“There’s nothing in This Book I Meant to Say.”

Posted by BJ
The title of this post sounds like something said to justify the quality, or lack thereof, of a proposal that had been produced in what Jon or I would term an “ad-hoc” manner. You know the type – no previous knowledge of the customer, the release of the RFP was a complete surprise, there wasn’t enough time, the necessary resources weren’t available, etc. As I said, you know the type.The title of this post is also the title of a delightful book by Paula Poundstone (one of my favorite comedians).Within the book, among the many great observations Paula brilliantly relates, I came across the following piece about Paula seeking help with a computer for one of her three children.​

​A teacher informed me that my daughter was eligible to receive some computer stuff through the school district. So, some guy from a place called the Computer Access Center called me to set up an appointment.Right away I said to him, “I really appreciate your help, but I need you to know I do not do computers. I know nothing about computers. I don’t even like computers. Please don’t ask me anything about what my child might need, because I simply don’t know.”He said he understood.We set up an appointment and I asked him for directions to the place.He said, “It’s on our website.”

​Jon and I often see responses within proposals that are very similar to this.