Now there’s a name for a band “The Law of Requisite Variety”. Bands, awards… nominations and so few to choose from in reality.

Who can possibly resist the temptation - Ozzy Osbourne presenting live. You can almost smell the fear of the producers with their hand hovering over a big red cut off button…..

I occasionally have the same feeling presenting with Daryll, that is of course when he isn’t banging on about something in relation to NLP and his best friend, John Grinder. But you know, sometimes he isn’t far off the mark especially when it comes to choices in life.

There’s not much choice when you only have 4 or 5 nominations is there? But think about your life in general for a moment…. how many choices do you give yourself in your day to day life REALLY…….? What if these choices you make conciously are only the tip of the iceberg….. or the limited nominations presented to you?

What if you make a whole load of choices you aren’t even aware of…..?

So why would you want to know more about the choices you make? In their book “Frogs into Princes” Richard Bandler and John Grinder talk about “The Law of Requisite Variety” (alas not the name of a band but a term from cybernetics) - “in any system of human beings or machines, the element in that system with the widest range of variability will be the controlling element” or to paraphrase what I understand it to refer to is that the person with the most choice available to them will have more control over what goes on around them. Make sense? Sort of?

Well, here’s the thing - ever find yourself wondering why you react to certain situations and certain people in a way that you wish you didn’t? Maybe you freeze in large groups, don’t like people getting too close, or get wound up by someone questioning your abilities. Or just get plain defensive.

What if it’s because the way you react is a choice and the only choice you have in that circumstance. What if it comes from a long since forgotten program buried in your unconscious?

But how would you know if you are not aware of it!?

A great starting point would be Will Schutz’s work on self awareness called The Human Element

Will made his life’s work about helping people realise their potential by giving them more awareness of the choices they can make. Who knows “The Law of Requisite Variety” might catch on and win an award……….