Dilts Pyramid: Organizing Your Problems Step by Step

If you’re facing constant problems at work, stuck in a “rough patch,” surrounded by negativity, or struggling to connect with others, it’s time to tidy up your inner world. The Logical Levels model—also known as the Dilts Pyramid—is a tried-and-true tool that can help you sort things out, find solutions to complex issues, break old habits, and bring order to your thoughts and feelings.

This model describes a living system, which could be an individual, a company, or even a society. The model consists of six levels, which you can imagine as shelves where different aspects of your inner world are organized.

Let’s take a closer look at each level of the Dilts Pyramid and see how you can use it in practice.

A Bit of Theory

Each “shelf” represents a part of your subjective experience. The levels are interconnected and influence each other to varying degrees, depending on their hierarchy and distance. Changes at a higher level will always cause changes at lower levels, but changes at lower levels have much less impact on the higher ones—or sometimes none at all.

Let’s go through the levels from the bottom up:

• Environment. The base level. This is your surroundings—your world, objects, people, places, dates, deadlines, and everything else you interact with in daily life.
• Behavior. The second level includes everything related to your actions or activities. Since actions are performed in a certain environment, this level is closely tied to the one below it.
• Capabilities. This level determines your behavior and is the source and direction of your actions. It’s the experience behind how you perceive your environment.
• Beliefs and Values. This level encompasses your entire life experience. Beliefs and values are shaped by many factors: family, school, friends, culture, and more. Here, the focus is on “How can I achieve this?” and “Why did I act this way?”
• Identity. The next-to-top level is about your personal role—who you see yourself as (e.g., joker, mother, hero, businessperson, friend, lover, child, teacher, etc.). The key question here is “Who am I?”
• Mission. The top level is about spirituality and answers questions like “Why? For what purpose? What’s the meaning?” It’s about seeing yourself as part of something bigger—your spirit or the spirit of your organization.

Breaking Down a Problem: Step by Step

Let’s see how to use the pyramid with real-life examples:

• No one loves me; I’m not needed by anyone.
• I can’t get up when my alarm rings—I keep hitting snooze five or six times.
• I can’t find common ground with person N.

Let’s break down the first problem, moving from the bottom up and answering simple questions to identify which level each part of the problem belongs to.

“No One Loves Me”: Placing It on the Shelves

• Environment: Who should love me? How should they treat me?
  Olya, Nastya, mom, brother, Igor, coworkers, boss, and of course, Kostya. Others would be nice too. They should respect me, treat me kindly, and accept me as one of their own.
• Behavior: What actions or behaviors do I want to see from others?
  They pay attention to me, listen to me, consider my opinion, ask for my advice, use me as an example, spend time with me, enjoy my company, and invite me along.
• Capabilities: What will make people like me? What skills should I develop?
  Listening skills, more knowledge about economics, learning to cook tasty treats, starting a blog to share interesting info, reading four books in my field and applying what I learn at work, updating my wardrobe to be more classic, and learning to walk in heels.
• Beliefs and Values: Why do I want everyone’s love? Why do I want to be needed?
  People who aren’t loved are “bad.” I was taught from childhood to please teachers, neighbors, relatives. Those who aren’t loved are outcasts. Plus, I love attention—I can’t live without it.
• Identity: Who am I as someone loved and needed by everyone? What role do I play?
  I am the center of attention and attraction.
• Mission: Why am I doing all this?
  To like myself.

Looking Two Levels Higher

Einstein once said, “No problem can be solved at the same level at which it was created.” While he wasn’t talking about the Dilts Pyramid, his words perfectly capture the approach to solving internal problems.

To solve a problem—or at least make real progress—you need to look for solutions at higher levels of the Logical Levels system. Most often, the most effective solution is found two levels above where the problem is located.

Let’s look at the other examples:

• I can’t get up when my alarm rings. If the main problem is at the behavior level, the solution is likely at the level of beliefs and values. What value am I fulfilling by not getting up? What values will I fulfill if I start getting up with the first alarm?
• I can’t find common ground with N. If the main problem is at the environment level, look at the capabilities level. What skills or experience do I lack to connect with N? What new skills could help?

If you find the main issue in “No one loves me” is at the beliefs level, move up to the mission level for solutions. Maybe you realize your need to be liked comes from two sources: the desire for pleasure and a sense of duty instilled since childhood. This leads to making others’ opinions the main motivator in your life. The solution at the mission level might be to reconsider the value you place on universal love.

About Breaking Patterns and Dissonance

It’s not wise to try to break established perceptions at the mission level—changes at higher levels happen very slowly. Instead, look for alternative ways to like yourself and consciously lower the importance of others’ opinions for a while. Find new ways to enjoy yourself: take on a challenging project at work, start a hobby that brings you joy, or simply make yourself the center of your own attention—take care of yourself, praise yourself, notice your successes.

Over time, the importance of others’ opinions will decrease (though it may never disappear completely). Developing alternative ways to like yourself will shift your focus from trying to please everyone to areas you can control.

No problem can be solved at the same level at which it was created. — Albert Einstein

Once you’ve chosen a solution, “walk” it down the pyramid from the mission level to check if it aligns with your other levels. If it clashes with your identity, look for another solution or adjust the one you have.

In summary, the Logical Levels Pyramid is a practical tool for breaking down problems into their components, assigning each to a category of your inner self, identifying the level where it’s easiest to find an effective solution, and then checking your solution by running it through the pyramid again.