In NLP, ecology is defined as the study of consequences. Think of a forest. You probably imagine the trees and some of the larger animals, such as deer, lions, elephants, or wolves (depending on where the forest is). While they may seem like individual pieces, they are actually small parts of one single system. The trees provide food and shelter for small insects, birds, and mammals, which in turn are consumed by larger animals. Tiny animals and fungi live in the soil that helps the trees grow. If you take away one aspect of this system, the entire structure falls apart. The system can also be brought down if a new species is introduced. Our minds function in a manner similar to that of these natural systems. What if I told you that some people consume a large amount of alcohol and it has little impact on their lives, but other people’s lives are completely ruined even if they only drink a little and very seldom? There are times when alcohol can have little or no effect on a person, just like an invading species. A more interesting question might be why people undergo such drastic changes after they have lost their jobs, retired, or divorced. The removal of one aspect of a system can have the same disruptive effects as adding a new one. Insects are so important to life on Earth that if they were eliminated, humans and multitudes of other species would indeed be extinct as a result. A healthy ecosystem is dependent on the health of each and every one of its constituent parts, as we can see from this example. In order to describe the system within an individual, NLP employs the term “ecology.” Neglecting the system as a whole will only lead to more problems, no matter how beneficial our efforts are. Cats, for example, were brought to Australia to help control rodents, but the cats have ended up causing serious problems for the local fauna. The same can be said for being more productive at work, which can result in less time spent with family and friends. When we look at the ecology of the situation, we can anticipate, mitigate, and deal with issues before they arise while we accept a systemic approach. Ecosystems also allow us to see whether or not an isolated problem points to an even larger issue. For example, alcoholism may be a symptom of a deeper problem, so treating the alcohol problem alone may help, but it won’t necessarily transform the person from a passive to a productive one. “Better” people aren’t the goal of NLP. The goal of NLP is to bring out the best parts of every person, and ecology is a critical component of this process. The key question is: How does this change influence anything / everything else?