Derren Brown: Archive
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From: ganetauk
Date: Tue Dec 31, 2002 10:45pm
Subject: TOTE TOTE TOTE
THE TOTE MODEL
NLP has adopted the TOTE computer model as a guide to eliciting
strategies. This may appeal to readers who have met it in an
engineering context. But the simple four-stage success model above
does a similar job, and you can stick to that if you prefer. TOTE
stands for:
Test/trigger
Operate
Test
Exit
Test/trigger - The first Test acts as the stimulus, cue or trigger
that begins the strategy. Let's say, for example, you want to buy a
sweat-shirt. In the first Test you may see a picture in your head of
the sweatshirt you want, with you or somebody else wearing it. We
annotate this as 'Vi' or 'visual internal'. You met this sort of
notation in lesson 1.
Operate - The Operate stage accesses the data by remembering,
creating or gathering information from the internal or external
world. In this case it comprises what you do to find a sweat-shirt.
It will no doubt include some 'Ve' (visual external), as you look
around externally; then, perhaps, some Ad (auditory digital), as you
talk to yourself about the possible options and pros and cons; maybe
some K (kinaesthetic), the feelings you get.
(Second) Test - The second Test compares some aspect of accessed data
and the criteria established by the first Test. Here you compare the
sweatshirt you had in your mind with the one you have now seen. Does
it live up to what you wanted? Here you see externally (Ve), and also
see internally the image you fed forward as your criterion (Vi). And
you feel either positive or negative about the comparison (K). You
compare the two choices in the same representational system, like for
like, whether visual, auditory or kinaesthetic.
Exit - The Exit or decision point represents the result of the Test.
If you have a match then the strategy exits and you buy. If you have
a mismatch, and follow the strategy, you will not buy.
The strategy may then recycle (or enter a loop) by:
Changing the outcome or redirecting the strategy ('I'll buy shoes
instead').
Adjusting the outcome or chunking laterally ('I'll put the money
towards a holiday').
Refining or further specifying the outcome ('I'll hang on for a
better-quality winter sweatshirt').
Accessing more data ('I'll shop around some more').
In the case of a mismatch, the strategy recycles to the first
Test/trigger phase, or to the Operation phase. If you make a
purchase, your buying strategy has ended. If unhappy, you might keep
looking around, thus repeating the Operation stage. Once you get a
match you will buy and Exit. Alternatively you might Exit not
deciding to buy. In this case you might start the whole process
again. This time you might change your first Test/trigger, perhaps
imagining something different, more realistic. Or perhaps you just
have a (literal) change of mind. I give two further simple
illustrations of the TOTE model below.
Making a Cake for Tea
(First) Test - I decide I want a cake for tea - the trigger. I
visualise the finished cake - a chocolate one - and this becomes the
test to feed forward to later in the strategy.
Operate - I go through questions or actions in my head: 'Do I have
the ingredients in my cupboard to make a chocolate cake? 'I see in my
fridge or cupboard eggs, margarine, sugar, chocolate, etc.
(Second) Test - The ingredients fulfil the requirements to make the
visualised cake.
Exit - I exit the thinking strategy and begin the behaviour of making
the cake.
Weeding the Garden
(First) Test - My garden needs weeding - trigger.
Operate - I run through my schedule for the week and conclude I have
no time for the weeding.
(Second) Test - My garden still needs weeding. At this point, instead
of exiting, I recycle, as the second test did not turn out
satisfactorily. I have not achieved my desired outcome.
Operate - I decide to telephone a gardener in the neighbourhood to
ask if he can help me out with the weeding.
Another (Second) Test - If he agrees, the weeding will get done.
Exit - I exit the thinking strategy and make the phone call.
Identifying Strategies Using the TOTE Model
Using the TOTE model, you can use simple questions to elicit a
person's strategy:
(First) Test - How do you know when to ... ? When did you
begin ... ? What let you know the time had come to ... ?
Operate - How do you do it? How do you recognise alternatives? How do
you generate alternatives?
(Second) Test - How do you know when your operation succeeds? How do
you determine acceptability or satisfaction? How do you evaluate the
alternatives?
Exit - You have completed the strategy. If questions remain you will
either keep testing (second test), carry out further operations, or
go back to the start of the strategy.
You can begin to understand the other person's mind by carefully
watching their eye movements. Remember that they carry out their
strategy unconsciously. They do not think about thinking, or even, in
the case of an 'autopilot' activity, doing. However, immediate
questions (as the strategy runs) may elicit the strategy as it
happens ('I hear myself say', 'I see a picture of. . .'). In this
case their eye movements will confirm the representational systems in
operation.
