Self-Aggrandizement: monkey suit

Over my pre-film years of running companies, I managed to accumulate thousands of dollars of dress clothing, most of which now hangs full-time in the back reaches of my closet. Every so often, however, I have occasion to whip some of it back out, to don suit, tie and cufflinks for a serious meeting or three.

Usually, it's for meetings with corporate lawyers or investment bankers - people who don't trust a CEO without a power tie. But, while I suit up intending to have the world view me differently, I find it leaves me viewing the rest of the world slightly differently as well. In pinstripes, I can spout legalese, discuss exit strategies and negotiate sticky deal points. But I can't, for the life of me, brainstorm new, exciting, outside-the-box ideas. The tie around my neck, it seems, strangles blood-flow to the right half of my brain, letting the left take over completely.

Judging by the attire at companies I admire most, I don't think my be-suited experiences are unusual. All the world-changing, gee-why-didn't-I-think-of-that? ideas of the last decade or two have all sprung from a jeans-wearing crowd. Even at stodgier companies with standing dress-to-the-nines policies, the real thinking happens once people toss of their jackets, roll up their sleeves, loosen their ties, and get down to work.

I know that runs counter to today's trend, where companies that once went 'business casual' during the go-go nineties are ramping back up to stricter dress codes. But I can't help think those companies are making a mistake. Sure, take the foosball table out of the conference room. Confiscate the Nerf toys. And, for god's sake, repaint the pipes to normal, non-primary colors. But don't make people get dressed up. Or, maybe, do. It leaves all the more room for those corduroys-clad innovators to start taking over the world once again.

monkey suit Filed Friday, October 15 2004.

monkey suit
Filed Friday, October 15 2004.