Our Approach
Why “Balanced Approach”?
Balanced Approach grew from a simple observation: lasting change rarely comes from applying a single technique or looking at a problem from only one perspective.
People are systems.
How we think influences how we feel and behave. How we communicate influences the responses we receive from others. Our environment influences what becomes easy or difficult. And every action creates feedback that can help us learn and adapt.
That is why our work crosses healthcare, business, coaching and NLP.
The contexts may be different, but many of the underlying questions are remarkably similar.
From Engineering to Human Development
Balanced Approach was founded by Mark Peters, whose professional journey began in engineering and manufacturing before moving into coaching, NLP, training and human development.
Working as an Operations Director introduced Mark to systems thinking, lean manufacturing, process improvement and change management.
It also generated a question that has continued to shape his work:
Why do technically sound solutions sometimes fail when people become involved?
Processes can be redesigned relatively quickly. Human beings are rather more interesting.
Change involves perception, beliefs, communication, learning, behaviour and the ability to adapt.
That realisation led initially to NLP and subsequently into coaching, behavioural approaches and wider models of human learning and change.
Lean Mind Management
Mark sometimes describes NLP as “Lean Mind Management.”
The phrase reflects his engineering background.
Lean manufacturing asks us to understand a process, identify what is useful, notice what creates unnecessary effort and continually improve the system through feedback.
Applied to human behaviour, similar questions become possible.
- What are we trying to achieve?
- What are we currently doing?
- What feedback are we receiving?
- What is helping?
- What is getting in the way?
- And what could we do differently?
The objective is not to make human beings behave like machines.
Quite the opposite.
It is to recognise that human beings are complex, adaptive systems capable of learning.
Curiosity, Feedback and Flexibility
There are several ideas that run throughout our work.
Curiosity before judgement.
Before trying to change behaviour, understand how it makes sense within the person's experience.
Feedback rather than failure.
An unexpected result gives us information about the system.
Capability rather than dependency.
Good training, coaching and development should ultimately help people become better able to think and act for themselves.
Flexibility rather than formula.
No single model works in every situation. The more responses available to us, the greater our ability to adapt.
These principles connect our work across healthcare, business, coaching and NLP.
Experience That Has Evolved
Balanced Approach has provided training, coaching and consultancy to individuals and organisations across the private and public sectors, including healthcare, education, utilities, manufacturing and professional services.
Over the years, our thinking has continued to evolve.
We still use models and approaches that have proved valuable throughout that journey. We also continue to question them, update them and integrate useful ideas from other disciplines.
Because a model that cannot itself adapt would contradict one of the central principles behind our work.
A Balanced Approach to Change
We don't believe people need ever-increasing collections of techniques.
We are more interested in helping people understand what is happening, recognise patterns, use feedback intelligently and develop greater choice in how they respond.
Whether the context is a healthcare conversation, organisational change, a coaching session or NLP training, the underlying purpose remains much the same: