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NEW
BOWTIE WEB SITE RATINGS
DECEMBER
BOW TIE CELEBRITY
What
Darwin Says About Bow Ties, er... sort of
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Last month I was
in Brisbane, Queensland. I walked through the city’s
beautiful botanic garden park and on to the adjoining
waterfront office towers. It was quitting time for Brisbane’s
professionals. Thousands of them poured out of the huge
office complex, lawyers, doctors, accountants, financiers,
developers and brokers – and not a single bow
tie. Not one.
I had given a talk at an Aussie university
earlier in the week, and had worn a bow tie and I must
have had a dozen people comment favourably on it (a
rather handsome pastel plaid number, I might add). Afterwards,
I strolled through the city, and shopped in the stores
and once again I received compliments. So that started
me thinking. I remembered a quote from Charles Darwin
I’d read not long ago that seemed appropriate.
Now, in the interest of full disclosure
(and with abject apologies to Charles Darwin), I’ve
taken the liberty of altering the text slightly –
but only slightly. Since you’re all bow tie wearers
here, you’ll get it.
“As many more businessmen of
each profession are hired than can possibly survive;
and as, consequently, there is a frequently recurring
struggle for existence among businessmen, it follows
that any businessman, if he vary however slightly in
any manner profitable to himself (that is to say if
he somehow differentiates himself to his advantage),
under the complex and sometimes varying conditions of
competition, that businessman will have a better chance
of being naturally selected by customers and thus will
have a better chance of surviving”
The key phrase here is differentiation.
That afternoon in Brisbane, I must have seen 500 business
people coming out of the office complex and nothing
to differentiate them except for the color of their
ties or suits, and precious little differentiation there.
So here is a suggestion freely offered to the business
professionals in Brisbane, Sydney, London, New York,
Atlanta, LA, and Toronto. Differentiate yourselves,
gentlemen. That new bow tie may just give you the slight
edge you need in the constant competition for survival
in your respective professions.
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