The Guy in Shorts is the Boss
In a connected world where people don’t have letterhead, don’t wear suits…work out of tiny rented office suites…have a simple website and buy only Adwords… don’t have a receptionist… in that world, how do we tell (good from bad)?
Seth Godin’s question, asked in his latest post Blended, reminds me of the stereotypical start-up environment from a few years back, where an inverse relationship existed between dress and power. Meaning, the guy in flip-flops, cut-off shorts, and a stained t-shirt is running the show.
The core of the attitude in that environment was the Work. The Work doesn’t care about status. It cares about experience and passion. A $300, single-screen company website doesn’t ask for continual maintenance – it can be trusted to perform. Allowing the proprietor to focus on paying clients – not babysitting a promotional website, or supporting all the infrastructure costs of a sexy Manhattan address (the Work doesn’t care about sexy).
Our tools; wi-fi laptops, mobile phones, Google, open source software, email, support greater productivity than ever. We can get more and more done faster each day. Turning our previous definitions of status into drag.
Honesty, respect, and collaboration are building this blended economy.
