Hey Cris,

Interesting quote… but please define what you consider to be ‘professional’ and ‘dignified’ a little further. What they mean to me seem to be mostly good things, but I am still learning. For example, it has really hit me lately that who we are is on show, as a business, all the time, whether we think we are or not. We think we are doing our own thing, and that what’s in the past is in the past… but everyone around us actually does take notice, even on a subconscious level, and builds an image of us in their mind. Even if a person is slightly late or unprepared for a meeting, or may be having a messy day, the typical response from other people is “no worries”. But it is a worry when it comes to deciding who to choose to work on a specific project – and they remember your occasional mishaps, and become reluctant to pick you.

So to me, it does seem really important to appear professional. By professional, I think of being punctual, organised, dressed for the job, non-offensive to other people, and just showing that you really care and are committed to your projects. On a bigger scale I think of it as having a clear set of goals, aka mission statement, projecting clear and themed images of the company eg graphics, branding etc, and delivering what you promise.

I once read a book which talked about things that look professional, and there were some interesting ones that took me by surprise. One was the situation of coming to work with wet hair! I think the basic message was that having wet hair meant you hadn’t set aside enough time to dry it off and therefore had bad time management skills.

Another tip in the book was that it looked unprofessional to be overweight. This meant that you lacked discipline/self control. Same with drinking – it said it was highly unprofessional to be seen drunk in front of work colleagues/clients.

Certainly, there are some methods to make a company/person look ‘professional’ that would waste time and effort that could go towards developing a better product. And certainly it would be silly to write any old mission statement or create an image just for the sake of it. But if a company really does have good beliefs, a clear vision, and an organised system in place in order to deliver the best product, then isn’t it automatically going to look professional and dignified anyway?

Perhaps this quote refers to things like moving a new business, which formed in someone’s garage, to a flashy office for the sake of appearances. I guess in this case it could be considered a waste, if the business was running perfectly when workers were operating from their homes, but obviously not if they really did need more space.

I remember seeing a doco once about a huge church running in Sydney. There was controversy at the time because the church was being run like a corporation – it had it’s own massive TV studio, it’s own record label basically, it’s own shop etc. And in the office of this spectacular multi-million-dollar church building were these massive frosted glass doors – what you’d imagine to find in the Trump tower. And it makes you think – how many starving children could the cost of those doors have fed? So in that case, I agree with your quote – appearing professional and dignified literally can be deadly.

But I’d like to hear your thoughts on this!

Hey Andy,

I certainly do remember you and your bro. Would have liked to talk more also. You be there next year? I plan to be.

Hi Cris,

That is a very thought provoking quote. BTW, I don’t know if you remember, but we sort of met at the macsb dinner at Macworld 2006. I’m the guy who pulled your table into position I wish I could have talked more with you back then, but it was so loud!