix
Cost & budget
control
Resource pool
Specialists Contract
management
Managing
critical path
Sprints
Configuration
management Assurance
regime
Quality
management
Stakeholder
expectation
Reporting
Comms
Keep the
team
working well
Politics
Option
selection

4. This model comes from a field of study known as Neuro Linguistic Programming
• Shortened to ‘NLP’, it’s a branch of neuroscience that originated in the 1970s
• It has been extensively developed since then
• It brings together ‘the best bits’ from behavioural science, theories of
communication, studies of brain function and much more
• One of NLP’s early discoveries was the way in which people structure their life,
values, behaviours in an integrated way. This became known as …
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“A study of the structure of human experience”

5. The Neurological Levels Model
Hierarchical model developed by early NLP founder Robert Dilts, and based on work
originated by eminent anthropologist and systems theorist Gregory Bateson in the 1970s.

6. Other similar hierarchical models
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Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, as described by American psychologist Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper "A Theory of Human Motivation" in
the journal Psychological Review. In this model, lower levels must be satisfied before higher levels can be fulfilled.

7. The Neurological Levels Model
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This model as developed by Bateson and Dilts proposes that people typically structure their thoughts, feelings and actions at six different
levels. These levels are hierarchical and highly connected. They govern much of the way we experience the world and what we do in it.
Environment
Behaviours
Capabilities
Beliefs & Values
Identity
Where? When?
What?
How?
Why?
Who?
Who/what else?
Mission/Vision/Purpose
(Beyond Identity)

8. How Neurological Levels work at the level of the individual
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Making changes is relatively easy at the lower levels of the model, and becomes increasingly harder at the higher levels. Also the impact and
effects of change are more intense at the higher levels.
Environment
Behaviours
Capabilities
Beliefs & Values
Identity
Where? When?
What?
How?
Why?
Who?
Who/what else?
Mission/Vision/Purpose
(Beyond Identity)
Ease of
change
Impact of
change

9. How the levels interact with each other
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Higher levels have a direct and strong impact on levels below.
Environment
Behaviours
Capabilities
Beliefs & Values
Identity
Mission/Vision/Purpose
(Beyond Identity)
I
can act
this way here,
now
My actions
will change
environment
I will do this
action in this
situation

10. How the levels interact with each other
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Higher levels have a direct and strong impact on levels below.
Environment
Behaviours
Capabilities
Beliefs & Values
Identity
Mission/Vision/Purpose
(Beyond Identity)
I understand
the situation
and what to
do
The thing I
can do here
is…
I decide
which skills
& actions to
use

11. How the levels interact with each other
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Higher levels have a direct and strong impact on levels below.
Environment
Behaviours
Capabilities
Beliefs & Values
Identity
Mission/Vision/Purpose
(Beyond Identity)
It’s right to
do this in this
situation
I know I have
the skills to
do this
I have the
knowledge to
do this
I have the
right to do
this

12. How the levels interact with each other
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Higher levels have a direct and strong impact on levels below.
Environment
Behaviours
Capabilities
Beliefs & Values
Identity
Mission/Vision/Purpose
(Beyond Identity)
I am
someone
who believes
that…
I am
someone
who values
this
I am part of a
unique group
/ team that…
My
values &
beliefs make
me who
I am

13. How the levels interact with each other
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Higher levels have a direct and strong impact on levels below.
Environment
Behaviours
Capabilities
Beliefs & Values
Identity
Mission/Vision/Purpose
(Beyond Identity)
The reason I
/ we do it is
because
of…
The ultimate
goal is…
We are all
part of…

14. Transformation vs transaction
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How we identify, what we value and believe are core dimensions for humans – changing them is often one-way, and so we regard them as
transformational; learning skills, behaving in certain ways and being in situations, environments and times can change, so are transactional.
Environment
Behaviours
Capabilities
Beliefs & Values
Identity
Where? When?
What?
How?
Why?
Who?
Who/what else?
Mission/Vision/Purpose
(Beyond Identity)
Ease of
change
Impact of
change
Transactional
Transformational

15. Why would we use the Neurological Levels Model in a team/organisation?
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Any organization needs to have good reason to try something like this, but it can be tried in a low impact way, perhaps a pilot. Maybe there is
one specific area where there’s a blockage or low energy. Not everything will be broken…
Environment
Behaviours
Capabilities
Beliefs & Values
Identity
• It helps us to focus on where
issues are really located
• We can decide what to do in
order to tackle an issue
• It stops us from wasting time,
money and energy looking in
the wrong place
• We can (often) refocus team
energies in the right place
• We can save money by not
hiring in management
consultants
Don’t forget this level:
• Why are we here, doing this?
• What are we all working
towards?
• Are we contributing to
something important?
• Is it something I want to be in?

16. Tips on working with Neurological Levels
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Environment
Behaviours
Capabilities
Beliefs & Values
Identity
1. Get buy-in! It can be low-impact.
Consider a pilot?
2. You can start anywhere…
3. Work with the realities of what
you’ve got…
4. Do not assume everything is
always right! Question the
‘assumptions’
5. Find the hot-spots
6. Pay special attention to the higher
levels
7. You are trying to spot resources
(or lack of them)

17. Tips on working with Neurological Levels
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Start with a blank canvas…
Environment – where? when?
Behaviours – what?
Capabilities – how?
Beliefs & Values – why?
Identity – who?
Belonging, mission, calling

18. Chunking up and down – testing the model
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Higher levels drive lower levels; lower levels support higher levels. If we don’t know what a person’s higher neurological levels are, we can ask
“What’s important about…[e.g. a behaviour]”; To find out where blockages occur we can ask “What stops you from… [e.g. believing you can do
this]?”
Environment
Behaviours
Capabilities
Beliefs & Values
Identity
What’s important
about….?
What stops you
from….?
There are often more
things at lower levels
supporting a few things
at higher levels

19. A special case to consider at the values level?
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In project management we already have an existing triangle of values to think about. It’s important that everyone in the team is in agreement
with how you will apply the ‘Iron Triangle’ to your outcomes.
Environment
Behaviours
Capabilities
Beliefs & Values
Identity
Time
Quality
Cost

20. If you decide to make any changes…
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…remember that there will probably be something at each level – for individuals and for teams – it all works as a system. So if you are going to
make any changes….
Environment
Behaviours
Capabilities
Beliefs & Values
Identity
• Check that levels support and are
harmonised and synchronised
with each other.
• If making any significant changes
check the impact at other levels
• Pay special attention to the higher
levels
• Do not assume everything is
always right (or wrong!)
• Identify the resources
You can work your way
up from Environment to
Identity then check back
down again.

21. What to watch out for when implementing the Neurological Levels Model
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Environment
Behaviours
Capabilities
Beliefs & Values
Identity
• The model is based on science and is
not ‘woo-woo’
• On its own, it will not save the world and
it is not the path to nirvana
• There will be people who do not want to
engage with this!
• It can target where the team could work
better and is scalable
• Question ‘assumptions’ but be prepared
to accept what is already good
• In the long run a better performing team
is a cheaper team
Any organization needs to have good reason to try something like this, but it can be tried in a low impact way, perhaps attempting to improve
performance in certain areas. Don’t assume everything will be broken…(like management consultants do!)
£
?

22. Some publications that cover Neurological Levels
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This is just a small selection…..
Gregory Bateson: Steps to an ecology of mind
Robert Dilts: From Coach to Awakener
Joseph O’Connor: NLP Workbook
Peter Parkes: NLP for project managers
Martin Crump/Matthew
Theobald: How to build an ark

23. Understanding how humans work within teams
© 2022 Association for Project Management 23
For further information on how to develop Neurological Levels thinking into your teams, and insights into key aspects of team communications
you can contact me:
Tim Lyons
APM People SIG
timlyons@gestionnaire.net
www.linkedin.com/in/timlyonsprogman

24. The Neurological Levels model
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How humans work – individually and in teams and even organisations.
Environment
Behaviours
Capabilities
Beliefs & Values
Identity