The Lighthouse and the New Lens

On a fog‑prone coast, a lighthouse keeper inherited a new lens—lighter, layered, cut to bend light farther than the old glass ever could. He resisted at first. The familiar lens had kept ships off the rocks for decades. But one dusk, with a storm pressing in and the horn already sounding, he and his apprentice set the new lens in place. The beam leapt out—cleaner, truer, farther. The keeper understood: the work hadn’t changed. The light had.

Why this matters now

We’re all being asked to learn new tools and new rhythms of work. Some companies are saying the quiet part out loud: if we can’t reskill, we risk being left behind. The Financial Times recently reported on this dynamic in stark terms; I’ve archived the article here for context: Accenture to exit staff who cannot be retrained for age of AI.

That’s not meant to frighten anyone. It’s an invitation. Stewardship of our gifts includes staying teachable. The prompt below is one very practical way to grow—together.

Think of this next piece as our shared lens—a simple, repeatable way to see the same thing the same way. Most of us aren’t procurement specialists, but all of us can follow a clear path when the steps are laid out. A good prompt does for evaluations what a conductor’s score does for a choir: it sets tempo, assigns parts, and keeps us in key so the whole comes together. It builds fairness into the process—consistent criteria, evidence on the record, gaps named without blame—and it turns “I think” into “Here’s what the text shows.” In a season when teachability is the difference between drifting and making harbor, this is one small habit that carries a lot of weight.

The RFP & Proposal Review Prompt

What it is: a structured, copy‑and‑paste prompt that helps any employee review a vendor’s response to an RFP with the same care and consistency our best evaluators use. Think zipper‑merge on the 405: the order matters, and when we follow the sequence, traffic (and decisions) move smoothly. You can get the prompt here from my website

What you’ll need before you start

1. The RFP Request (requirements + instructions) as a file.
2. The Vendor Response as a file.
3. The Grading Criteria / Rubric (weights + definitions) (Optional).
4. The Required Questions list (Optional).

How to run it (5–10 minutes):

1. Open your approved AI workspace.
2. Start a new chat, title it with the RFP name, and upload the two documents (RFP + Vendor Response).
3. Paste the rubric into the correct spot in the prompt and add the required questions into the correct section of the prompt.
4. Now paste the prompt (verbatim) from the next section.
5. Send.
6. When you receive results, skim the Scoring Matrix, Gap Analysis, Risk & Strengths, and Reviewer Q&A.
7. If anything looks off, ask the model to “re‑score using stricter evidence standards” or “show only citations containing SLAs/time‑bound commitments.”

What you’ll get back:

• A Scoring Matrix with scores, justifications, and citations to the vendor’s own words.
• A Traceability table mapping each requirement to the response.
• A Gap Analysis (what’s missing/weak).
• A Risk & Strengths summary.
• A Reviewer Q&A set you can use in meetings or vendor follow‑ups.

Copy‑and‑Paste Prompt (verbatim)

Paste the text below into your AI workspace. Do not edit inside the box unless your team has agreed to a standard variant.

How the prompt “thinks” (in plain English)

• It parses first, judges second. That keeps us honest.
• It maps requirement‑to‑response so we can trace every claim to vendor text.
• It scores with receipts. Justifications must point to quotes, metrics, or artifacts.
• It flags gaps and risks (e.g., “after‑hours support via escalation only”).
• It drafts reviewer questions that close gaps before we sign anything.

A tiny example (from the prompt)

Requirement: “Provide 24/7 customer support.” Response: “Business hours, with emergency escalation after hours.” Evaluation: Partial (2/5). Risk: Limited after‑hours coverage. Reviewer Q: “What is the SLA for after‑hours support?”

Guardrails & good habits

• Use approved workspaces and follow data‑handling policies. Redact sensitive details when needed.
• Name your files clearly (RFP-<project>-vFinal.pdf, Vendor-Response-<company>-v1.docx).
• Ask for stricter evidence if the scoring feels generous. “Only cite lines with numbers, SLAs, or certifications.”
• Save what works in a shared team folder so our approach becomes a paved road—not a goat trail.

For leaders: make it the paved road

Publish three decisions and you’ll boost quality overnight:

1. When to use the prompt (e.g., any RFP over $X or any regulated domain).
2. How to store outputs (Scoring Matrix, Gap Analysis, Q&A) for auditability.
3. Who signs off before awards go out and keeps a human in the loop.

This isn’t about replacing human judgment; it’s about aiming it. We free people to do the human parts—listening, deciding, caring—by giving them consistent scaffolding for the rest.

The Lighthouse, again

Weeks after installing the lens, the keeper met a captain who’d made harbor in that first storm. “We saw your light a mile earlier than before,” the captain said. The keeper smiled. The work was the same—keep watch, tend flame, mark the shoals—yet the reach had changed.

So it is with us. Tools come and go. Calling remains. Keep the flame. Fit the lens. Send your beam farther than you could yesterday.