Following is what happens when a proposal consultant gets bored while writing a paper about Federal RFP analysis.

I discovered a shiny new toy called Wordle www.wordle.net and decided to see what would happen when I dumped my 10k-word draft into its java-based engine. I set the tool to create the Wordle based on the 150 most common words in my narrative, went with a soothing green and blue color scheme called "Chilled Summer" and selected the Grilled Cheese BTN font. Hint: common words appear more prominently.

POOF! Here's my Wordle word cloud:

Here are a few resources to help you unravel the mystery of this often confused topic. BLUF: Paul Heron nails it.

APMP
Proposal Guide: Compliance vs Responsiveness (pdf)
APMP Podcast (mp3)

Shipley
Proposal Guide: Compliance and Responsiveness (pdf)

Paul Heron's Clear Thinking
Bid Proposals / Complex vs. Responsiveness