Chess is one of my favorite games. It’s simple, yet maddeningly complex. Chess is a game in which it’s easy to get the basics: there are only 6 types of pieces. However, the game gets complicated fast once we start moving the pieces.

Now imagine playing chess without knowing how the pieces move…

GovCon is like Chess.

GovCon is not overly complex at its base. Once you understand the basics: buyer, seller, contract type, 3 Deciders, Acquisition and Execution Time Zones, building acquisition plans, targeting, writing and evaluating proposals, etc), then you can generally understand it.

However, it can get complicated fast once the pieces start moving.

Now imagine trying to navigate GovCon without knowing how these pieces interact?

If we don’t know how the elements interact, then government contracting can be like playing chess without knowing how the chess pieces move.

In this episode, we review 6 key “conventions” in the FAR that help us understand how the pieces move.