Welcome to Insights and Implications!
This is our second in a new e-newsletter series for our clients. Sent once per month, each email will contain a brief story that illustrates our insights and experiences with the principles in the corporate setting. Short and sweet, we hope these stories will be an easy and accessible way to help you refresh your learning and reconnect with your own understanding.
As this newsletter evolves, we welcome your feedback and ideas on what would be most helpful to you. Please send comments to info@insight.mystagingwebsite.com.
We hope you are well, learning, and enjoying life.
All the best,
All of us at Insight Principles
When Things Don’t Work Out
Winning business in the defense industry is an interesting endeavor. Contractors bid programs, and then wait for the US Government to decide which company wins the contract. Such was the case with one of our clients – we’ll call them ACME Widget Works.
ACME was excited about an upcoming bid opportunity, one deemed critical to the long-term success of their business. They assembled an A+ team, many of whom had some understanding of Insight Principles, to create a competitive bid to win the program. This team labored for months, working many long hours and late nights to submit a strong proposal. They were proud and hopeful about their chance for success.
However, the ACME team was not selected as the winning bidder.
Instead, the US Government customer awarded the contract to ACME’s direct competitor. The ACME team was disappointed, but their understanding of Insight Principles helped them keep their bearings. They lost the contract, but they knew their experience of the loss was coming from their thinking. Instead of dwelling on the situation and becoming frustrated or discouraged, they remained resilient and moved on.
A few weeks later, due to a technical submission error by the winning team, the customer re-opened the contract, and asked all contractors to resubmit proposals.
It is easy to imagine the outcome if the ACME team had engaged their disenchanted or discouraged thinking, pointed fingers for their failure to win the original bid, or become frustrated.
Instead, because their understanding of Insight Principles helped keep their minds free and clear, they reassembled quickly, and were hit with a rush of inspiration and creativity. More long hours and late nights ensued, and the inspired team improved their previous proposal and submitted an enhanced bid to the customer.
Their clarity paid off. They were selected as the prime contractor on the program, beating the original winning team, and securing significant business for ACME Widget Works.
Understanding how the mind works does not prevent disappointment or discouragement. Sometimes life does not work out. Thinking happens and feelings follow. When we recognize the actual source of feeling, we don’t have to wait for circumstances to change in order for our feeling to change. We see how things work and this frees our mind to do more of what it was designed to do: have new thinking. New thinking that might result in a new product, see a new way of working with someone, or, in this case, win a lost proposal.
©Insight Principles, Inc.