Evolving the Secret Art and

Science of Consulting!

Rajeev Kasat
This is not 101, but Consulting Psychology

Professional sources for Methodology is a better source for Consulting How to 101.

The objective of this content is to introduce new concepts, ideas, insights that can fire a new thinking
process and encourage building up of a new kind of wisdom/vision!

How would I describe Consulting to a time traveller from 1000 AD?

- The wise man who the kings and aristocrats consulted?

Aim is to develop the Psychology of gaining Consulting Wisdom, which will allow you to be a unique
Consultant that provides unique value to the world and not a 101 Clone!

This is a Story that will uncover as you go ahead, so no Agenda in advance!

Why is Consulting Important?

Consultant directly contributes towards survival and

evolution of specific patterns of human activity and
organization, and hence of the human race!
What is Consulting?

Help Leading Organizations Evolve

Help Lagging Organizations Survive

From Knowledge To What?

“We invented the computer (or AI) - I've

never seen the computer invent a
human being.” - Jack Maa

Imagination - An energizing story!

Wisdom that can include radical

innovation without limited boundaries!

Vision that dreams to implement a

brighter future with a broader scope!
Advice from Einstein on where to Start!

● If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more
intelligent, read them more fairy tales.
● I am enough of the artist to draw freely upon my Imagination.
● Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited, whereas imagination
embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.
● Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.
● True sign of Intelligence is not Knowledge, but Imagination
● The gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge.
● I never made one of my discoveries through the process of rational thinking.

Start practicing Story Telling!

StoryTelling - Fairy tales can come true!

METAVERSE

1992 2021
Not just information/knowledge, There is an Hierarchy!

Mental
Output Information Knowledge Insight Imagination Wisdom Vision

Compare Earth Water Fire Wind Space Time

Function Foundation Utilize for the Change: Fly, Inclusively Transform,

& Stability moment and Deconstruct Discover Hold and Evolve
within a and Organize
scope Reconstruct

Brain Left Left Low - Left Right Right Right

High - Right

Mode Analytical Analytical The Bridge Synthetic Synthetic Synthetic

Linearity Linear Linear The Bridge Non Linear Non Linear Non Linear
Definitions of elements in this hierarchy

● Information - Data or Facts

● Knowledge - Arrangement of facts and analysis of those facts to give a structure and utility. Knowledge has a finite purpose and is
bounded by scope and time E.g. Old AS-IS knowledge gets stale and needs to be refreshed.

● Insight - Understanding/articulation of principles, fundamental patterns or building blocks behind facts and knowledge. Insights is
less bounded by scope and time. Insights from one domain can be utilized and connected to others. E.g. From physics to biology
etc. Breathing life into facts and knowledge, Insight can reconstruct and deconstruct it. This is how an element of non-linearity is
produced.

● Imagination: Story formation and telling, Hypothesis creation - Formation of new ideas, or images or concepts of external objects
not present to the senses. A TO-BE Story which need to be scrutinized.

● Wisdom - Harmonious arrangement of interconnected insights that bring some level of clarity. Wisdom is fresh and living as long as
this arrangement is humble and hence open, flexible, inclusive to radically new perspectives. If facts, knowledge, insights and
stories are the contained, then wisdom is like a specific kind of container. Wisdom is like a solved puzzle. However wisdom may be
complete in itself, but wisdom of one can be more mature that the wisdom of the other E.g. 720p 10 x 10 inch vs 4k 100 x 100 inch.

● Vision - An unexplainable jump from one level of Wisdom to the starting point of another level of Wisdom, and achieved when the
mind is in a state of "Flow".Your wisdom suddenly attains to the most harmonious "perfect" structure that is possible with it’s existing
contents. Through logical analysis you would have indeed taken years if not infinite time to attain to this organization. E.g. A mental
version of the Runner’s high. It can be considered as nature's method of extending the boundary each time to support evolution in
the mind or brain. Imagine that Nature has already programmed humans for both survival and evolution.
How to Develop Ideas:
Information to Imagination
● Information - Develop more efficient, effective way to uncover, gather, store, organize, recall and use information on the domain

● Knowledge - Train yourself on the 101 textbook science of the domain, practice, and gain experience! The experience will not only
provide analytical concepts, but it will also provide inputs to subconscious that will be used by peripheral awareness discussed later
in Insight, Imagination, Wisdom and Vision.

● Insight -

○ Lower (Left brain): Go beyond the science, practice first principles thinking, breaking down knowledge into its fundamental
patterns, learn to gain control over where your own intention/attention goes, learn to apply perfect concentration (left brain)
for longer periods of time. Learn the difference between subtle and gross ladders of human concepts/knowledge and learn
to climb and down.

○ Higher (Right brain): Increase total power of consciousness (mental energy) so that more energy is available to both
attention (left brain) and peripheral awareness (right brain) for longer periods of time. Learn to enjoy the domain and
flow/swim in it. When everything fails, learn to make the mind silent and wait for the Insight to emerge!

● Imagination - Learn the power of magical story formation and telling! Learn to appreciate and get absorbed by great stories.
Enjoyment, Feeling, Energizing and Absorption is key!

● Wisdom - Learn to think from a radically different perspective that you are not used to E.g. Perspective of a business end user with
no IT/implementation experience. Especially on a topic where your mind is polarized, learn to debate from the opposing side?
Objective is to expand boundaries and limitations that your own mind has created Learn to gain freedom from being enslaved by
your preferences, habits, attractions, repulsions, compulsions when it comes to selecting/entertaining thinking concepts.
Examples of activities requiring Insight
“Look deep into nature and you will understand everything better”
“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”
Is like extracting the essential oil out of flowers when it comes to smell.

● Breaking down your experience into reusable quick start assets, tools, industry best practices
● Creating frameworks that holistically explain phenomenon E.g. This very one
● Solving new types of problems that don't have a typical or already-defined solution
● Different types of problem solving requires different types of Insight patterns:
○ Bottoms up problem solving (Lower - Left brain requires a framework)
○ Hypothesis based (Higher - Right brain and hence requires more experience)
The Breaking Down in “Insight” - Power of Frameworks!
Several frameworks in business/consulting

- Some core concepts:

- Breaking down information/knowledge into its fundamental components: Mutually exclusive, Collectively
exhaustive thinking (MECE) categories
- First Principles Thinking: Basic proposition or assumption that cannot be deduced from any other proposition
or assumption. I.e. Coming up with basic building blocks of knowledge
- Learn existing frameworks (101 - Science) or create your own framework with the bottoms up approach.
- Think: Insight is like a chemical reaction (fire) that applies energy to old forms of knowledge (water) and information
(earth), converts it into basic building blocks and reconstructs newer forms of TO-BE Design or Knowledge.

Deeper: A story to impress on the magic of patterns:

● “The entire world emerged out of the Big Bang, In order to scaleup this creation, the
same essential patterns differentiated creating multiple patterns and so on in a
cascading effect.
● I used a framework that represents the physical to explain the mental: Earth, Water,
Fire, Wind, Space, Time
● Many frameworks used in ancient cultures. E.g. Ayurveda (depicted)
Time to Introduce Attention vs Peripheral Awareness
Attention: What you actively
focus on and dominates your
mental awareness. (Left Brain)

Peripheral Awareness: Like

peripheral vision (eye) we may
be generally aware of things
mentally in the background
which involves conscious,
subconscious or even
un-conscious. (Right Brain)

Reference - John Yates:

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/25942786-the-mind-illuminated
 How Does Insight actually function

Level 1: Your Attention (left brain) keeps focussing on the domain and accumulating AS-IS facts,
knowledge (which also includes already documented insights, imaginations and visions) -> It struggles to
deconstruct them into its most fundamental elements. It can use existing frameworks or come up with new
ones to break down. -> Sometimes it is successful and ends up producing new knowledge (TO - BE)

Level 2: At other times, the problem is too complex and attention fails and gives up. However the total mind
is till active, alert. More mental energy is available to an already Active Peripheral awareness (right
brain) which picks up an answer from a blackhole (Subconscious or even Un-conscious) and presents it to
the attention. An Insight can also lead to creation of a brand new framework that helps solve the problem.
This process of the right brain is not conscious. A proof of this happening is achievement of Flow and
Extreme joy. E.g. Story of Archimedes who leapt from his bath and ran about naked through the streets
shouting Eureka!

Note: If your wisdom is not inclusive, it may not allow certain radically different insights or its component to
emerge!
Reference - John Yates: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/25942786-the-mind-illuminated
An interesting story - The two primal thought patterns!

When the Big Bang occurred, the first elements started differentiating into everything else and the mind was born, -
What was the framework for its first few thoughts?

Integration Differentiation

This is a truth, but only a part of it or one of the perspectives. There is truth In order to realize the internal essence of this truth, attention must deeply
beyond this. focus on it, put everything else on temporary hold.

Right brain Left Brain

Synthetic Thinking: Seeing, grasping as they are as a whole Analytical Thinking: Attempting to understand by slicing, dicing,
isolating and comparing to linguistic concepts

What’s inside a seed cannot be understood by breaking it into pieces. It has to Using logic, the Truth is cut into manageable bits (concepts) that stand alone,
be seen, felt, experienced or absorbed. are easy to understand and applicable for utilitarian purpose

Higher Insight, Imagination, Wisdom, Vision -> Peripheral Awareness Fact, Knowledge, Lower Insight -> Attention

Objective: Open, Inclusive, “Sees things as they are” Subjective: Cuts, Compares and Attempts to Utilize, But gets entangled,
identified with its own concepts, preferences, needs, aversions with a focus
on personal wellbeing and interest (Ego) “What’s in it for me” and ignores
everything else!
How To Ideas: Vision

● Vision - If nothing else, start by experiencing and attempting to understand the runner's high.

You could then take those insights and transfer them to other domains: art,creativity, problem solving,
and design. The basic objective is to enter a state of "Flow". The basic condition for "Flow" is 100% (or
close to it) awareness focused on an activity or phenomenon for some time.

There are multiple mechanisms to achieve this:

- Level 1 - Balancing skill/risk-challenge, such that it is not possible to do a task without 100%
focus
- Level 2 - Removing distractions, sensory inputs to focus and channelize your energy and focus
your awareness consciously towards achieving flow while focusing on a task. E.g. Hearing
music while running to experience runner's high, practicing meditation/mindfulness, etc.
- Level 3 - Deliberate mind-training to increase total power of consciousness available to both
attention and peripheral awareness, developing ability to concentrate for longer periods of time
and also make the mind silent and receptive for encouraging peripheral awareness (or right
brain activity)
Level 1: Balancing Risk and
- Level 4 - Strong identification and focus with something beyond the boundaries of your Challenge to create Flow
personal self i.e. expanding your sense of identity and consciousness E.g. Visionaries - Martin
Luther King on Inclusion, Marc Benioff on Stakeholder Capitalism and Cloud, Elon Musk on
environmental friendly automotive technologies

Reference: Mihaly C. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)

A quantifiable approach for Vision?

Height Distance of TO-BE from AS-IS

(Radically different?)
A B

Imagine you are at point A - Current state.

What is the boldest, most promising, luminous, audacious,

Breadth Is the Scope broad? energizing, inclusive and yet pragmatic enough picture B of the
(E.g. Compare with Values: Shareholder future state possible to have? -> Vision
capitalism vs stakeholder Capitalism, Equality)

Promising, Luminous, Audacious, Energizing -> Imagination,

Higher Insight

Inclusive -> Wisdom

Depth Is it realistic, Is it practical, Is the plan detailed
enough? Pragmatic -> Fact, Knowledge, Lower Insight

Visionaries create a future that energizes them instead of attempting to predict one!
Non Linearity of Higher Insight, Intuition and Vision!

● Wind: Let the Bird of your Imagination ride on the wings of Intuition
● Heavy Right brained folks often create Myths that help them get out of the trap of their linear left brains

● Used to just intuitively arrive at complex

mathematical equations ● Had found a way to block out the world and dedicate all
● Claimed that Hindu Goddess Namagiri of his concentration to a single task
whispered equations into his ear ● Could see images in his mind’s eye with a clarity and
● Was not interested in proofs, claiming he did detail that we might associate today with an engineering
not have time for them drawing produced by computer software
● Proofs by other mathematicians validated his ● “It seems as though the part of the brain that’s usually
equation years later reserved for visual processing – the part that is used to
process images coming in from my eyes “
Ramanujan
Mathematical Genius ‘Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a
Fantastic Future' by Ashlee Vance

Claimed to have pictured the

ring structure of benzene after
dreaming of a snake eating its
own tail.

August Kekule, Discoverer of

Benzene Ring
Practicing Silence of Meditation and Intuitive Insight!
Step 1: Increase ability to apply stable concentration for longer periods of time (left brain)
Step 2: Increase peripheral awareness, practice receptive silence - mindfulness/meditation (right brain)!

“In moments when the inner lamps are lit

And the life’s cherished guests are left outside,
Our spirit sits alone and speaks to its gulfs.
A wider consciousness opens then its doors.
…..
In the oblivious field of mortal mind,
Revealed to the closed prophet eyes of trance
Or in some deep internal solitude Attention manipulating and

Witnessed by a strange immaterial sense hacking applications are

leading to an Attention deficit
… syndrome

The truth mind could not know unveils its face,

We hear what mortal ears have never heard,
We feel what earthly sense has never felt,
We love what common hearts repel and dread…” Scattered, Distracted Monkey Mind

- Sri Aurobindo, the philosopher and poetic genius in

Savitri: Canto Book 1: Canto VI: Secret Knowledge