Applying Knowledge to Knowledge

So I’ve been kicking myself a bit this morning.

Started yesterday, actually, when I got what I call the “loser email” from the Energy Dynamics Laboratory, in which they “regret to inform” me that someone named Caroline is going to Barbados. No. Wait. That’s Mr. Bean. The EDL regretted to inform me that someone else was offered the proposal/technical writer job, and that they had accepted. So we won’t be moving to Logan. (And given the housing market as it is now, this is, ultimately, a good thing, since though houses might be more affordable in Logan right now due to the financial crisis, selling ours in Sugar City might have proved to be a burden.)

That’s no real surprise. They wanted – it was obvious at the interview – someone with more proposal writing experience than I have. I’m hep to that. So I’ve got some goals now to try to fill in that gap in my technical writing portfolio. The kicking myself part comes in when I realize I should have mentioned the work I did on the package we put together for the Utah innovation competition. That certainly counted as a proposal. Even though we failed in getting any money, I should have mentioned it. Not that it would have made a lot of difference, I’m sure. There are many out there with much more proposal-writing experience than I, even with this in question.

So my wife – who is the bold one when it comes to stuff like this – asked the superintendent of our school district yesterday if they had anyone who did grant writing for the district. They don’t. She then mentioned that I’m looking for experience rather than pay, and would be interested in doing such work for the district. That’s true. So I’ve got to talk to him now (and do the same with the mayor) to see what needs they’ve got, and then start looking for opportunities. And then start writing. I’ve found a few already. Having a successful grant or two on my resume would look pretty good, even if it didn’t get on the front page of Pravda. Goodness. So many book and movie quotes coming out in this post. Must be the stress and nerves talking.

And it’s partially another book talking, namely Mort – uh, Peter F. Drucker’s “Post-Capitalist Society,” in which he insists that productivity gains are only going to come as we service- or knowledge-workers learn to efficiently apply what we know to the processes in which we’re involved. Unfortunately, the only efficiencies I can see in my job arena right now involve me losing my job so that a thin workload isn’t stretched over so many writers. So with cat-like tread I’ll skirt that issue, and look for smaller inefficiencies and other ways with which I can apply my knowledge without ending up on the dole.

Yeah, the older I get, I realize how little I know. So I’ll keep reading and learning. And doing some grant- and proposal-writing, if I can find the work, in the future.