Responding to an RFP .... Steps1 and 2

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Are you a proposal leader tasked with responding to a competitive RFP?

• An RFP from a private sector customer or from the public sector?
• And if from the public sector, local, state, or federal?
• And if from the federals, defense or non-defense?

Every one of those customer groups will have their own style, culture, and constraining rules, regulations, and statutes. But even so, there are two steps, everyone must follow:

Step 1, Read the RFP

Step 1 is to read the entire RFP, but most particularly read the "instructions to offerors", or words to that effect. This seems like such an obvious first step that it does not bear mentioning, but actually it does because the devil is in the detail. 

Follow instructions

If you can't follow instructions as simple as how to submit the proposal, or worse: you are too lazy or arrogant to read and follow the instructions, then you've made an unforced error which could cast a pawl over you whole proposal. 

Take note of Customer dictates

Many submission requirements require "click to sign" certifications (which brings workflow and signature authority into the frame), and they require online submissions of content segmented by "attach here" this or that. Consequently, you may need a tool or submission facility that is not your norm. Action required to get the tools the customer uses!

Avoid disqualification.

Or, worst case, if you don't follow instructions, including "don't be late", you could be disqualified for an unresponsive submission. 

Step 2, Have an Answer for everything

Step 2 is build a tracking matrix (or table, or several tables by category) for every little thing that is in the RFP. Use the tracking matrix (or table) to organize and direct where in your proposal the customer is going to find answers. 

Don't disdain a customer's laundry list which looks like the customer just threw mud at the wall. Everything goes in a tracking matrix. Some of that mud has may have an influential sponsor; you won't really know who's looking for an answer, so answer everything. 

There are two objectives to be satisfied with these tracking tables:

1. Assure completeness, which is part and parcel to your first demonstration to the customer of your appreciation of quality assurance.
   The customer will notice omissions more readily than inclusions.
   That is simple utility theory which posits asymmetry of value: the missing is more grievous than the satisfaction of inclusions.
   
   
2. Make it easy for the customer to find the answers. A frustrated customer, looking here and there but not finding, or not finding easily, will take it out on your score.
   Making it easy are the easiest evaluation points you can earn. Don't give them away. 
   
   Remember this: If the customer can't find what they want in your proposal, it's not their fault!  (Corollary: If it's not their fault, then it must be yours!) You can't admonish them for not being able to read and easily digest your responses.

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Working on a proposal? Some ideas ....

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Do you read Mike Clayton? You probably should.

Here is his idea of the 12 points of a perfect proposal, augmented and paraphrased with my spin on it.

 

You (better: your value-add)

If you've been solicited by "them" to present a proposal, then "they" already know a good deal about "you". Your (very short summary) narrative should reinforce what they already know about your value-add to their need.

But for an unsolicited proposal, "you" need an opening narrative to introduce and present your value as though you were addressing a stranger. In other words: "Why me?"

Think of this opening narrative as your "elevator speech" ... 30 seconds to set an "anchor" and make yourself "available". Typically, a headline to grab attention and then cover letter or some other means to establish your credibility - in effect, your bona fides.

You're working two biases: "Availability bias" There's value in the fact that you're here and now, so no need to look further. And "anchor bias", your "ah hah!" value hooks them on your offer.

And, in many instances, "you" may be a partnership of literally "you" and others that make up your "team" or partnership. Such makes the introduction and "why me" statement all the more complex, but perhaps all the more compelling.

Them

"Them" are your customer. What they want to know is ... What's in it for them? It's your value-add from their point of view. Show how you have their best interests in mind with this proposal. You understand their needs and desires and know how to satisfy them better than any alternative solution can.

Focus (sans boilerplate)

Any sign of standard 'boilerplate' descriptions, arguments, or evidence will make it look less about 'Them' and more about 'anyone'. 

But focus may be a tricky thing: "They" may want a product, or a service, or product + services. They may want the product, a data package about the product for support purposes, training on operations and maintenance, a warranty, or service-after-sale. 

How does their sense value apportion among all these needs? In a competitive situation, "they" will usually signal their priorities through a list of evaluation criteria for selecting the winner. These criteria should give you guidance about where does the main focus needs to be. 

Value and Benefits

How will your proposal deliver and maximize value to them? The vast majority of business decisions revolve around the capacity to either make money or save money. 

Can you answer this question? Do they go for "best value" or "lowest cost"? If you're not the low-cost provider, then your job is to convince them that your price premium brings unpriced value.

But, if you are addressing government offices, non-profit NGOs, self-help and self-improvement, and other opportunities not oriented to financial gain, then look to the other elements of the "balanced scorecard"(*), the customer's mission and strategic objectives, and of course the evaluation criteria for where you can add value.

Emotions

All that hard evidence gives them a reason to make the decision to accept your proposal. But it may not motivate them to do so. For that, you need to tap into their emotions and biases.

Find emotional hooks into pride, fear, duty, desire, ambition, loyalty, passion... 

Exploit the biases of "availability" and "anchoring" to your idea.

Clayton's opinion: Emotions drive decisions: reasons justify them.

How

So, you also need to show how your proposal will solve their problem, deliver their joy, or enhance their reputation. Make the link between what they want and what you are proposing as clear, simple, and short as you can. .

Process

Next they need to know what will happen if (when) they say yes. What will you do, what will they do, and how long would it all take? For confidence that your is the right choice, they need to see a plan that clearly works.

Context

This section lets them understand how your proposal fits into your life and theirs - your business and their own. This shows that you and they are compatible and is the equivalent of the more traditional (cheesy) 'how we are different to the competition'. Of course this differentiates you. It shows how this proposal is right for them and for you.

Business

Don't go all techy unless they've asked for a technical proposal. Remember who you are speaking to. If your audience is a business person or a group of businesspeople, focus on the business. If your audience is software engineers, focus on the business of software engineering: not the hardware. What is their business? That's how to frame your proposal.

Structure

I get it. You have a lot of ideas to get down. But, before you start, develop a structure that makes it compelling for them to follow. If they asked six questions in a sequence, then a great structure is to answer those six questions... in the same sequence. Make it easy for them to say 'yes'.

One thing: If they have provided a proposal outline to follow, page limits, drawing or illustration or image specifications, and overall format, then don't experiment. Make it easy for them to think highly of you for making it easy for them because they can directly use your proposal materials. There is almost nothing worse than making them reformat or search for content when they told you explicitly what to do

Quality

Finally remember Mark Anthony's advice: 'The evil that men do lives on. The good is oft' interred with their bones'. People remember your mistakes and easily forget all the good stuff. Make sure you check the quality of your proposal, not once, not twice... Better still, get the pickiest, most pedantic person(s) you know to be your "Red Team". You invested all that time. Now add a little more investment, to avoid throwing it all away!

What does a "Red Team" do?

• Working from your perspective, they are editors, fact checkers, and readers for both content and flow
• Working from your customer's perspective, they are challengers to your solution, and they are challengers to whether you've checked all the boxes and met all the requirements of a specified format.

_______________

(*) Balanced Scorecard for a business: Financial, Customer Needs, Operations and Operations Efficiency, and Organizational learning and development

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Working on a proposal? Read this ....

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Do you read Mike Clayton? You probably should.

Here is his idea of the 12 points of a perfect proposal:

What are the elements of a perfect proposal? Here are 12.

 

You

No one wants to hear all about you. See the next subtitle. That's who your audience wants to hear about... themselves. But (and it's a big 'but') they do need to know enough about you to know you are worth paying attention to. So, for a cold proposal, this means using the introduction or cover letter or some other means to establish your credibility - what my dad used to call your bona fides.

Them

This is what they want to know... What's in it for them? Show how you have their best interests in mind with this proposal. You understand their needs and desires and know how to satisfy them better than any alternative solution can.

Focus

Keep your focus on the specific situation. Any sign of standard 'boilerplate' descriptions, arguments, or evidence will make it look less about 'Them' and more about 'anyone'. 

Value

How will your proposal deliver and maximise value to them? The vast majority of business decisions revolve around the capacity to either make money or save money.

Benefits

But there can be other benefits too. Describe the non-financial value your proposal offers - and what this means to them. This, of course, means you need to take time to understand them and their requirements and priorities. 

Emotions

All that hard evidence gives them a reason to make the decision to accept your proposal. But it won't motivate them to do so. For that, you need to tap into their emotions. Find emotional hooks into pride, fear, duty, desire, ambition, loyalty, passion... Emotions drive decisions: reasons justify them.

How

So, you also need to show how your proposal will solve their problem, deliver their joy, or enhance their reputation. Make the link between what they want and what you are proposing as clear, simple, and short as you can. A 15-step sequence from the cause (your proposal) to the effect (their outcome) won't cut it. 

Process

Next they need to know what will happen if (when) they say yes. What will you do, what will they do, and how long would it all take? For confidence that your is the right choice, they need to see a plan that clearly works.

Context

This section lets them understand how your proposal fits into your life and theirs - your business and their own. This shows that you and they are compatible and is the equivalent of the more traditional (cheesy) 'how we are different to the competition'. Of course this differentiates you. It shows how this proposal is right for them and for you.

Business

Don't go all techy on a technical proposal. Remember who you are speaking to. If your audience is a business person or a group of businesspeople, focus on the business. If your audience is software engineers, focus on the business of software engineering: not the hardware. What is their business? That's how to frame your proposal.

Structure

I get it. You have a lot of ideas to get down. But, before you start, develop a structure that makes it compelling for them to follow. If they asked six questions in a sequence, then a great structure is to answer those six questions... in the same sequence. Make it easy for them to say 'yes'.

Quality

Finally remember Mark Anthony's advice: 'The evil that men do lives on. The good is oft' interred with their bones'. People remember your mistakes and easily forget all the good stuff. Make sure you check the quality of your proposal, not once, not twice... Better still, get the pickiest, most pedantic person you know to do it for you. You invested all that time. Now add a little more investment, to avoid throwing it all away!

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A bit of Kano Analysis

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"Customer value", aka "the value proposition", is complicated. 

Books fill the shelves on those topics. 

• What do 'early adopters' value?
• How does age come into play?
• Is economic willingness different from economic capability in the value equation?
• How do culture and relationships figure in the proposition?

One might ask: is there a way to map all this stuff so that a picture emerges? If there is, I've not seen it. But, taking those questions one at a time, Kano Analysis may help see the bigger picture.

What is Kano analysis?

Kano analysis is a product feature/function evaluation tool that gives visualization to relative merit over time as trends change. The usual presentation is a four-sector grid with trend lines that connect the sectors. 

The grids are defined by the horizontal and vertical scales. Don't take the word 'scale' too seriously; for the most part the scales are non-calibrated, but informed, opinion:

• Vertical: customer attitude, feeling of satisfaction, or other elements of value appeal.'
• Horizontal: some quality (or metric) of the feature/function that's important to the customer.

 

The trends need not be linear, and need not be monotonic, changing direction as customer/user attitudes change.

 

Developers use the Kano board with sticky notes to show how feature/function in the form of stories or narratives might play out over time.

 And, we take the trouble to do this because:

• There's only so much investment dollars available; the dollars need to be applied to the best value of the project.
  Presumably that's the "ah-hah!" feature, but the "more is better" is there to keep up with competition; and, some stuff just has to be there because it's commonly expected or need by regulation.
  
• Trends may influence sequencing of iterations and deliveries. Too late, and decay has set in and the market's been missed.
• The horizontal axis may be transparent to the customer/user, but may not be transparent to regulators, support systems, and others concerned with the "ilities". Thus, not only don't forget about it, but actually set aside resources for these 'indifferent' features and functions.
  

How far ahead of the trend can you be and not be too far ahead? Just a rhetorical question to close this out.

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So, who's responsible for Customer?

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One of my students offered this strategy for establishing, maintaining, and leveraging relationships with the customer. I thought it was pretty good, so here's the idea:

1. Customer Account Responsible (ACR) -- who ... is the Account Manager
for the domain, market or dedicated to the customer (big accounts) responsible for:

• Account relationships,
• Opportunity identification,
• Commercial management,
• Communication management.

2. Customer Solution Responsible (CSR) – This role is held by various people
depending on the company type – Solution Architects, Solution Consultants,
Solution Managers etc – and they have the responsibility of:

a. End-to end solution integrity
b. Collection of and documentation of requirements from the customer – Executive, Business, Technical and Users requirements.
Securing the sign off on the requirements scope with the ACR and CFR to the customer.
c. Prioritization of the requirements with the respective customer responsibilities, in order of increasing importance, and determining the “fit to need” alignment of the requirements
d. Map solution requirements to the vendor solution/product portfolio, and determine the Delta, and how to fill those Delta.
e. Hand off complete solution design documentation to the project execution team, and provide input to the executing team (CFR) for project execution planning.
f. Including and manages SME’s , Product Owners etc and their deliverables as needed in various verticals that are needed to address the solution design and product lifecycle

3. Customer Fulfillment Responsible (CFR) – this is normally the PMO organization that turn the solution into reality inside the customer organization/premises/site:

• Project management team,
• Service Delivery team,
• System Integration team,
• Field Engineers,
• Technical Architects etc

PMO is are responsible for:

• System Integration and Final Acceptance testing
• Validation with the customer, and
• Finished Product Handover to the customer Project/Service Operations team.

At this stage the solution ceases to be a project, and is included into the Customer Operational and Support Lifecycle Management.

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Telling a story

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Got business development responsibilities? A lot of project managers get involved in supporting sales rain-making, proposal development, and general marketing support.

Here's a Kahn Academy video series on structuring a story. This stuff is taken from Pixar, who should certainly know how to do it.

Structure
Although you may not be making a movie, video, or commercial, the ideas of structure apply universally.

• Story spine -- more less the path through the story
• Theme -- the encapsulation of the story's point or lesson -- the memorable core idea that sticks with you
• Acts -- really, just reduction applied to the theme in which are the "what and why" actions.

3-Acts

They talk about the standard 3-act structure:

1. Set-up
2. Middle actions
3. Wrap-up or climax

Theme connects to structure
Of course, a test to be made along the way is that the story, as it unfolds, connects to the theme. This may even lead to backward engineering on the theme: first comes the story; second, the theme is derived. This is consequential to the idea of "evolution" ... no big theme up front.

Story beats
A new idea to me that came out of the video on "structure" was the idea of "story beats". Beats are "what" vs "why" that collectively build the theme. They are generally of the form "because of XXX, then Y". Collect the beats -- probably a couple for each act -- and the theme should be obvious.

 If you're writing a proposal, there's a lot to be learned and applied from this video series.

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The first question to ask about strategy

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Are you a strategy competition guy?
Do you know the first question to ask about competitive strategy?

Roger Martin says this:

I look at the core strategy choices and ask myself if I could make the opposite choice without looking stupid .... The point is this: If the opposite of your core strategy choices looks stupid, then every competitor is going to have more or less the exact same strategy as you. That means that you are likely to be indistinguishable from your competitors

Well, that's certainly something to check yourself about: is a counter strategy or corollary stategy "stupid"? If so, no one is going to adopt it, and so everyone -- yourself included -- will line up with your strategy. What then is your competitive discriminator? After all, "me too" is not all that compelling.

Thus, the search is on:

• A strategy with a compelling discriminator
• A strategy that has a plausible alternative, less compelling, but nonetheless one that your competition could align with

I can't tell you how many business development sessions I've been in where the only thing the sales people (or marketing) can come up with is "me too". How does that win you any business?
Somehow, in the manner of Kano, you need to come up with the "Ah hah!"

And, is there a formula approach to "Ah hah!"? Not that I've ever found. The epiphany just happens, but mostly it happens with a lot of people interacting with high entropy: lots of disorder from which something gells.  It just happens!

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Michael Porter revisited

Some years ago, I spent some time reading Michael Porter's 1980 classic: "Competitive Advantage". It's still a great read. Some years later, Porter answered some of his critics with his 1996 HBR paper "What is Strategy", recently updated as given in an executive education presentation.

Now comes a nice summarization of Porter, and the evolution of his thinking based on accumulated experience, written by his research associate Joan Magretta and entitled: "Understanding Michael Porter: The essential guide to competition and strategy".

Of course, students of Porter have absorbed his idea that strategy is that which creates a sustainable value proposition for customers in the context of a sustainable value chain for the business. For Porter, strategy is unique activity, different from competitors:

The essence of strategy is choosing to perform activities differently than rivals do 

Michael Porter, "What is Strategy", 1996 HBR

And the purpose of strategy is enhanced business value; the means of strategy is competitive advantage (thus, the name of the book). Competitive advantage arises from the integrated effect of resources, capabilities, and differention:

But my eye caught something from Margette's book on the integration aspect of strategy (I'm always interested in anything that integrates the dots into a narrative)

The value proposition is the element of strategy that looks outward at customers, at the demand side of the business. The value chain focuses internally on operations. Strategy is fundamentally integrative, bringing the demand and supply sides together.

 Joan Magretta, 

"Understanding Michael Porter: The Essential Guide to Competition and Strategy"

I really thought the integrative effect of strategy was interesting in light of Porter's assertion in 1996 that Japanese companies had no strategies. To my mind, this is a shocking statement; but having worked for a Japanese owned company, I know where he's coming from. Porter says they simply focused on taking improved operational effectiveness (OE) to its maximum---and then they could go no farther, leading to the "lost decade". (Of course, it's a good deal more complicated than that, so I'll leave the lost decade right here). By Porter's definition, OE is not a strategy.

Operational effectiveness is about doing similar activities better than others—in other words, predictable repetition. Strategy is about doing similar activities in a different way that achieves goals more effectively; or doing different things than those that are customary to achieve goals.


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Four rules for business success

I've recently learned that Sam Palmisano, the retiring--and successful--C chief of IBM, has four rules for business success

1. “Why would someone spend their money with you — so what is unique about you?”
2. “Why would somebody work for you?”
3. “Why would society allow you to operate in their defined geography — their country?”
4. “And why would somebody invest their money with you?”

That's swell for IBM, but his successor--a lady C Chief in waiting--has been named, so most of those reading this blog are unlikely to lead IBM for at least the next 10 years. Thus, I move to the project management domain.

Caution: changing domains is often problematic. Some things just don't port from one to another. But try this for fit:

Why spend money with you is the grist of project PROPOSAL THEMES. If you ever written a proposal for competitive work, the first question to be asked is "what's the win theme?" The win theme, like its counter part, the project theme, is for the seller the way to win business; and is for the buyer the reason to buy from the seller. It's a bilateral theme to be viewed from both parties.


Why would somebody work for you is at the heart of TEAM RECRUITING. In the agile space, teams are recruited, not assigned. But if you've not got the elevator speech on why work for our team, you may have the right to recruit, but what if nobody wants to work with you? SOL!

Why would society allow you to operate is an obvious THREAT for the risk register. If you can't handle the politics, your project may be DOA and over before it begins!

And why would somebody invest their money with you is a question is all about BUDGET SCARCITY. Stakeholders have choices. It's a rare company that has more to invest than there are quality projects to fund. So, we're right back to competition, only this time we're competing for resources. Can you speak to NPV, IRR, and EVA? If you can't handle this alphabet challenge, you may find your project high and dry waiting for another opportunity.

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It takes a Theme

Definition: A theme is the central idea or ideas explored .....

While you might start with an issue or theme in mind, themes will also develop or emerge as you write. It may not be until the editing stage that you even begin to recognize your themes. Having recognized them, your themes will help you determine what to cut .... and what to highlight.

Quoted from About.com

So, as between message, messenger, and presentation--the three pillars of communication--themes are the message. And, they show up everywhere:

• Portfolios: Ask this: what's the message of the portfolio that binds the constituent programs, projects, and initiatives together?

In my PMO days, I had one portfolio that was exclusively CRM (customer relationship management); the message we wrote conveyed our idea of customer intimacy. (Remember Michael Treacy's and Fred Wiersema's 1993 paper in the Harvard Business Review: "Customer Intimacy and other Value Disciplines"? Intimacy, operational excellence, or product excellence are the big three)

• Programs: like a portfolio, the "big idea".

• Projects: the theme should come right out of the charter, the raison d'être as it were: why are we doing this project, or what's it to accomplish.

The agile guys have picked up the "theme" thing. In fact, agilists say that portfolios have "investment themes", the driving message for why invest in this or that portfolio.  I like that one. And, then themes tie to epics--the top level narrative that explains what's going on. Leffingwell writes:

Epics are development initiatives that are intended to deliver the value of an investment theme and are identified, prioritized, estimated, and maintained in the portfolio backlog.

Agile Software Requirements

And, let's not forget marketing and sales; they've been around for centuries. In modern days for project managers it's proposals, the response to an RFP. Right up there in the executive summary ought to be the win theme--why me (or us)? If you've not tried to write such a message, give it a try sometime. You might find the message harder than it looks to get succint, effective, and memorable!

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So much for the customer

This is probably not newsworthy, but it's nevertheless telling:

"[A journalist recently] ...  asked what consumer and market research Apple had done to guide the development of the new products."

“None, it isn’t the consumers’ job to know what they want.”

Steve Jobs
As reported by Steve Lohr

Actually, this behavior is not unique to Apple. Sony has been similarly credited, the Walkman being a most prominent example.

Is this good guidance for project managers?

Some thoughts:

• It's hard to argue with success
• There are not many like Steve Jobs!
• Prima facia: You don't need the customer embedded in the team to build great products

My opinion:

• Go for it! Ask the customer
• If you're bidding competitively, you'd better ask the customer!
• Pay attention, and learn whom you can trust
• If the situation allows, ask after a prototype exists ... Facebook, GroupOn anyone?
• But don't ask too many, in less you are prepared to handle the "wisdom of the crowds"! [And this applies in the competitive environment also]

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Red Team the WBS

The idea of the "red team" as an independent review team was the subject of a blog earlier this month. In a few words: Red teams are indispensable to achieving quality workmanship, but they are also a good practice for defeating group think about the project deliverables.

So, it should come as no surprise that applying red team techniques to the preparation of a WBS is a no-brainer, particularly so if the WBS is part of a competitive proposal.

Fill in the WBS:

A WBS is technically an organization of project deliverables, something we call 'nouns' to distinguish them from tasks that are properly on a schedule. Tasks are something we call 'verbs'. String the verbs and nouns together and you have the project narrative.

Now, most teams use the schedule tool to schedule the tasks required to produce the 'nouns'.  Then the schedule analyst applies resources to tasks or teams, and then levels those resources by skill, by time period.

My recommendation is  to export this information and use it for ancillary fill in the WBS.

Thus, each crosspoint in the WBS is a capture point for several bits of information: the 'noun', the resources required, the hours/cost of the resources, and the organizational source for the resources.

WBS Math

Now, "WBS Math" requires that a WBS add-up horizontally and vertically. That is, the number of hours/cost should be irrespective of view. Obviously, a spreadsheet or simple database that can do the row/column math is the way to go. You really don't need to invest in a red team for the arithmetic check.

In some enterprise situations, the WBS numbering scheme is an extension of the chart of accounts, such that the resources from the schedule, as captured on the WBS, feed directly in the accounting ledger.

I like to say that the WBS is the 'present value' of the schedule; that is: the WBS has no temporal dimension, but it can be a tool for adding up all the resources identified on the schedule which, of course, should match the cost proposal, which in turn, should match the ledger roll-up of the project.

Enter the Red Team:

 But, the red team, if familiar not only with the customary practices of the enterprise, but also with the customary expectations of the customer vis a vis a responsive proposal, as well as some idea of the likely practices of the competition, can do a lot of good looking at the WBS from these several points of view.

Consider this example to illustrate the point:
Let's say we are bidding competitively and the red team is aware of the special attention that the customer pays to 'data management'. What does the red team do?

1. Look at every workpackage for data management and add up the total effort of the WBS. Does it comport with the customer's expectations? [typically a benchmark as a % of the total program]. 


2. Identify workpackages that are either over or under resourced on this activity and recommend corrections that will avoid issues that could reasonably be expected to be raised by the customer.

3. Look horizontally -- in other words, in the functional view -- to get the big picture of the data management service/function/product being offered. Can it be proposed more effectively by distributing resources differently? Are there synergies that have been missed? Does the big picture hang together and make sense to a data management professional? After all, the customer is likely to have a data management specialist who is going to take this somewhat parochial view of the WBS

4. Look vertically -- in other words, in the product view -- to see if each product is adequately covered with this product of special interest to the customer. Would it make sense to the customer's product manager?

5. Finally, evaluate the WBS against an enterprise checklist of quality attributes that comport with the enterprise brand in the market.

In sum: walk a mile in the customer's shoes by viewing the proposed WBS in the same way the customer will.

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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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The Theory of the Mosaic

And so we have the "Theory of the Mosaic", which roughly told is given by this:

From many disparate and small bits, hiding in public and knowable to those who seek, comes a revelation of the larger idea and greater knowledge

This is much more than just seeing the forest in the presence of trees; this is finding the trees in the first place, and then placing them in context, in juxtaposition, and in relationship so that not only the forest, but all the attributes and nuances of the forest are revealed.

Project management?

You betcha!

The proposal project

Let's begin with the competition to win new business. Bidding competitively is a project in itself; it's only after you win that the execution project begins.

One of the tools used by practitioners of the Theory of the Mosaic is the "expert network". These are the relationships that extend in myriad directions and trade "bits" in the marketplace of knowledge [sometimes rumor or conjecture]. In competition, the network extends not only to the potential customer, but to the customer's customer, regulator, appropriator, and suppliers. It even extends to the direct competition. How many of us have sat down with our direct competitor for a chat about the 'opportunity'?

Assembling all this information [in many cases, just bits of data, not even information] into a narrative that can be then transformed--through the proposal process--into a WBS, cost, schedule, and performance promise for a winning offer is no small task and requires all the discipline and commitment to an objective that is the mark of successful project management.

Of course, one of the tenants of the Theory is that information is hiding in public. Expert networks to ferret out the public information is the secret to success. Usually, there is a bright line--that is, no peek at proprietary competitive information that is unethical or illegal is permitted--but often the line gets blurred, the rules change [sometimes in mid-stream], or international ambiguity [read: culture] mislevels the playing field.

Guardianship of such corruption is no small matter. Just refer to the infamous USAF refueling tanker competition for many "don't do this" examples.

The execution project

No project of any scale operates without interpersonal relationships, a dollop of politics, and the obscure actions of many people working on their part. Enter: "expert networks". The project manager for sure, work stream managers, and cost account managers all 'work their networks': up and out to the sponsors, and down and in to the worker-bees.

Assembling the mosaic

For those experienced in brainstorming, assembling a mosiac from an expert network is really no different.

First, the science:
Like items are grouped
Relationships are labeled
Sequencing is labeled
Small items are grouped under bigger items
Gaps are identified; gap filler plans are formulated
Narrative headlines are written

Then, the art:
Interpretations are made; the 'big picture' emerges from the 'pixels'
Importance and urgency are weighed
Actionable 'intelligence' is separated for execution plans

Finally: act on the intelligence!

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