Stand Up
Give them what they want. Uncharacteristically, I watch one of the late-night shows, and then part of a later one, to assuage my obsessive mind. Proposals are fundamental to consulting, the foot in the proverbial front door. Requests for Proposals (RFPs) are broadcast by potential clients and then poured over by people like me, studying them like a college entrance exam, trying to discern if our answers could match their questions. Interpreting their specific intention is an impossible-to-master art form, but also a necessary discipline. There is a chasm between client expectation and consultant understanding and capacity that must be bridged. Having completed a recent proposal writing sprint, I find the jovial, light-hearted banter on TV soothing. For me, it's not just about putting the right words on the page, but attempting to live the project in advance, multiple times, interrogating it, and then translating that experience into a narrative that makes sense. I have been on these journeys enough times to know each one is different. You don't know how, however, until you get underway. Adaptability, as much as intelligence and experience, is essential, as is judgment; knowing how far to bend and pivot and when. I dream of writing the perfect template proposal that can be used for every potential project. But like jokes, they can all land differently depending on factors not within my control. Lying on the couch, nearly drifting off, I don't laugh out loud, but am entertained but quips that are some combination of conjecture, exaggeration, and truth. All of which, for a short while at least, satisfies.
