Session 16 — September 2012

Asked what the biggest problem is for people in IT, the Wonders name the self-delusion that everything is technical: within the technical world everyone shares the lingo, but outside it nobody understands what is being said, so the aim should be getting IT people to speak a language others can understand.

They add that IT thinking is narrow and logical, with creativity coming from outside the field.

On large organizations, including the banks Frederic works with, they describe built-in inefficiencies that protect individual positions and egos, made worse in IT departments because IT confusion is the most confusing to the rest of the organization.

Frederic proposes charging for the value of the solution rather than by the day; the Wonders say large organizations resist open-ended costs and want fixed costs known in advance, so he would have to demonstrate that insisting on fixed costs is what builds in the inefficiencies.

They endorse the model in the long term because it would yield creative, efficient and timely solutions, encourage him to expose his philosophy in a book and on a lecture circuit, and note he will have greater success with organizations interested in saving money - typically smaller and medium-sized firms - than with large ones like the bank, which only care about achieving a result regardless of time or cost.

Frederic notes that building companies is fun from the ego's perspective and asks what fun would mean for the self.

The Wonders answer that for the self fun is simply choosing: the self says "oh, okay" to each possibility while the mind and ego do the judging and preferring.

Returning to pricing, they propose a hybrid as an easier sell to large corporations: a very low fixed base price plus a percentage of the savings or efficiencies achieved.

They warn him not to overthink, which paralyzes him, but to choose, try, and move on if it does not work.

They then reframe his project: the perception that there is a simpler way of doing things comes from himself, and his mind took that and applied it to IT.

The task is to translate that simplicity through ego and mind into a language people in his field can understand - which implies two books, one for IT consultants and one for the general population.

Frederic asks how to raise his energy levels.

The Wonders say he will be most energized by doing what the self wants to do, while his mind gets excited solving the puzzle - so moving in the direction of finding and expressing a simpler way will raise his energy.

They also recommend adrenal supplementation, as Rene has suggested, without a specific product or dosage, and advise doing Asimaya on himself over the adrenal glands and kidneys - the symbols and finger positions applied over the back rather than the front.

On his tiredness they note that sleeping less naturally makes him more tired and that he is also reducing the hormones in his body at present.