Friday, August 8, 2008
The world’s most annoying sign
I’ve been working recently in an office that displays a notice prominently in the restrooms, stating:
Please leave these toilets as you would wish to find them.
Every time I go in, I wish I’d remembered to bring a pot of paint, some nice fluffy towels and a bottle of Molton Brown handwash.
So, I wondered: what’s the equivalent irritating phrase in the world of proposals? For me, it has to be the RFP instruction that runs something like:
Please submit 4 (four) copies of your proposal.
‘Cos I didn’t realise that “4″ meant “four”, you know… Procurement folk so often seem to get hide behind pseudo-legalese, thinking it makes them sound clever - when in fact it merely serves to underline how little training they have in developing effective RFPs that entice their prospective vendors to submit the best possible proposals.
I worked on an RFP earlier this year and the solicitor requested that we “submit six (3) paper copies.” I sent six (6) just to be safe….
Jonathan - that is hilarious! : )
I’m just imagining the pricing section of Jonathan’s proposal:
“That’ll cost $5,000 (three million)”
Wonderful anecdote - thanks!