---
title: "Techniques: the toolkit behind my approach"
description: "The techniques Steff VanHaverbeke uses in AI adoption: NLP, cognitive behavioural techniques, mindscaping, systems thinking, facilitation, visual thinking and storytelling."
language: en
source: https://coachsteff.live/en/techniques
---

# Techniques: the toolkit behind my approach

AI adoption is a question about people. The tools change every month, but how people think, learn, collaborate and change, changes much more slowly. That is why I work with techniques that have proven their worth for decades, and I use them where AI projects usually get stuck.

## Why techniques matter in AI adoption

Rolling out a new AI tool is done quickly. Getting people to actually work with it is something else. That is where fear, habits, beliefs and group dynamics come into play, and that is exactly where these techniques make the difference.

I gathered them over more than twenty years of training, coaching and facilitation. They are woven into my workshops, my programmes and my coaching conversations. You rarely notice them as a technique. You mostly notice that something starts moving.

![Live scribing during a workshop: making thinking visible](https://r.craft.do/79jjm4IjDG-etsxlmn0FC)

## How people think and communicate

### Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP)

NLP explores the connection between how we think (neuro), how we use language (linguistic) and how we behave (programming). In AI adoption, I use it to hear what lies beneath resistance, to turn around limiting beliefs ("this is not for me") and to translate change into language that resonates with people. It also helps with prompting: anyone who can articulate exactly what they mean gets more out of AI.

### Cognitive behavioural techniques (CBT)

A practical, solution-focused approach to recognise thought and behaviour patterns that hold you back, and replace them with patterns that help you move forward. I use it when people are stuck in "I am not technical enough" or in the fear of being replaced. Small, concrete steps change how someone looks at their own abilities.

### Mindscaping

With visualisations and metaphors you build an inner landscape of your situation. This way you reach thoughts and feelings that are difficult to capture with ordinary words. I use it with leaders who see their role shifting because of AI and first want to get clear on what they find truly important, before they decide where they are heading.

## Seeing systems and strategy

### Systems thinking

Looking at the coherence and patterns in a whole, instead of at separate parts. With causal loop diagrams I map out what happens when AI enters a process: which feedback loops arise, where there is delay, which "solutions" actually make the problem bigger. This way you avoid an AI project succeeding locally and failing globally.

### Strategic thinking

From vision to concrete actions, and back. With scenarios, the Cynefin model and recognising typical thinking errors, I help teams choose where AI truly adds value. Strategy, tactics and daily operations align this way, even if circumstances keep changing.

## Getting groups moving

### Facilitation

Getting a group to think, collaborate and decide is a profession. I work with formats that let everyone have their say, with the Disney strategy to keep dreams, realism and criticism separate, and with techniques to make resistance productive. This way an AI workshop does not become a demo, but a session in which the team designs its own first applications.

### Visual thinking and live scribing

With a marker and a large sheet of paper I make visible what is being said and thought in a group. Complex ideas become simple, memorable images. Together with Karl Mortier I trained Visual Practitioners for years, and during workshops and events I draw along live.

### Storytelling

People change through stories, not through slides full of numbers. I help leaders find and tell their AI story: why we are doing this, what it means for you, and what does not change. With structure, tension and strong images, spoken, written and drawn.

![Coaching session: space to think](https://r.craft.do/fXJyMgHHYU-etsxlmn0FC)

## Training and certification

I am a certified NLP Practitioner, NLP Master Practitioner and NLP Trainer and Consultant, CBT Practitioner, Life Coach and Mindscaping Coach. For years I taught the courses NLP Practitioner, Visual Practitioner, Facilitation, Systems thinking, Strategic thinking and Business Storytelling myself.

> Today all those techniques come together in one question: how do you help people to work with AI without losing what makes them good at their jobs? You will find them in my workshops, programmes and coaching around AI adoption.

## Where do you encounter them?

In workshops around AI adoption, in programmes lasting several months and in one-on-one coaching. Curious what they can mean for your team?

[Let's get acquainted →](https://coachsteff.live/meet)

[Discover how I approach AI adoption →](https://coachsteff.live/ai-adoption)