Page 42 - Writing Winning Business Proposals

Aligning the Baseline Logic 33

Are the Deliverables and Desired Result(s) Aligned
with the Benefits? (Logics Worksheet, Cells 5 and 6)

As the simplified baseline logic illustrates (Figure 3.6), benefits come from two
elements: deliverables and desired result(s). Accordingly, benefits are the good
things that accrue (1) while the project’s objectives are being achieved (that is,
those generated from deliverables) and (2) after the project’s objectives have been
achieved (that is, the direct result of achieved objectives).
Benefits flow from my desired result because once you have moved me from
a less desirable state to a more desirable state, I am better off than I was before.
Benefits flow from deliverables because at each juncture along the transition from
one state to another, I am relatively better off than I was before. As an example, let’s
consider the story about “your” daughter. Assume that (1) she is attending under-
graduate school at home, where she has many friends, (2) she has a close relationship
with you and would want to come home from graduate school during major holi-
days and school vacations, and (3) she has a medical condition that could require
unexpected hospitalization. Clearly, a deliverable such as “cost and convenience of
traveling home” would be important, and its existence would provide you and your
daughter with many benefits in terms of knowledge, comfort, and the ability to
plan appropriately. Every deliverable is beneficial. Each deliverable should generate
at least one benefit. If it doesn’t, then why are you even including it in your project?
Benefits are usually of three kinds:

◉ An insight benefit is usually something you hold in your head—for example,
understanding, awareness, or knowledge (unlike an insight deliverable, which
you can often hold in your hand). An example is the benefit derived from a
forecast (a deliverable) that allows me and my organization to determine the

S1 S2

B

FIGURE 3.6 The simplified baseline logicc
FIGURE 3.6 T he simplifi ed baseline logi