Star (Trek?) proposal teams
Actor Patrick Stewart has received rave reviews for his performances in Macbeth and Twelfth Night at the Chichester Festival Theatre. I was hugely taken with his behind-the-scenes description of life in the theatre’s company, published in the Observer a few weeks back:
Mostly strangers on day one, the challenges of the play and production have made everyone bolder, braver, vulnerable, needy, self-reliant, co-dependent.
…By the time the performance begins we are connected, in tune, up, and the experience of each performance is shared, praised, dissected, laughed about at every break and when it is all over.
The parallels with the world of proposals – at its best – are uncanny. As one who’s long argued that proposals are primarily a people activity, I’d love to frame this and put it on the desk of every proposal manager. Yet how many of you could honestly say that your proposal teams buzz in the same way as Stewart’s company of actors?
This article was written by Jon on 23 August, 2007 and filed under Musings. If you found it useful, you can with others. To receive automatic updates, subscribe to The Proposal Guys via 
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I’ve certainly worked with proposal groups that mirror a theater company.
I’ve seen my share of spoiled brats who think they are better than everyone and deserve special treatment. And I’ve known those who demanded that their ‘part’ -aka ‘content’ – not be touched. Or how about those that just don’t show up when they’re supposed to?
Of course, I’ve also had the pleasure of teams that were very much like those described by Mr. Stewart. Complete strangers at the outset, a tight, high performing team that turly enjoys working together and that has accomplished great things in a very short time.
The difference. The leadership, fostering comittment and teamwork, the personal motivation and the incentive. And a bit of the theatrical mindset, that being, ‘The Show Must Go On’. (This came to mind for me just two weeks ago while working some 22 hours straight to get a response out the door…which we did!)