Posted by Jon under Musings | 
“So what do you do for a living?” That was the question posed to me by a cab driver the other day, as we waited for a friend who’d popped into a laptop repair shop to come back out and join us in the car. And, to be honest, it’s quite a tough one to answer, if the person answering isn’t used to the world of business, sales, procurement. “Proposal manager? What’s one of them, then?”
My son Benedict used to ask me a similar question when he was much younger: “What do you do at work, daddy?” I guess if one’s an engine driver, a police officer, a teacher, it’s easy to respond. But how to explain to a small child about the world of proposals?
My answer, which seemed to satisfy him? “I go to work to help business people to tell stories.”
Now he’s somewhat older, and he knows much more of what I do, I think he’s a bit disappointed that my working life’s not quite as glamorous as “storytelling” might imply. But I actually think it’s a pretty good summary of what we do.
Posted by BJ under Musings |
I snowboard and when I do I am typically the lone boarder among my group of friends who are all skiers.
For those unfamiliar with snowboarding I’d point out a few differences that relate to the point I’d like to make in this post. These differences are – the bindings, the speed of travel and dealing with flat stretches.
Bindings – Unlike ski bindings which allow a skier to very quickly and easily step into their bindings, snowboard bindings require a boarder has to ‘strap in’ and this typically takes a few moments. Also, unlike skiers who are able to ride the chairlift while still in their ski bindings, a boarder has to undo the rear binding each time they get on the lift and then strap in again when they get to the top of the lift. At the top of the lift, my friends very graciously wait for me each time I have to strap in, occasionally teasing me about their having to “wait for the boarder”.
Speed – Another difference between skiing and snowboarding, at least for my style of riding (that being ‘surf style’ wherein I do a lot of turning rather than going straight down the slope), is that I don’t go as fast as the people I am with, again necessitating their waiting for me. While going down a slope, one or two of my friends will always stop and wait for me to catch up. Again doing so graciously and occasionally teasing me about their having to wait for me.
Flat stretches – When covering a flat section, a snowboarder can only use the momentum they carry into the section and if the momentum is gone before they reach a section with enough pitch, they will come to a stop. They then have to release their rear binding, walk the section (awkwardly at best and usually with some difficulty) and then have to strap in again when they have reached a section with the necessary pitch to get them going again. A skier, having two separate skis, has the advantage of being able to ‘skate’ and propel him or her self through the section. An alternative for a boarder is to have a skier extend a pole which they then grab and the skier pulls them through the section. This is what my friends do for me. Coming into a flat section, one of them will extend a pole to me and pull me through the section enabling me to keep going and not have to release my rear binding, walk the section and then strap in again. It also eliminates the need for them to wait for me which is probably their real motive.
My riding with this group of skiers is enjoyable because they extend me these courtesies and I greatly appreciate their patience and caring.
Recently, I rode with a group of three skiers whom I had just met. At the top of lift they would reluctantly wait for me, making comments about losing time on the slopes. Then they would take off at high speed and quickly be out of my sight and I wouldn’t catch up to them until I reached the lift at the bottom. Here again they’d make a snide remark about my being slow and slowing them down. Not surprisingly, when we came to flat spots, they would look back and watch as I inevitably slowed and then came to a stop and had to release my binding and ten walk…watching them disappear ahead of me. As you can imagine, this was not much fun and I after two runs I decided I’d rather not ride with them.
As I was riding with this second group, I couldn’t help but reflect on how much more enjoyable it was to ride with my friends. I realized there was a corollary to those proposal groups where the members perform as a team – supporting one another, being patient with those who might need a bit of time to catch up and the good natured ribbing that goes with people who enjoy working with each other. Being a member of this type of team is not only enjoyable but, in my experience, they are more productive and they produce higher quality results. I want to work with – and ride with – a team wherein members support one another.
Posted by Jon under Musings |
‘m guessing most of you will call into coffee shops from time to time. You know the procedure: queue up, order your drink, pay, wait again whilst the barrista makes your coffee.
The drink’ll be thrust onto the end of the counter: “Venti decaf skinny capp”. You look at those around you – is that mine, or did someone in front of me in line order the same thing? And, the moment of minor stress duly over, you pick up the cup and wander off to enjoy your caffeine injection.
Now, picture the coffee shop at the APMP conference hotel a couple of months back. Same process – queue, order, pay – with one addition: the cashier asked for my first name. On to wait for the drink, which was then served with the phrase “large decaf cappuccino for Jon”.
Now, which do you prefer? The personalised approach certainly worked for me – and I saw an obvious parallel in writing proposals. Forget the standard, product-based approach – the more personalised the communication, the more
appealing it’ll be to the buyer.
