Modeling Excellence is the original purpose of NLP: capture the precise structure of how an exceptional performer does what they do, so it can be transferred. It sits in the Cognition dimension (COG) of the Human Behavior Taxonomy™ as element HBT-COG-0481, within the Learning family. The core principle: the original purpose of NLP: capture the precise structure of how an exceptional performer does what they do, so it can be transferred. In incentive terms, it matters because it changes the payoff people perceive before they choose — which means it can be designed for, or exploited.
Scientific Definition
The original purpose of NLP: capture the precise structure of how an exceptional performer does what they do, so it can be transferred.
Plain-English Definition
The original purpose of NLP: capture the precise structure of how an exceptional performer does what they do, so it can be transferred.
Feynman Explanation
Don't admire experts. Model them. Then ship.
Core Principle
The original purpose of NLP: capture the precise structure of how an exceptional performer does what they do, so it can be transferred.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
The original purpose of NLP: capture the precise structure of how an exceptional performer does what they do, so it can be transferred.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Top-performer studies, sales playbooks, training program design.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
Don't admire experts. Model them. Then ship.
Examples
- Bandler & Grinder modeling Erickson (hypnosis), Satir (family therapy), Perls (gestalt).
- Top-performer studies, sales playbooks, training program design.
Pending editorial review.
Original analysis from The Incentives Lab — how this element behaves inside real payoff structures.
Why this element matters to incentive design
This is one of the elements leaders describe as a values gap. It is a payoff gap. The mechanism underneath it is straightforward: the original purpose of NLP: capture the precise structure of how an exceptional performer does what they do, so it can be transferred. You can recognize it in the field by its signature: don't admire experts. Model them. Then ship. Every element in the Cognition dimension changes the perceived payoff of an action before the action happens, which is exactly where incentive design has leverage.
How it gets exploited
Left undesigned, top-performer studies, sales playbooks, training program design. It is amplified whenever top-performer studies, sales playbooks, training program design. Inside organizations that shows up as top-performer studies, sales playbooks, training program design. The pattern is the same one Goodhart's Law describes: the measurable proxy attracts the effort, and the purpose behind it quietly loses funding.
How the Lab designs around it
The redesign move is to model strategy and state, not surface behavior. The visible part rarely transfers. The test of any redesign here is simple: after the change, can you name what the organization is now doing less of? If not, the payoff structure did not actually move.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Model strategy and state, not surface behavior. The visible part rarely transfers.
Measurement Approaches
Pending editorial review.
Evidence
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Model strategy and state, not surface behavior. The visible part rarely transfers.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Interactive Mini Network
Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.
Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
Anchor a peak resourceful state to an imagined spot on the floor; step into it on demand before high-stakes moments.
Your capacity to learn, unlearn, and relearn faster than the environment changes.
Malcolm Knowles's principles of adult learning: self-direction, experience as resource, readiness, problem-centered orientation, intrinsic motivation.
Amishi Jha's research: attention is a finite, depletable, but trainable cognitive resource — short daily mindfulness measurably improves it.
Approach a situation as if you knew nothing.
Unusual or bizarre material is more memorable than common material.
Hierarchy of cognitive learning: Remember → Understand → Apply → Analyze → Evaluate → Create. Benjamin Bloom, 1956 (revised 2001).
Wallace J. Nichols: proximity to water reliably shifts the nervous system toward a calmer, more creative state.
Resourcing past memories with the state you needed at the time, so old triggers stop firing the old response.
Grouping information into familiar units to improve memory and processing.
Compressing many small patterns into one larger unit your mind treats as a single object.
Associating a neutral stimulus with a meaningful one until the neutral one triggers the response.
Where Modeling Excellence is cited in the corpus
Essays, field guides, and diagnostics from The Incentives Lab that apply this element.
- EssayGoodhart's Law in the Real World
How measurable proxies capture judgment.
- EssayThe Perverse Incentives Hiding in Your KPIs
Cognitive shortcuts turned into scorecards.
- EssayAI Agents Inherit Your Incentives
How this element propagates into automated systems.
- ReferenceThe Periodic Table of Human Behavior
The full 1,267-element map this page belongs to.
- ReferenceThe incentive glossary
Definitions for every mental model, bias, and fallacy in the corpus.
Questions about Modeling Excellence
- What is Modeling Excellence?
- Modeling Excellence is the original purpose of NLP: capture the precise structure of how an exceptional performer does what they do, so it can be transferred. It sits in the Cognition dimension (COG) of the Human Behavior Taxonomy™ as element HBT-COG-0481, within the Learning family. The core principle: the original purpose of NLP: capture the precise structure of how an exceptional performer does what they do, so it can be transferred. In incentive terms, it matters because it changes the payoff people perceive before they choose — which means it can be designed for, or exploited.
- What is an example of Modeling Excellence?
- Top-performer studies, sales playbooks, training program design. The Incentives Lab catalogs everyday, organizational, and historical instances of this element on its Human Behavior Taxonomy™ page (HBT-COG-0481).
- How is Modeling Excellence exploited?
- Top-performer studies, sales playbooks, training program design.
- How do you design around Modeling Excellence?
- Model strategy and state, not surface behavior. The visible part rarely transfers.
- Which behavioral dimension does Modeling Excellence belong to?
- Modeling Excellence is classified in the Cognition dimension (COG) of the Human Behavior Taxonomy™, family "Learning", class "Mental Model". Its permanent identifier is HBT-COG-0481 and its evidence grade is B.