Who are you to deserve grant funding?
| 10 August, 2010 | Morgan Giddings |
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Lampreys by Drow male, Wikimedia Commons
(This is an excerpt from my forthcoming e-book “Four Steps To Funding”, available first to my mailing list subscribers and later through other outlets).
Funding agencies are in the business of solving problems and filling human needs.
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A very plausible pep-talk, but what objective evidence is there that excellence and self confidence are the most important, or even significantly important, determinants in grant funding? I know a lot of anecdotal evidence to the contrary, including my own experience. I know, I know, the purpose of a motivational presentation is to energize and inspire, and toward this useful end, fairy tales may serve better than facts. I’m just saying.
I do believe in this though there are many cases to the contrary.
Re: mightythor and Andy Li
Both of your comments are basically saying, “well, I’ve seen a case where this doesn’t work, so why try it?”
The objective evidence about authentic self confidence and successfully accomplishing any endeavor are all around you. Just do a Google search if you don’t believe it. It is a very basic principle, that applies in realms well beyond grant writing.
As for “fairy tales” vs facts, I could go on about the fallacy of your “facts”, but I’ll be brief. What, exactly, are the “facts”?
For thousands of years there was the “fact” that man can’t fly. Ooops. The Wright bros. proved that “fact” wrong.
How did they do that? Using their imagination, and their own confidence/motivation that they could accomplish flight.
“Oh, that’s just an extreme example” I hear your mind screaming. Aha. Where does your light come from?
Edison tried over 1,000 versions of a lightbulb before one worked. He had “confidence” that he could do it, despite the “facts” that it was “impossible”.
EVERY great accomplishment has a similar story.
While getting a grant may not rise to the level of the above examples, it is a major accomplishment – even for those of us who “accomplish” it regularly.
You can go ahead and wallow in your “facts” that getting grants is impossible – and it will be – for you.
I’m just saying.
I think you mistake me. Like if I say “I trust people though there are many liars.” It just means that I do trust people and want to be trusted. But the fact does exist that there are many liars on this planet.
I’m not sure what your point is about “liars”.
Are you saying that a lot of people “lie” on their grants?
People can lie, sure. And most of those people eventually get caught. It may take a few years, but it does catch up with them.
And worse, those people have to live with themselves in the meantime. That is corrosive to the mind.
My point is that you can choose one of two routes:
1. Be excellent, then write grants based on that excellence; or
2. Pretend to be excellent, and write grants based on that lie.
I seriously doubt that, over the long haul, #2 is going to work as well for anyone as #1. It is purely a short-term strategy that borrows from the future.
I agree with you. The reason that you argue with me is that you still mistake me, or, I make myself mistaken.
By saying “I do believe in this though there are many cases to the contrary”, my piont is:
1). there are some people who get their grants not based on their excellence;
but, it does not justfy it,
2). the system should go that people get their grands based on their excellence.
Hello,
While I agree that some of your points carry wisdom and truth, it is still a little hard to believe that pure excellence and confidence are enough to be awarded grants regularly. I bet if the granting agencies employed robots that made the decisions for them, with only excellence and self-confidence as two major criteria for the grant to be awarded apart from the more technical facts such as if the grant fulfills the agencies immediate 5 year vision or call etc. etc. – then as you say people with self confidence and excellence would definitely get awarded 100% of the time – all the time. However, I am afraid that it all sounds a little too Utopian as we are after all humans and have our respective vices. Sometimes, even the best of grants written by very confident individuals fails to get awarded due to unknown factors which could be as mundane as the grant seeker not having the “right” network or not being part of the correct old boys network.
Finally, the old adage – at the right place but at the wrong time or vice versa or worse – at the wrong place at the wrong time – maybe are good enough reasons for one’s grant to be rejected 🙂
Cheers.
Hi Rajiv-
Nothing that you’re saying contradicts my point. Nowhere do I say that the “only” thing you have to do are excellence and confidence.
In fact, I spend a lot of time and effort training people on the other things they have to do to get a grant – e.g. my new e-book, http://fourstepstofunding.com
The pointer here is just one little snippet of wisdom about one thing you must do if you want long term success.
Now as to the “but there’s always random chance” bit. Sure, there is always random chance in anything you do in life.
Let’s take driving as an example. At any given time that you’re in your car, you may get hit by a drunk or cell-phone driver.
Can you skew the odds? Most definitely! By driving defensively, and being on the watch for people who are driving stupidly, and paying attention, and wearing your seatbelt, you can dramatically reduce the odds that you’ll get killed. It is no guarantee – nothing is. But you can choose to make the odds work in your favor, or against.
Hence, the mantra that I hear from many people that the grant game that “is all chance” is nonsense. Sure, there is some randomness to it. But have you ever asked yourself why some people are consistently more successful than others? They’ve modulated the odds in their favor.
This includes things like:
1. Exhibiting excellence
2. Doing new and innovative work
3. “Marketing” your work well and making it exciting, rather than dry and boring
4. Building up a great team
5. Working at a reputable institution
6. Fitting with the agency mission
etc.
My point in writing these columns is to give little snippets of advice. I’m not writing a book here. If you want a book on grant writing then check the link out – http://fourstepstofunding.com
Morgan