Somewhere between the 14th Slack message about font consistency and the 19th version of the Executive Summary, we lost the plot. Proposals aren’t won by perfection—they’re won by relevance, clarity, and responsiveness. And if we’re honest, we often trade all three just to make things “look right.”
McKeown’s Effortless hit home for me because it feels like GovCon’s unofficial rebellion: what if it doesn’t have to be hard to be good? There’s a Parks and Rec episode where Ron Swanson says, “I’d prefer not to answer that question without knowing the context… or who’s asking… or what the question is.” That’s how GovCon teams sometimes approach progress. We overthink. We stall. We exhaust the easy path by paving a harder one.
This week, take a page from Ron: eliminate the unnecessary. Simplify the ask. Do the job without turning it into a heroic struggle. You’re not in a Christopher Nolan film—you don’t need three plot twists to deliver value. Just write the thing.
Why I liked it…
- Simplifies execution: Helps you stop overworking simple tasks to prioritize ease over grind.
- Strategic clarity: Shifts focus from “hard work” to right work—critical in deadline-driven proposal cycles.
- Process-first mindset: Encourages building low-friction systems that deliver results without burnout.
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