Photo by Yulia Matvienko on Unsplash

My 7-year-old has this one friend. Usually they get along great and can spend hours playing together, moving from one activity to the next. Other days they can't settle on which game to play and spend their whole time together arguing about it. They're best friends until they're not.

One day this past summer, frustrated by the bickering, I stepped in.

I recommended a brilliant idea borrowed from the improv comedy world and the Introvert Entrepreneur: the "yes if" game.

Here's how "yes if" works:

• One kid suggests a game to play [like Batman].

• The other must reply with "yes if..." [Batman has a family of kittens]

• Repeat as many times as necessary...

What happened next was magic! The "yes if" game helped the two kids create pretend activities morphed from both of their interests...

Like a game where Batman had a family of kittens. Both kids happy; problem solved.

Why "yes if" in grants?

Because there can be so many dead ends when you're trying to do awesome work. Funding agency priorities keep changing. Your department and organization are faced with challenges. You feel a need to compromise all the time. You can't find any friends to play your game. Or you stay busy playing everyone else's games, and your big idea stays on the back burner.

Here's how you can apply "yes if" in your own work and grants:

• You do basic scientific research; and now there's big, new funding for more applied or translational research. Can you begin a focus that is more applied?? Yes if...

• You do education research; and now there's big, new funding related to workforce development. Can you begin a focus in workforce development?? Yes if...

• You do technology like AI or cybersecurity; and now there's big, new funding for rural healthcare. Can you begin a focus that uses tech to improve healthcare?? Yes if...

• You are a for-profit small business; and qualified applicants for a grant are only nonprofits and universities. Can you partner with one of these organizations?? Yes if...

• You are a new professor, and your Dean did not approve your request for a course release in order to write a grant proposal. Can you take steps toward a grant with your current teaching load?? Yes if...

"Yes if" is NOT compromise!

I'm not saying to compromise your big things or to go against your strategy and strengths. In fact, "yes if" is your path to NOT compromising because YOU get to complete the "yes if" statement with the things most important to you.

You CAN find friends who want to play your game, especially if you dream up a "Batman with kittens" situation that makes everyone happy. Let me know how you're completing your "yes if" and going after new grants!