We have seen a lot go right and wrong over many years and many proposals. We have learned that, regardless of the type of opportunity or the size of program or target market, there are common threads – things that work well and common behaviours that trip up proposal teams. This article provides a high level overview of some of the key lessons that we have learned, with emphasis on what should be done in advance of the formal RFP release. Continue reading
Tag Archives: black hat
Why Strategic Planning Fails, And What to Do About It
Many companies do a great deal of strategic planning and presentation preparation and then go offsite for a few days once a year to establish the company’s goals and direction for the next 12 to 36 months. The executive correctly understand that they needed to engage in this exercise to get everyone on the same page. It is also an annual perk for the staff involved.
Unfortunately, in our experience, these sessions can be generally useless unless the underlying process is very well developed and executed. There are many traps that can sideline good intentions. In fact, most executives that we have engaged over the years say that they’re unhappy with their strategic planning process. So while they know that strategic planning is necessary, they don’t fully realize the benefits they were hoping to attain from it. Continue reading
Known and Unknown
In February of 2002, Donald Rumsfeld, then Secretary of Defense for the United States, made his now famous “There are known knowns” statement. Love him or leave him, Rumsfeld’s remarks were widely quoted and have since found their way into numerous writings. It transpires that although we believe that his statement is logically incomplete and it has been criticised as an abuse of the English language [1], it is worth dissecting as it relates to the development of business strategies. Continue reading