This summarizes the heart and passion of NLP: modeling, searching for processes and the “how,” and disdaining the “why,” and focusing on experiences of excellence rather than the cases of pathology.

how and why

Psychology for a hundred years had operated from a completely different orientation. Based on the medical model and physical “hard” science model, it looked at pathology (at distortions, perversions, pain, distress, etc.), seeking to understand the source (”where did this come from?”, “why is this so?”), and wanting empirical, external proof.

The paradigm shift completely uprooted the old formulations in psychology. The “why” question which had focused clinicians entirely on knowing the source of a difficulty, in one fell swoop became irrelevant. Suddenly a new focus emerged: “How” does it work? Empiricism, modernism, and positivism gave way to post-modernism, phenomenology, and constructionism. The basic question changed from “What ‘is’ the real nature of this problem?” to “How has this person constructed his or her felt and experienced reality?”

Source: Sourcebook of Magic: A Comprehensive Guide to NLP Change Patterns