Here is the second set of rules that I have found to be true.

The first set can be found here. And, I know they should be called aphorisms, but no one knows what those are.

“The last red pencil wins.”
– me

This arose from preparing proposals and presentations. There are always differences of opinion about everything: wording, punctuation, images, strategy, even the overall approach. But at the end of the day, the last edit always falls to one person. It’s usually the person who cares the most. They will make the last edits and those edits will not be reviewed by anyone. Their view wins.

“The probability of a win is greatly reduced by a no-bid decision.”
– Jack Cosgrove

You can’t win if you don’t participate. That is pretty obvious.

Although some of the best programs were those where the competitors won the contract and then failed. We we able to come in and pick up the pieces, at twice the original price, and hold the business for 20 years.

“Championships are won in the off-season.”
– Charles Daugherty, quoting a t-shirt. Possibly from Vince Lombardi.

Superior performance comes from using down-time to plan and train for the busy periods.

Everyone else takes vacation the week after the proposal goes in. Winners use that time to reflect on what happened and to prepare processes for the next one.

“The issue is never the issue.”
– Kim Pagel

This is really saying, “The stated issue is never the real issue.” You must dig deeper. Ask questions. Listen. Then ask more questions. Then listen even more.

“If you are going to shoot, shoot. Don’t talk.”
– Tuco in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Sometimes we want to talk about how great things will be, but we forget to make sure they really happen. This is quite common in movies. Tuco’s assassin can’t shut up long enough to kill him and gets killed himself. Syndrome, in The Incredibles, gets caught monologuing  and recognizes it himself. Monologues are a key feature of James Bond movies, such as Goldfinger and Blofeld.