There's battle lines being drawn.
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong.
Young people speaking their minds
getting so much resistance from behind

Friday, February 6, 2009

It all starts to make sense

Back when I was a young pup and working for management consultants, there was an expectation of appropriate dress. It was expected that you would "dress for the position you wanted/the next position your promotion would give you." For my positions is wasn't all that restraining (at least when I started), but some were required to wear jackets anytime they left their office. That's not so bad considering just a few years before they relaxed the rules on wearing hats (if you went out or to a client you had to wear a hat, just because). I was just required to wear a tie (I also had to do that with my first design position as well) and slacks. There was also a rule about "polish-able shoes" (there was a shoe-shine business on the first floor) but I sort of flaunted that a bit. Well, after a few years the jacket rule got relaxed. It was only required if you went to the elevators or were meeting a client.

Then we caught the fever of "casual Fridays." We were one of the first, after all, we were cutting edge, re-engineering consultants. The "custom dress suit/shirt" shop on the first floor went nuts. They actually sent protest letters to our partners. Something funny happened in our office though, which countered the shop's arguments. People lightened up, communications became more open and "cross silo" (previously we suffered from "Silo Thinking" - which I still have to contend with to this day), and more importantly, productivity spiked on Fridays. So, while the office didn't go completely "Casual All the Time" some rules were relaxed. If you were working on a team, you could wear team polo shirts. Still no jeans, no t-shirts, no sneakers, but it was progress. As we cut staff, increased tensions and stress, relaxing the dress code was a good way to motivate us and actually increase productivity. And we were highly productive and motivated people (well, most of us). The business culture learned that you could be a professional and it didn't matter what you were wearing. And that just wearing a suit didn't make you professional and focusing on external fetishes didn't help get the work done. In fact, it distracted you from getting work done.

So when I hear the outcry from conservatives about Obama's lightened restriction on dress in the Oval Office (basically he said that you don't have to wear a suit coat), I keep going back to my consultant days. Back in the early 90s when the rest of the world figured out that wearing a suit didn't matter one wit. And you know what, if he helps fix the economy, regains the USA our world prestige, restores the concept that being smart and intelligent is actually worth while, I personally don't care if he wears loose bermuda shorts and flip-flops.

Given Karl Rove and Scott Andy Card's (no, not Orson, the other one) spittle-flecked hissy fit over, not to mention the conservative press's fixation on, President Obama supposedly dissing the Office of President because he doesn't require jackets, the Bush Presidency's inability to see reality all starts to make sense. Dudes, the rest of business got over that oh, over a decade ago. Can't wait for Michelle Obama to wear a smart pants-suit to a state dinner or some other occasion. I believe the term is "apoplexy".

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

As my Steve says, suits are so 20th century!

If ever there was a time to take off the jacket and roll up the shirtsleeves, it is certainly now.

Bush did more damage to the office of the presidency by his actions than Obama ever could by taking off his suit coat.

Anonymous said...

I had worked at an engineering company that not only did casual Fridays, but took it a step further.

Every now and again, the VP would declare a Hawaiian Friday. Everyone would come to work in jeans and Hawaiian shirts, we'd have a nice lunch and listen to Jimmy Buffett music and just hang out. The unit secretaries went all out, distributing leis, putting umbrellas in drinks, bringing a kiddie pool with sand and beach toys, even had inflatable palm trees.

It was great because I was the new kid on the block and it helped me to get to know project managers and engineers that weren't in my group. I got to know them and could say hello, and if ever I needed their expertise on a project or reached a snag, I didn't hesitate to seek their help, even though I was just a junior scientist.

It was good for productivity, it prevented problems, and it was great for creating a cohesive team.

It worked really well until the investment firm that owned us bought a competing firm in the late 1990s and we lost nearly all our contracts due to conflict of interest. A good company went under and the employees and clients were all left high and dry.

A brilliant play by a bunch of guys with Harvard MBAs on Wall Street, who thought they knew what they were doing.

vince said...

Almost 22 years ago, I started my company. At first, coming from the corporate world, I wore suits and ties. Very quickly I learned two things about the area here (northeastern Minnesota). One, only lawyers and politicians wore suits, and two, no one cared about degress, certificate, schooling, etc. They only cared if I could do what I said I could.

I wear clean clothes in good repair that are non-controversial and comfortable. Works for me,

Steve Buchheit said...

Sheila, yeah, those were all lessons most of business learned back at the end of the 90s. Suits restricted communication and placed false walls between people and the new business environment required working fast and across "teams" (I have a whole rant about "teams" - not that I don't like them, but that much of what business tried to from them didn't work).

Vince, yep. Nice clean clothes are the mark of a professional. They say, "I take care of myself and take pride in how I look" instead of "I spent too much money on something as ephemeral as clothes." A suit and tie never helped me get my job done. The tie, however, has prevented me from getting somethings done (basic shop safety tips).