May
6
It should be readily apparent that the title of this post is a corruption of the old axiom, power perceived is power achieved. It is unfortunate though, that my version is also applicable. Whereas the perception of power can translate into actual power (Learned Helplessness, Stanford Prison Experiment), the same is not true when it comes to the quality of professional services. The key component in this discussion is mode of dress. To put it bluntly, why does a suit, as opposed to a t-shirt, equate to professionalism? The distinction, while not wholly arbitrary, is still false. When one individual makes a value judgment based on another’s clothes, they are participating in what the technology industry would refer to as a “legacy” system. (Legacy systems are pieces of software/hardware that are outdated/outmoded, but that you still have to deal with.) The belief that professionalism is somehow related to clothing is a perfect example of a legacy system.
Where once the cut, color, and quality of a person’s clothes determined their position in complex social hierarchies, no less prevalent in America than in Europe, it now determines status in corporate hierarchies. Presumably, the “better” one’s position, the more it pays, and hence, the higher the quality of one’s clothing. In the professional world, the suit (for men and women) is the garment of choice. The more expensive it is, the more well known (in the appropriate circles) the designer’s name is, the higher ranking its wearer. Whether the person wearing the suit got their job through nepotism or ability, brown-nosing or acumen, is irrelevant. When that individual steps in front of a room to make a presentation, or a sales pitch, or deliver a closing argument, the first judgment the intended audience makes is based on appearance, of which clothing is a major component.
Why do we persist in this fallacy? Some would argue that initially, the only metric by which they can gauge the individual in front of them is appearance. I would ask why any judgment is being formulated at so early a stage. It would be far wiser to take that proverb, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” which is perhaps one of the first such truths that we learn and no less valid for being a cliche, to heart. The only thing that matters, is the final product; whether that’s a good defense or a piece of complex software doesn’t matter. The clothes someone was wearing when they delivered that final product aren’t even worth mentioning. The thing is, many, let’s call them casual professionals, never get that far.
My office, for example, is very, for lack of a better phrase, casual. But to say that is a commentary only on how we dress; to take it any further does an immense disservice to the extremely talented men and women with whom I work. Most of us wear a t-shirt and jeans on a regular basis, yet when we meet with clients, we still have to play the game and dress “professionally.” And although we are being hired for what we produce, not how we look doing it, to get the job in the first place, we have to conform to the accepted mold. And that, quite frankly, is ridiculous. I have serious doubts that humans will ever evolve beyond our propensity for snap judgments and fascination with appearance, but I guess I can still hope.