The Mind-Set Factor ◾ 147
Another graduate said, “Being an A1 consultant isn’t easy. You have to be
responsible for redesigning your career through a combination of new learn-
ing, new attitudes, new methods, new behaviors and feet on the street.”
Two Reasons People Do Not Take Full Responsibility
Fear
Fear is a root cause of irresponsible behaviors. Fear prods at the very core
of our own significance, vulnerabilities, helplessness, isolation, and fragil-
ity. The fact is that everyone is vulnerable. We are all conditioned from
childhood with a variety of fears. It is the epicenter of much of our success
deprivation. Fear cannot be denied. It is part of our humanness. We must
acknowledge and recognize fear for what it is. We must manage it and con-
sciously overcome it where possible.
◾ Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Do the thing you fear and the death of
fear is certain.”
◾ Mark Twain wrote, “Courage is not lack of fear, absence of fear; it is
control of fear, mastery of fear.”
There is often a great irony present in consulting situations, particularly
those on the human performance improvement side of the consulting equa-
tion. Helping clients overcome their limitations, challenges, and fears by
advising and coaching does not necessarily mean you have met, overcome,
or even addressed your own fear demons. Sometimes we teach what we
most need to learn ourselves. Could it be fear around this process that is
stopping you from charging higher fees?
Absence of Courage
Emotional courage is both the ability and the willingness to confront fear,
uncertainty, and doubt. Moral courage is the ability to do the right thing in
the face of popular opposition or opinion.
Lack of courage in your own life carries over to professional practice. As a
consultant, you are called upon to have both emotional and moral courage,
whether it be to buttress your point of view or recommend a particular solution,
to say no to an assignment or person because that is the right thing to do or
148 ◾ Odyssey—The Business of Consulting
to end a consulting assignment at the right time. You are unlikely to challenge
your client when you lack the courage of your own convictions.
Eight Courage-Creating Principles
1. Dream big dreams, assist clients to achieve their big dreams.
2. Face current realities, overcome self-limiting beliefs and fear.
3. Take 100% responsibility, be accountable, and stop managing blame.
4. Confront the challenges and circumstances, make decisions, and
moveon.
5. Invite and receive feedback, be vulnerable to constructive criticism.
6. Embrace learning, relearning, and unlearning.
7. Define and own your integrity, stand your moral ground.
8. Carpe diem—seize the day. Opportunities abound.
Consulting and Corporate Responsibility
When widespread wrongdoing is discovered in a corporate context, the
questions always asked are as follows: How can a whole organization
engage in fraud? Is there not one honest person in there? The answer is
simple, but not obvious. When a culture of fear exists, the natural desire to
“do the right thing” is neutralized. Personal responsibility gives way to fear
and groupthink becomes the norm.
The goal of the advisor is to balance a drive for results while empower-
ing people to do their best work. Only when a concern for people, values,
and ethics is interwoven with the drive for productivity will a culture of
corporate and social responsibility emerge.
Getting the responsibility formula right is often tightrope walk.
Consultants can play a large role in helping leaders and organizations work
towards this objective. The consultant must not be intimidated by the culture
and should have little fear of asking the right questions or challenging incon-
sistencies in values within the scope of their consulting assignment.
A responsibility culture has a multitude of advantages when it comes to
ensuring that consulting assignments are implemented. There is less stress
so you can focus on creative problem solving, less staff turnover so you can
allocate more time to key result areas, fewer problems because ownership
is taken at source, less time lost doing the wrong things and more time to
focus on performance improvement differentiators, strategy, and execution.
The Mind-Set Factor ◾ 149
The field of corporate responsibility has grown exponentially in the last
decade, primarily because there is a growing body of data—quantitative and
qualitative—that demonstrates the bottom-line benefits of socially respon-
sible, people-first corporate performance. Similarly, conscious capitalism is
an emerging business movement that is attracting attention and gathering
momentum in the corporate context. It behoves the consultant to become
well versed in values and corporate responsibility models.
Timeless Life and Consulting Principles
A principle is a fundamental truth that forms the basis for solid reasoning
and making sound judgment calls. Consultants and individuals alike have
discovered that health, wealth, and happiness come from living in harmony
with four timeless principles. They are as relevant today as they were thou-
sands of years ago. They are neutral, unemotional, and operate universally.
While the world changes, they remain unchanged.
Consistently ignoring these principles in your personal and professional
life will hinder your progress and success. However, if you work with them,
they help facilitate the achievement of your ultimate objectives in life; they
will help you reach your full potential in your consulting business. Living in
congruence with these principles gives you control of the direction of your
life and business.
Here are the “Big 4” timeless principles for you to consider:
1. The timeless principle of cause and effect
2. The timeless principle of belief
3. The timeless principle of expectation
4. The timeless principle of attraction
The Timeless Principle of Cause and Effect
There is a cause for every effect in the universe, a reason for every conse-
quence in your life. Earlier choices (or nonchoices) predict present outcomes.
There are no accidents. Nothing happens on its own.
Aristotle (384–322 BC), a Greek philosopher, educator, and scientist, was
one of the greatest and most influential thinkers in Western culture and is
regarded as one of the first to write about the timeless principle of cause and
effect. In the bible, the principle is referenced as follows: “Whatsoever a man
150 ◾ Odyssey—The Business of Consulting
soweth, that also shall he reap.” In scientific terms, Sir Isaac Newton called it
the third principle of motion: “For every action, there is an equal and opposite
reaction.” In modern terms, we define your attitude or mind-set as “the cause”
and your reality or outcome as “the effect.” To put it simply, if you keep doing
what you are doing, you will only get more of what you already have.
This principle is psychological in nature, in that a thought triggers every
action, positive or negative. You make it work in your consulting life by
developing a higher sense of awareness and understanding of how your
mind processes things. In so doing, you begin to take control of the causes
(inputs) and therefore the effects (outputs) in terms of your achievements,
success, happiness, and prosperity. When you are absolutely clear about what
outcomes and goals you want, you can work on the reasons (causes) for
ensuring that a successful outcome (effect) takes place. You work on invok-
ing best practice in whatever area of endeavor you desire a positive effect.
What does that mean in terms of your consulting business? It means that
success and failure are predictable. If you can cause enough positive effects
to happen, you will be successful.
Learning to understand the conditioning process that determines your
attitude and how your mind works is critical to tapping into the timeless
principle of cause and effect. Your mind-set and thoughts (causes) trigger
your emotions and words that, in turn, lead to your actions and consequent
outcomes (effects). You change your current realities by tracing back the
original reasons or causes that led you towards the right or wrong choices.
You begin to change your future by triggering positive forms of cause.
Cause and effect may not always be close together in space and time.
Today’s problems frequently arise as a result of yesterday’s choices, which
means that the rot in thinking is usually well advanced before the condi-
tion manifests itself. If you want something to happen, you have to cause it
to happen. You have a choice. The effects are the consequences. This is the
power of the principle.
All of those who attend Odyssey programs do so with good intentions.
They are motivated and have signaled they want either to become consul-
tants or to be more effective as consultants. Next comes the work required
to inventory their talent and change their mind-set. Through the process,
they leave the old behind and begin internalizing the new. The MasterClass
is the transformational stage where the new consultant identity emerges.
They are now ready to apply this newfound identity in the real world.
Personal mastery and creating business advantage must be activity ori-
entated. Neither setting objectives nor making commitments actually make
The Mind-Set Factor ◾ 151
anything happen. Only activities or specific next moves improve the odds of
achieving those results, allowing those activities to be designated as causes
and the results as effects.
As one graduate said, “I got Odyssey conceptually-process and methodol-
ogy, it took longer than expected to make it work in practice … but I perse-
vered and it worked and is working. Without the experience I would still be
trying to do what I have always done”—cause and effect in action.
A Practical Example
Here is a practical, seven-step, systematic problem-solving sequence, which
many consultants apply, with particular emphasis on cause and effect. Its
purpose is to produce creative solutions within your own consulting practice
and while working with clients.
Step 1: Clarify the effects of the problem
Always start by defining the effect. Ask, “Is there a problem?” “What
is the problem?” “What are its effects?” Be specific. Quantify it. Gather
the facts. Resist the temptation to go for an early solution. Using your
personal competencies, experiences, expertise, and training, ask, “What
are the present effects?” “What are the long-term effects?” “How does
the problem affect the big picture?” “How much does it cost?”
Step 2: Identify the root causes of the problem
For a consultant to understand and solve a client’s business problems,
it is critical that you understand the causes. Root cause analysis using
Fishbone diagrams is one technique
– To discover the root cause of a problem,
– To uncover bottlenecks in processes,
– To identify where and why a process is not working.
Step 3: Generate possible solutions
There are several creative-thinking techniques to generate ideas and
solutions to solve the clearly defined problem. Remember that creativ-
ity is the thinking process that helps generate ideas, and innovation is
the application of these ideas with the aim of doing things better, faster,
cheaper, and more easily. Creative-thinking techniques include brain-
storming, mind mapping, lateral thinking, brain writing, problem gal-
lery, story boarding, and the twenty-idea method.
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