Ok. Looks like the problem has been fixed.

On the way in to work today, I noticed how many people are still or again wearing suits. When I got in, I wrote a fairly long and (I think) interesting Blog about why this should be, two years after business casual won the war in corporate Canada. (This reveals my bias on the subject: many Bay Street lawyers and financiers would argue that business casual hasn't yet won.)

I'm not going to write the whole Blog again, but just a couple of notes: I think people who wear suits because they like them are either (1) in denial of the less hierarchical, more collaborative business culture of the late 90's and early 00's, or (2) identify themselves more strongly with their work than any other aspect of their lives. (This definitely applies to Bay Street.) Either way, it's sad. I sure hope suits don't make a comeback, but I don't think I have a lot to worry about. I sure won't choose to wear a suit every day, and I doubt many others under 35 will, either, any time soon.

I had a nice lunch with Carrie P-M and Heather Geiger today and we talked about how our clients' cultures differ and how their cultures affect us. We agreed that we often, unconsciously or consciously, emulate their cultures when working with them. This has good effects as well as bad.

On the positive side, working within a client's culture makes it easier for us to be 'part of the team'. We are seen to 'understand the rules', to 'get it', etc. etc. This obviously helps us to build concensus, achieve positive decisions, direct and/or influence client team members (where appropriate) and ultimately, to be effective.

Less good are the pressures client cultures often impose on us: slow decision-making processes, arbitrary deadlines, more of a command-and-control hierarchy, a general tightness of purse when it comes to capital costs, but a lax scrutiny about employee time. We find ourselves observing but not helping to fix some of these problems, just because they're so pervasive.
posted by Tom at 2:50 PM | link |