It’s been a while, but Seth triggered me again: in a good way. Today, he talks about pursuing “more” in hiring. Here’s the bit that really caught my attention:
In organizations, there’s a desire to do good work. Pressure to outdo the others.
And a desire for deniability and certainty. Add those up, and we are left with a quest for more long after it’s helpful.
Think of that in terms of proposals, instead of hiring:
- If a neat-&-tidy response with no overt errors is good, then surely one written in one voice is better, yeah? Never mind the time it takes to achieve that when you have hundreds of pages from ten or more writers.
- If an easy-to-read layout is good, then surely a desktop-publishing standard is better, yeah? Never mind the time that production step takes from other activities, and the inflexibility it introduces to the process.
- If a clear statement of client benefits is good, then surely captivating text is better, yeah? Never mind the time it takes to add that patina to technical writing, and the challenge of getting agreement on captivating versus cringe.
In an environment in which it’s never clear what’s good enough, there are no natural limits on the standards. No governors on the work. And that’s not even good, much less better.
I have no easy fix, but it’s a start to recognize and name the problem. The next step is to make one conscious decision to limit the standard. The next decision will be easier.
If this initiative runs into executive resistance, and it will, remind them of two things:
- They can have almost anything they want, but not everything. Time spent on more for this proposal means that another proposal can’t even be done. Their value added is to make that choice.
- Unless you’re bidding to provide document-production standards, superior layout matters less (a lot less) than a good price for services tailored to the client. Their value added is to focus on what really matters and to insist the team does also.
Look again at that excerpt.
In organizations, there’s a desire to do good work. Pressure to outdo the others.
And a desire for deniability and certainty. Add those up, and we are left with a quest for more long after it’s helpful.
If deniability is the target — if that’s what your organization culture encourages and you can’t change it — maybe find another organization.
As for certainty, there is none in Proposal Land. To set it as a target it is to abuse your organization.