Strategic Intervention

Strategic Intervention (also known as SI) is a project dedicated to extracting the most practical and effective forms of strategic action and communication from a variety of disciplines: Ericksonian therapy, strategic family therapy, Human Needs Psychology, organizational psychology, neurolinguistics, psychology of influence, strategic studies, traditions of diplomacy and negotiation, and others.

Strategic Intervention aims to develop an eminently practical method for taking action in a strategic way to get things done so that human needs are fulfilled and elevated.

Numerous traditions of Strategic Intervention exist wherever human beings use extraordinary skill to bring about positive personal and cultural change. Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Ghandi are examples of masterful Strategic Interventionists that transcend the particularities of religion, culture, institution, job description, or political philosophy (as a Strategic Intervention should).

What distinguishes SI from other strategic studies is the belief that certain holistic solutions “snap into place” when more people’s needs are met, expressed, and elevated. These solutions actually deliver more benefit for less effort.

The tradition of Strategic Intervention (called Human Needs Psychology or HNP) originates with the understanding of the power of meaning to shape all aspects of a human being’s life. Both Anthony Robbins and Cloe Madanes have been powerfully influenced by the great insights and works of Victor Frankl and Milton Erickson’s creative breakthroughs in human intervention.

SI is also grounded in the work of the Gregory Bateson group at the Mental Research Institute, which in the late 1950’s originated the new paradigm of interactional and systemic studies, which became a watershed in the development of disciplines such as game theory, cybernetics, neurolinguistics, organizational psychology, management psychology, and dozens of other systemic disciplines.

Cloe Madanes, who has been associated with this project for four decades, is now the senior member of this tradition. Cloe has recognized Anthony Robbins as one of its most highly skilled thinkers and practitioners.

The goal of Strategic Intervention is to integrate the core insights of these traditions into a method of practical strategic action. SI encompasses strategies that span from the belief systems and emotional patterns within an individual, to individual relationships, to group dynamics, to organizational and cultural interventions. A trained SI coach navigates these different arenas with ease.

If coaches and consultants were knowledgeable in strategic intervention, they’d find their clients taking more action on their advice, side-stepping interpersonal restrictions, and enjoying breakthrough performance.

If business people were to implement SI, they would resolve individual and organizational and cultural paradoxes that otherwise lead to internal conflict and blocked initiative.

If legislators and judges understood human and family dynamics outlined by SI, they would find ways to pass judgments without disrupting essential structures of the family, and more children would be supported in their upbringing without medication or institutionalization.

By distilling the most essential, practical, and effective principles and strategies from master Strategic Interventionists – whether these relate to matters of the individual, couple, family, partnership, company, organization, or culture – the mission of Strategic Intervention is to make these principles more active on a cultural level.