And that was before the events of September 11, 2001.

It was at that time, ZATZ co-founder Denise Amrich and I decided we had to start thinking outside the box. We decided to look for tools that would help us be more effective at work while at the same time, manage our state of mind.

I know something about operating a business in recession. Actually, I know quite a lot. Back in the 90s, I wrote a book called The Flexible Enterprise: How to Reinvent Your Company, Unlock Your Strengths, and Prosper in a Changing World. Most of the book talked about traditional business operations and how to manage change in those operations. Of the 262 pages in the book, I devoted a scant six or seven to social and psychological issues. Of course, back in the 90s, no one had flown a plane into the Pentagon or the World Trade Center.

Denise and I decided we needed to find tools that went beyond normal management consulting techniques. We needed to find tools that could help us manage our mental, emotional, and physical states of wellbeing, help us communicate more effectively, be better sales people, and be better able to establish rapport with those around us.

About NLP
Since the 1980s, I've been aware of a discipline called Neuro-Linguistic Programming (or NLP, for short). I'll tell you more about what NLP is later. But first, let me tell you about the origins of the practice. I know this stuff doesn't really appear to be Palm-related, but it's important and I ask you to read along, because it could prove as valuable to you as it has to my business.

NLP is a curious beast. Many scientific disciplines are built "theory down." This means that the discipline starts with a set of theories and the practice is derived from the theory. NLP is empirical, it seems to have started with various observations and built up into unifying theories.

Back in 1975, two scientists observed that certain communicators and therapists (including hypnotherapist Milton Erickson, gestalt therapist Fritz Perls, and family therapist Virginia Satir) had unusually effective results from their practices. These two scientists, Richard Bandler and John Grinder, studied these master communicators, looking for the patterns that made these people so effective. NLP, which has evolved considerably since 1975, is the result of these studies.