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Abstract:
The leader of a development organization makes a
clever impromptu joke while talking to a
sponsor's personal assistant. The latter,
appreciating the joke, approves funding for a
project that's been on a long waiting list. |
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An
Amazing Story
How a successful impromptu
joke helped me secure
funding for a $500,000
international project
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I practice what I preach,
and
I
preach what I practice.
~
Vadim
Kotelnikov |
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As Samuel Butler said,
"Anyone can paint a picture,
but it takes a wise man to
sell it."
I did paint a picture, but I
couldn't sell it until an
opportunity for a clever
impromptu joke arose.
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As
the leader of an international
development organization, I
prepared a project for
funding from a major sponsor on
the harmonious and innovative
development of the Asia-Pacific
region.
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The project is a
good one, but there are huge crowds of similar
projects on the waiting list, and the chances of
any of them even being read are slim. Then the
mega-sponsor arrives on a business visit to
India. At the end of the visit, they arrange a
roundtable meeting for him with the heads of
local development organizations. At that
meeting, the mega-sponsor was speaking, and
everyone else was listening.
Sometimes, for
some psychological reason, a speaker feels more
comfortable looking at someone in particular,
and that time, the mega-sponsor chose my
understanding gaze to create that inner comfort. |
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The
most important
is to find
the
most important
difference
that makes the difference
~
Vadim
Kotelnikov |
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At
the end of the meeting, the
mega-sponsor shook hands with
everyone. When he reached me and
met my gaze again, he remembered
something and not only shook my
hand but also said, "Thank you
for your..." (followed by some
two-syllable word I didn't
catch).
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Afterward, the mega-sponsor's
personal assistant approached me
and quietly asked, "What did our
manager thank you for?"
Answering "I don't know" seemed
somehow impolite, so I
improvised and replied that he
said, "Thank you for your
project."
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The personal
assistant burst out
laughing, realizing that such a thing
couldn't be true.
Nevertheless, some
shadow of doubt apparently lurked within him.
And so, upon returning to the organization's
headquarters, he instructed the relevant
department to find mine among the pile of
project proposals and review it.
The relevant
department took the unusual instruction "review"
as something more, because less than a week
later, I received a message from them that our
project had been approved and funding would soon
be allocated. |
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Thus, a successful
impromptu joke helped me not only secure
consideration of a project proposal from a donor
swamped with similar proposals, but also its
swift approval for $500,000 in funding.
* * *
How to perform such miracles
Does the above
sound like a miracle? To some extent, yes.
However, such miracles happen quite often if
you're used to
being witty and thinking quickly and
creatively. And this can be learned, in
particular, by learning to
engage lightning-fast
superconscious thinking. |
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"If you don't
change the world for the better, why do you even
exist? If you
believe in
your abilities, you will see opportunities and
roads to
success. If you don't believe in your
abilities, you will see barriers and roads to
failure. The difference between possible and
impossible is inside you."
~
Vadim Kotelnikov |
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