A few weeks ago I posted at The Scientist blog about a new jewelery store that had opened up near my office … and I was concerned that this jewelry store was headed for a sad fate if they didn’t soon figure out their “Unique Selling Proposition (USP).” The USP is that unique value that a business brings to the market to differentiate it from other businesses.
Grants must have a USP as well. In the current environment, “me ...(read more)
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If you are familiar with my mission of helping you maximize your ability to promote your work and increase your funding, you’ll know that I spend the majority of my efforts focusing on the positive, all the ways you can improve and be better.
But I need a break.
In this post, I would like to explore failure and your psyche. Still reading?
Great! (I’ve often thought a smaller audience was easier to reach.)
In the world of psychology, there is a concept called ...(read more)
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If you’re at the stage in your career that you’re writing grants, then the team that you build will define your success (or failure).
This is a slight but important digression: Getting a grant is all about leverage. The money that a grant brings in allows you to do things that involve other people’s time and energy. Hence you can accomplish far more than you would by yourself. (And if you’re a faculty member, you might be ...(read more)
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When we get our grant rejected, it is easy to point the blame at the reviewers. “Those stupid reviewers, they didn’t get it.” While that approach may be emotionally satisfying and ego-stroking, it doesn’t solve the problem. Your reviewer didn’t understand your proposal, and there is only one person to blame for that.
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