Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Red teams

Where I come from, we would never submit a proposal for competitive work without a peer review by a Red Team. Pick your own color, but an independent peer review, not once, but at every gate of the proposal process, is a no brainer and essential for quality.

My motto: "Good writing is not written; it's rewritten!"

I've written literally more than a hundred competitive proposals for very tough and discerning customers. Most were much more than a few pages; my largest: 1,000,000+ printed pages, albeit that was multiple copies, and was both an initial submission and a "best and final offer" BAFO.

[If you're thinking: how did you get 1M pgs to the customer? Answer: rent the corporate jet, take out all the seats, and fly it to the USAF!]

[If then you're thinking: who would read 1M pgs? Answer: lieutenants!]

I've been on many a red team, and been the object of many red team critiques. If want to win, write like you mean it, and be sure your peers agree!

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