Learn about our mission & vision for your success. See how we mobilize ideas to empower

The Personal Story Behind Knowledge in Power Consulting

My fascination with knowledge started a while ago. When I was growing up in my native Bulgaria, I was fortunate to have a great history teacher, Mr. Ivan Kerezov (1951-2017). He didn’t just teach us, his students, about historical facts and the importance of critical thinking. In fact, a picture he once drew on the blackboard has stayed with me and has changed my thinking about and my relationship with knowledge.

In the middle of the big blackboard, our teacher first drew a very small white circle; then, he drew a larger circle and another even larger one, filling them with white chalk, while asking us to make judgments about the dimensions of the different circles, their borders and their contact points with the rest of the blackboard surface. The circles represented knowledge and resembled islands in the middle of the blackboard ocean — the unknown; the larger the surface of the islands, the more numerous their contact points with the ocean.

The picture illustrated the complex and dialectic relationships between knowledge and the unknown. The expansion of knowledge does not diminish the territory of the unknown – quite the opposite; as we learn, the territory of our knowledge enlarges, but so does our contact with the unknown. It is a perpetual dance – beautiful and inspiring when seen through the eyes of an attentive person, and invisible, silent, to others. The ‘borders’ of knowledge and the known – like the seashores of an island in a borderless ocean – are composed of innumerable points of contact with the unknown. The more we know, the bigger the island gets; the greater the number of contact points with the ‘borderless’ unknown, the bigger our awareness of the limits of our current knowledge.

This picture introduced us, the students, to some important insights:

  • Our knowledge is measured not (only) by what we know, what is within the boundaries of the known, but primarily and most importantly by our awareness of its limits and our appreciation of what is outside of its borders, sometimes called ‘ignorance’ by experts in the field of study of knowledge;
  • Every bit of knowledge we acquire enlarges the area of connection with the unknown and challenges our perspectives, our intelligence and our perseverance to open a new page of encounter with the mystery of knowledge through learning and effort;
  • Thus, there is a likely relationship between the knowledge we have acquired, on one side, and our sense of modesty and humility. The more we know, the broader our awareness of the limits of our knowledge and of our ignorance, the less we feel stirred to claim greatness and importance. This may explain why the greatest minds often were so modest and humble.

When knowledge is in power, there is an active awareness of the boundaries of our knowledge, the (yet) unknown, and the opportunities that lie in between; there is a passionate quest for a resolute action to grow and use this knowledge for the best purposes – for ourselves and for our community.

In our work with various organizations, we engage with them on a journey towards rediscovering their mission, purpose and uniqueness, new added value and opportunities, by exploring knowledge and its limits, examining the readiness for the future and developing new positive and resilient prospects.

© Blagovesta Maneva-Sleyman 2018-2022. All rights reserved.