clean space_ modeling human perception through emergence by penny tompkins & james lawley

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14/11/13 Clean Space: Modeling Human Perception through Emergence by Penny Tompkins & James Lawley

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Article from www.cleanlanguage.co.uk

First published in Anchor PointVol. 17, No. 8, September 2003

Clean Space:

Modeling Human Perception through EmergencePenny Tompkins and James Lawley

"Space speaks."Edward Hall.

David Grove, the originator of Clean Language[1]and the innovator of many processes for

working with autogenic (client-generated) metaphor, has done it again. He has created Clean

Space, a fascinating new approach that uses emergence to model human perception and

facilitate organic change. Steven Johnson notes the importance and ubiquityof emergence:

We have only recently begun to recognize it, yet it exists at every level of our

lived experience. It is fast becoming clear that our lives revolve around the

powers of emergence. An ant colony behaves with an intelligence no particular

ant possesses; a brain is conscious although no particular brain cell is; a city

develops districts and neighbourhoods no planner could impose. In each case,

complex problems are solved by a profusion of relatively simple elements. Order

arrives from the bottom up, not top down. Such systems display emergent

behaviour: the movement from low-level rules to higher-level sophistication.

(Cover of book)

Symbolic Modelling and Clean Space

Combining David Grove's work with the latest developments in self-organizing systems theory

and cognitive linguistics resulted in Symbolic Modelling, described in our book, Metaphors in

Mind. We regard Clean Space as an extension of Symbolic Modelling because, like Clean

Language, it facilitates the client to self-model; it requires 'clean' interventions; and it works

directly with the metaphoric realm.

Our description of Clean Space is derived from observing David Grove facilitating individuals in

small groups during 2 or 3 day retreats. Over the last year we have been testing and refining

our model, both in our private psychotherapy practice and with executive coaching clients in

business. We have also introduced Clean Space to groups. At the NASA Goddard Space

Center in Washington DC, Clean Space was used as a creativity process with 30 members of

a cross-functional team. And we have used Symbolic Modelling and Clean Space over a four-

day period to facilitate 80 members of The Findhorn Foundationspiritual community in

Scotland to explore, clarify, plan and implement a joint outcome.[2]

Below we present a 'bas ic' version of how Clean Space can be applied in many contexts, in

addition to psychotherapy. The process a ims to facilitate people to experience new

perspectives, insights and creativity in 15 to 90 minutes. (The more extensive process

facilitates clients to work with multiple 'worldviews' or 'cosmologies' over several days.)

Universality of Space
http://www.findhorn.org/http://www.cleanlanguage.co.uk/articles/articles/175/1/Book---Metaphors-in-Mind/Page1.htmlhttp://www.cleanlanguage.co.uk/articles/articles/109/1/Less-Is-More-The-Art-of-Clean-Language/Page1.htmlhttp://www.cleanlanguage.co.uk/articles/articles/24/1/Clean-Space-Modeling-Human-Perception-through-Emergence/Page1.htmlhttp://www.findhorn.org/http://www.cleanlanguage.co.uk/articles/articles/175/1/Book---Metaphors-in-Mind/Page1.htmlhttp://www.cleanlanguage.co.uk/articles/articles/109/1/Less-Is-More-The-Art-of-Clean-Language/Page1.htmlhttp://www.nlpanchorpoint.com/http://www.cleanlanguage.co.uk/articles/articles/24/1/Clean-Space-Modeling-Human-Perception-through-Emergence/Page1.html


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Whenever we see something, we see it somewhere; whenever we hear a sound, it's coming

from somewhere; and whenever we touch something, we feel it somewhere.

Likewise, whenever we create an image in our mind, we see it somewhere; whenever we

hear a sound internally, we hear it coming from somewhere; and whenever we feel a feeling

inside, we feel it somewhere.

Neuroscientists te ll us there are no actual images, sounds or feelings in the brain, but

subjectively it seems like there are. In other words, our representations are metaphors that

exist in a mindspace -- a stage in the theatre of our mind where the play of consciousness is

enacted.

Metaphors embody and define the intangible and abstract, but this limits and constrains

perceptions and actions to those which make sense w ithin the logic of the metaphor.

Metaphors are therefore both descriptive and prescriptive. They can be a tool for creativity or

a self-imposed prison. Either way, there are some metaphors we simply cannot do w ithout,

and space is one of them. Metaphors of space are everywhere:

A sense of direction

Where is my career going?

Moving forward

Things are looking up

One step at a time

Life path

Moving up in the world

Moving on

The way ahead

Rise to the top

On track

A turning point

Inflation is levelling out

It's all downhill from here

Down in the dumps

In the pit of despair

We're stuck

I'm going nowhere

How do we get out of this mess?

Following blindly

The roller-coaster of life

Over the hill

The deadline is approaching

Lead astray

Going round in circles

Put the past behind me

Space is so fundamental to perception that perhaps location should not be regarded as aquality (a submodality) of our sensory systems. Steven P inker's view that the metaphor of

space is more like the "medium of thought itself" may be more appropriate. He draws this

conclusion because:

Location in space is one of the two fundamental metaphors in language, used for

thousands of meanings. ... Many cognitive scientists (including me) have

concluded from their research on language that a handful of concepts about

places, paths, motions ... underlie the literal or figurative meanings of tens of

thousands o f words and constructions, not only in English but in every other

language that has been studied. (pp. 354-357)

As you will see, Clean Space makes full use of the discovery that space is the medium or

context for thought itself.


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Spatial Sorting

Robert Dilts has made a s ignificant contribution to NLP through the use of 'spatial sorting'. He

has designed a number of processes such as Perceptual Positions, Neuro-Logical Levels,

SCORE and Timeline that enable us to 'sort' and 'anchor' our thoughts and feelings into

different physical places. In these processes the practitioner specifies a number of categories

and allocates each of them a space. In Perceptual Positions for example, first, second, third

and sometimes a fourth position are given a location by the facilitator. The facilitator provides

the characteristics associated w ith these spaces, often with metaphors such as: 'seeing out

of your own eyes', 'standing in the other person's shoes ', 'a fly-on-the-wall position'. The

facilitator guides the client through a sequence of moves from position to position -- usually

with the liberal use of metaphors to instruct the client to 'leave that experience there', 'step

out of that', etc. In these techniques the location of the space, the form of the perception,

and the order of moves are to varying degrees predetermined by the facilitator.

Clean Space is like doing a mixture of Perceptual Positions, Neuro-Logical Levels, etc. without

the facilitator defining any of the spaces; or deciding the category of experience allocated to

the spaces; or predefining the number of steps. In Clean Space, each position is located bythe client and its attributes are defined by the client. The whole process emerges out of the

client's innate ability to, as Gilles Fauconnier and Mark Turner put it, "conceptually blend" their

perception of metaphorical space with their perception of physical space.

A New Kind of Process

The philosophy behind Clean Space draws on the latest developments in self-organizing

systems theory. Stephen Wolfram's mammoth 1200 page A New Kind of Science describes

how he used simple programs (cellular automata) as metaphors for physical and biological

systems. After 20 years research his conclusions are as simple as his programs, and as

profound in their implications as the complex behavior those programs produce:

1. Very simple rules can produce endlessly complex behavior.

2. Emergent behavior is not predictable from the rules. The only way to know what

happens is to set the program running and observe the outcome. (Life can be

considered a program that has been running for 3 billion years.)

3. Traditional intuitions about how systems work are counterproductive when modelling

complex systems. Therefore a new kind of intuition is required based on the

observation and analysis of many examples of complex behavior emerging from simple

interactions (we call this 'bottom-up modelling').

The basic Clean Space process is remarkably straightforward. There is a starting process,

three simple routines which are repeated over and over, and a finishing process. Facilitating

Clean Space requires only six questions and four directing statements. [See Figure 1]


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FIGURE 1: The Basic Clean Space Process

Clean Space is not like a traditional technique: the steps cannot be prede fined s ince neither

you nor the client knows what will happen next. Each move is contingent upon what has justbeen said or done and on the logic of the client's information. How many spaces the client

identifies, their location, the order in which they are located, the information emerging from

each space, and the number of iterations are determined during the process.

Clean Space is a developmental model that recognises that complex-adaptive systems

(people) learn through embodied activity, feedback and iteration. The result is an emergent

property which was not predictable from the underlying rules or initial conditions. Clean Space

is a new way to utilize bottom-up modelling in human psychology.

A New Kind of Facilitation

Because Clean Space is so simple, the process so emergent, and the interventions so clean,

it requires a different kind of facilitation. One that supports the client to self-model. That is, to

construct a model of the organization of their mindbody perceptions. [See Figure 2]


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FIGURE 2

Guidelines for Facilitating Clean Space Process

1. The aim of the process is:

For the client to model a network of relationships between the spaces,

rather than to just develop the information contained w ithin the spaces.

2. The general format for the process is:

- The client starts by placing their desired outcome statement and locating

Position 1.

- They are facilitated to use the Locating, Knowing and Returning routines

iteratively.

- The client completes the process by returning to Position 1.

3. Make minimal interventions:

- Remember you are facilitating the client to self-model.

- Change occurs as a result of the client's system self-reorganizing, not

from your interventions.

- Allow the client's process to unfold organically, in its own way and at its

own pace.

- Incorporate the client's exact words into your questions and directions,

using as few of your own words as possible.

- Do not comment in any way on what is happening.

- Only ask one question at a time, and leave plenty of response-inviting

pauses.

- The more psychoactive the space becomes the more the space will be

your co-facilitator, and the less you will need to do.

4. Iterate, Iterate, Iterate

Repeatedly return the client to Position 1 and to 'Sweet Spots' (spaces

where there is a lot of new knowing).

5. Keep the process moving

Only spend a short time in each space. You can use Clean Language to

briefly develop the client's metaphors, but keep the process moving by

inviting the client to move to new spaces or to revisit existing spaces.

6. Direct each question to

a particular space or group of spaces and make your gaze and gestures

congruent with the location of the client's spaces.

7. Use Clean Logic:

- Notice the spaces the client refers to implicitly, and invite them to move

there.


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- If the client seems to be ta lking from a different space than the one they

are occupying, move them to that space.

- Clients indicate a higher-level knowing when they name a group of

spaces, a relationship between spaces, or a metaphor for a configuration

of spaces (lines, shapes, angles, edges, etc.). Use the client's word(s) for

the grouping of spaces to refer to them as a whole.

8. Finishing

Be sure the client completes the process in Position 1. This is their 'control

position' from which they can notice any changes that have occurred

during the session. It is from here that they leave to continue their lives.

David Grove says, "your aim is for the client to establish a network of relationships between

the spaces." Once this configuration is established, the client's natural ability to detect

patterns and make meaning, coupled with their desire to change, results in the system

learning from itself.

When you facilitate Clean Space, your language, gaze and gestures must be clean. That is, all

that you say and do needs to be congruent with the client's mental landscape from their

perspective. This means resisting the temptation to add in your own words. The moment you

do this the client has to stop modelling them self, and start modelling you. This applies not

only to meta-comments, reframes and Ericksonian language, but also to those apparently

innocuous additions such as "Tell me what you know from there." The 'tell me' unnecessarily

brings the facilitator into the equation and implies a dialogue rather than an exploration by

the client of the logic of their own perceptions.

Space Speaks

Most people naturally scale their inner landscape to fit the dimensions of the physical space

available. We have successfully facilitated clients in small rooms as well as outs ide where

some of their spaces were 200 metres apart.

The client's desired outcome can be anything they want. It does not have to fulfil any 'Well-

formedness Conditions' or SMART criteria. It is important however, that the desired outcome

is in their own words, and written (or drawn) by their hand -- uncontaminated by any

comments, suggestions or leading questions from the facilitator. The client may rewrite their

statement at any time during the process. You may also find that the client starts moving to

new spaces and returning to existing spaces of their own accord. When this happens you

know they are self-modelling.

If the client wants to move to a space outside the room or building, encourage them to do so

if that is appropriate. If not, they can find what David Grove calls a 'proxy space' which can

stand for the one they are unable to occupy physically. We suggest you say something like:

'Find a space in here that represents or stands for [client's words for the space outs ide].'

Once space becomes psychoactive it is imbued with meaning, and the client is likely to

discover deep significance in the coincidence of events and the location of objects. These

synchronicities should be incorporated into the process. For example, a client who wanted to

"discover his next steps" was be ing taken though the Clean Space process in a public park.

He was standing in one of his spaces when he turned to see a workman in a pond pulling a

"No Waiting" s ign out of the water. As client and facilitator watched in amazement,

wondering whether they should believe their eyes, the workman fished around under the

water and brought a second "No Waiting" s ign to the surface. The client exclaimed, "I might

be able to ignore one sign, but not two!" The facilitator simply replied, "Find a space that


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knows about not being able to ignore two signs."

The Clean Space process can easily continue across sessions. At the end of a sess ion, invite

the client to map the configuration of their spaces. At the start of the following session, the

client can replace their desired outcome and pos ition labels as before. When they are in

Pos ition 1, they can notice if anything has changed. Whether it has or not, the next phase of

self-modelling w ill have already begun.

Concluding Remarks

With Clean Space the client lays out the content of their mind in an embodied process that

enables them to figure out (self-model) how it all fits together. Amazingly, no specific change

technique is required. Clean Space relies on the client's natural ability to utilize emergence.

Change happens organically as a result of the client's system becoming more aware of its

own organization. As Milton Erickson said, "Therapy results from an inner resynthesis o f the

patient's behavior achieved by the patient himself" (quoted by Ernest Rossi).

Clean Space is a very flexible process that can be adapted in hundreds of ways. It can be

used by individuals to solve problems, to stimulate creativity, as a way to prepare for exams

(it's like walking around your own personalized mind map), and as a generative developmentprocess. We have a lso used it with couples, in conflict resolution and negotiation, and in

group facilitation.

Clean Space can easily be incorporated into other methodologies. However, we strongly

recommend that you first trial it several times in its pure form. Not only will your clients

discover some surprising things about themselves, you are likely to notice how little you need

to do. Generally, the less you try to make something happen, the more something

unexpectedly productive happens.

To appreciate the full implication of Clean Space you will need to experience it from the

client's perspective. Afterwards you will have a better idea of how creating a psychoactiveperceptual space and moving around it engages much more than ordinary cognition.

We 'll leave the last word to one of our clients: "I couldn't see how standing on another piece

of carpet could make any difference, and yet when I did, I instantly had access to new

knowledge, and that opened up a completely new perspective."

2003 Penny Tompkins and James Lawley

POSTSCRIPT

In 2009 we undertook a major review and updating of the principles,

methodology and choices available to a Clean Space facilitator, see:

Clean Space Revisited.

And in 2012: James wrote a blog, Setting Up Clean Space, which focuses

on the artistic (rather than the technology) aspect of Clean Space.

Notes:

1. See also inAnchor Point: Watch Your Language!March 2001; A Case StudyMay 2001; A

Model of Musing, May 2002.
http://www.cleanlanguage.co.uk/articles/articles/22/1/A-Model-of-Musing-The-Message-in-a-Metaphor/Page1.htmlhttp://www.cleanlanguage.co.uk/articles/articles/13/1/Metaphors-In-Mind-A-Case-Study/Page1.htmlhttp://www.cleanlanguage.co.uk/articles/articles/76/1/Watch-Your-Language/Page1.htmlhttp://www.cleanlanguage.co.uk/articles/blogs/76/Setting-up-Clean-Space.htmlhttp://www.cleanlanguage.co.uk/articles/articles/255/1/Clean-Space-Revisited/Page1.html


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2. The facilitation team at Findhorn also included Steve Callaghan, Phil Swallow, Wendy

Sullivan, Caitlin Walker and Marian Way.

References:

Robert Dilts, Changing Belief Systems with NLP,Meta Publications, 1990.

Gilles Fauconnier and Mark Turner, The Way We Think: Conceptual Blending

and the Mind's Hidden Complexities,Basic Books, 2003.

Edward T. Hall, The Silent Language,Doubleday, 1981.

Steven Johnson, Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities

and Software, Penguin, 2001.

George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, Metaphors We Live By,The University of

Chicago Press, 1980.

James Lawley and Penny Tompkins, Metaphors in Mind: Transformation

through Symbolic ModellingThe Developing Company Press, 2000.

Steven Pinker, How the Mind Works,The Softback Preview, 1998.

Ernest Rossi, The Psychobiology of Mind-Body Healing, Norton, 1993.

Stephen Wolfram,A New Kind of Science,Wolfram Media, 2002.

Acknowledgements:

Thanks to the London Clean Language and the Metaphor Practice and Research Groups for their

continued exploration, challenge and development of our model of Clean Space. And to Philip

Harland and Phil Swallow for their useful feedback on this article.

URL: http://www.cleanlanguage.co.uk/articles/articles/24/1/Clean-Space-Modeling-Human-

Perception-through-Emergence/Page1.html

Penny and James are supervising neurolinguistic psychotherapists

registered with the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy since 1993

coaches in business, certified NLP trainers, and founders of The Developing

Company.

They have provided consultancy to organisations as diverse as

GlaxoSmithKline, Yale University Child Study Center, NASA Goddard Space Center and the Findhorn

Spiritual Community in Northern Scotland.

Their book, Metaphors in Mindwas the first comprehensive guide to Symbolic Modelling using the Clean

Language of David Grove. An annotated training DVD,A Strange and Strong Sensationdemonstrates

their work in a live session.

All information on this web site (unless otherwise stated) is Copyright 1997- 2013

Penny Tompkins and James Lawley of The Developing Company. All rights reserved. You

may reproduce and disseminate any of our copyrighted information for personal use

only providing the original source is clearly identified. If you wish to use the material for
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