Frameworks and Growing Up

Bagehot's column this week was an interesting read about the UK Foreign Secretary, William Hague. It was essentially a very positive review and a significant part of it focused on his pragmatism and reluctance to focus on any particular ideology. I finished the article thinking what a wonderful approach to politics – common sense reigning supreme.

I then picked up an RfP response we are currently writing. My first review comment – the document does not contain any framework or structure which, in my opinion, meant that it was very difficult to understand our proposed solution. I had no way of “checking” if the proposed solution was exhaustive, and as such I felt somewhat uncomfortable saying whether or not I thought the design would work in that particular company.

Maybe I’m not ready to be Foreign Secretary, but I can’t help but think the solution must be a middle way. The trick must be to not restrict oneself to a single framework, but be able to call upon a variety of frameworks depending on the situation. I always feel more confident when I have a checklist to ensure I’m not missing a “big ticket item”, especially when things are changing rapidly. Maybe when I’m a grown up like William Hague I won’t need those checklists. I’ll let you know in 20 years.