Laura’s Winning Ideas

When you have been working more than 15 hours on the same project, you have the same mental impairment as someone who is legally drunk.

This article in MedScape Today refers to this phenomena and “numerous studies confirming” this as a problem for people working more than 70 hours in a week.

I don’t know about you, but any CEO needs to question the wisdom of having people who are not legally competent to drive themselves home, making multimillion dollar decisions.

Most CEOs can put in long hours because they engage in a wide variety of projects. This allows the brain to rest certain synaptic paths while shifting to other pathways throughout the day. In that circumstance we don’t burn out.

However, this is not the case when we focus on a single project, like a proposal.

When you are under stress, your IQ drops 40 points or more.

I can’t find the source for this quote, but did find a source confirming a 10 point drop in IQ from simply mixing e-mail and project work at the same time. Based on the study I can confirm, a 40 point drop sounds reasonable. So why in the world would we wait to start a proposal until the last minute?

Remember that a 40 point drop takes a genius to pedestrian level IQ. A forty point drop for a person of average intelligence makes them ineligible for the Death Penalty. It’s a significant disadvantage when you are trying to complete a complex project, like a proposal.

Moreover, if the proposal writers/managers are responsible for the employment of others why would management allow such incompetence to rein over the proposal that wins work?

ACTION ITEM: If long hours, last minute push, and running on adrenaline are SOP in your firm, send this item to your boss and CEO. The solution is straightforward, but not easy. You need to get a process in place to prevent a drunk from ramming your firm into the ditch.

ACTION ITEM: Take meal breaks and outlaw any discussion about the proposal. This gives your synaptic pathways a break, helping them re-charge a bit before going back to work.

Did I tell you about the time someone left off a zero in their bid? The error wasn’t noticed since the estimate rolled up into a program proposal at the last minute. However, the error bankrupted the subcontractor who made the mistake and ruined the profit margin for the Prime because they had to make up the difference with other contractors once the Sub ran out of rope and declared bankruptcy. . .