The importance of business development character

So you weren't selected for the project that you worked so hard to get.  You have taken the loss very hard.  You practiced the presentation and the qualifications package was well written.  This is the third time the client has not picked your firm and you just want to give up.

The default position for all too many people is that a negative event starts you thinking in terms of permanent, personal, and pervasive.  You will never to selected.  As the project manager, not being selected is a personal attack on only you.  And finally, you think that you can never beat the AECOMs and URSs of the engineering world.

Other people will have a more fully developed persistent gene - they just don't give up after failure or hardship.  They see failure more as specific, limited, and has a short-term explanation.  Somehow they learned the power of optimism and the power of positive psychology.  This type of employee will be your best and most important asset.  Many learned an important skill in the rigor halls at engineering schools.  When they failed an exam, they learned the skills of optimism and resilience.  When they did poorly on a homework project, they had the social agility to meet with the professor and figure out how to get better.

Way to often in engineering consulting we focus too much attention on the mechanics of business development - have we filled out the go/no-go form correctly and another mind-mapping exercise at the whiteboard.  Engineers get forms and whiteboards.  What engineers should really be focused on is business development character - who has it and who doesn't.