Movement Pattern Analysis

Movement Pattern Analysis (MPA) is a comprehensive system for assessing an individual's core motivations in decision-making processes, based on the disciplined analysis of nonverbal behaviour. MPA has a wide range of applications, from management consulting to career guidance, and over 30,000 individuals – primarily those involved in senior management – have made use of MPA-Profiles over the last 50 years.

MPA maps out how people are intrinsically motivated to take action and interact throughout all stages of a decision-making process. "Intrinsic motivation" refers to inner drive, as opposed to extrinsic motivation – responding positively or negatively to external factors (e.g., wages, punishment). "Decision-making process" is used here to refer to the whole chain of actions involved in thinking through, making choices and implementing decisions. MPA is used by companies and individuals to ensure compatibility between people and areas of responsibility and to improve team-balance.

Professional MPA-Practitioner training has allowed MPA to spread to a wide range of fields, although its main application has been in management consulting, spanning over 30 countries. Some companies and multinational corporations have continued to use MPA consistently for over three decades, which is rare in the often trend-seeking private sector.

Typical applications of MPA in Management Consulting include: Personal-, leadership-, and team-development; MPA-Coaching and self-management; recruiting and (re-) definition of roles; planning-structures for meetings and long-term strategies.

MPA was developed by Warren Lamb in the 1940s and '50's, building upon the innovations of movement theorist Rudolf Laban and one of the UK's first management consultants, F. C. Lawrence. Warren Lamb assisted Laban and Lawrence in their groundbreaking research within British industry – first among factory workers – then focusing on management.

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