Proposal “Good Citizen” Certificate
My dog Jack has just received his “Canine Good Citizen (CGC)” certificate. For those of you not familiar with this program, this is a standardized evaluation of a dog’s ability to perform a specific set of skills, as evaluated by a certified evaluator. A dog who has passed the CGC exam has demonstrated that he or she understands how to behave in typical day-to-day situations.
The purpose of the CGC test, as stated within the CGC participant’s handbook is “to ensure that our favorite companions, the dog, can be a respected member of the community. The handbook goes on to state, “Dogs become respected members of their community when they are trained to act mannerly in the home, in public places, and in the presence of other dogs and people. All dogs are welcomed in the Canine Good Citizen program.
The test consists of ten items, each of which is designed to test a specific skill. These include accepting a friendly stranger, sitting politely for petting, walking on a loose leash and other skills one would expect naturally expect a well behaved dog to exhibit. Some of the more difficult tests include staying in place, wherein the dog must remain in the same place, either sitting or lying down for a full three minutes, and reaction to distraction, wherein the dog is exposed to loud noises and objects that it might encounter such as a person on a bicycle or a child’s wagon.
So, what’s this have to do with proposals you ask? Well, it’s this. I was wondering what a “Proposal Good Citizen” test would look like. What skills and behaviors would a proposal person need to demonstrate, borrowing language from the CGC handbook, “to ensure they can be a respected member of their company.” Borrowing again from the handbook, “A proposal person becomes a respected member of their company when they…”
What 10 specific skills and/or behaviors would be included on the test? What would be the proposal equivalent of “Accepting of strangers” or “sitting politely to be petted”? And what would be the more difficult challenges, equivalent to the “reaction to distractions” or “staying in place”?
Let me know what would be on your version of such a test. I’ll provide mine once a few of you have had a chance to provide your ideas.
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In no particular order:
Has a sense of humor
Shows respect to other members of the team
Demonstrates a positive attitude
Approaches tasks with a “will – do” attitude
Remembers to say “please” and “thank you”
Able to put aside personal feelings, ego, and agendas for the greater good
Willingness to acknowledge mistakes and apologize when appropriate
Has the phone number of the local pizza delivery vendor on speed dial
Can and will make coffee and/or fetch beverages from the nearest vending machine
Fearless in the face of a jammed photocopier or laser printer at 2:00 in the morning.