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THINKING, NOT TIESThis is an age to encourage thinking, not ties.The Industrial Age was grey. It was grey, solid and certain. You could predict the future with reasonable certainty because the future was going to be pretty much like the present. When in a grey world, act grey. The grey/brown suit represented solidity. It was fashionable to be dull. Because the Industrial Age meant plodding and dull people were good, meticulous plodders. A tie is a solid item. It tells the world: 'Hey, you won't see me doing the 100 metre sprint into the future with this rope around my neck, will you?' No, sir and no, madam, the man who wears a tie is a respectable, dependable decision maker. Nothing too fancy, just steady as she goes. The Digital Age is in Technicolor and the 100 metre sprint is on. Certainty is out the window, pensions are in the museum, and the grey man is out to lunch. The noose is tightening around the plodder. His breath is short. His limbs are aching. His head is pounding as the future relentlessly bangs on his door. Once the predator, the grey man is now like a green insect. A green insect who over generations became green like the leaves it fed on, so as to avoid the eye and mouth of the predator, only to wake up one morning and find that all the leaves have gone blood red. In comes the multi-coloured tie and the occasional red or even leather jacket. But what protection is that from the new predator on the block, in torn, blue jeans, with long hair and stubbly beard, who just programmed a 'killer app' piece of software that's going to not just wipe out your business, but your entire industry? And everyone's sprinting. Sweat, tension and unpredictability oil the digital wheels, which don't even look like wheels anymore. Clothes maketh the man. And clothes representeth the age. When living in an age that is neither predictable nor uniform, don't wear uniforms. Now is the time to loosen the mind. Now is the time to think dangerously. In an age of fantastic change, fantastic ideas are needed. There is a necessity to stretch out of the uniform, so as to reach new points. There is a necessity to question everything in an age when everything is up for question. The tie didn't just say: 'I'm dull but dependable.' It also said: 'Actually, I don't have to physically work for a living.' Right now the Tie and the Grey are beginning to say: 'Sorry, I don't think in digital. I'm a remnant from the Industrial Age.' Grey is the colour of money, so the Tie and the Grey will not die out anytime soon, seeing that it has hoarded so much wealth and power during that bygone Age. But the young, t-shirted creative is snapping at the grey man's heels. He is no longer plodding, but hopping. Gerry McGovern gerry@nua.ie  Business Development SectionRay Gabriel shows you how to make your small business succeed.You will be impressed with the variety of information in Ray Gabriel's Newsletter - from how to make your business cards into your best marketing tool, to a variety of employee relations and hiring tips. Come and see this article, but forewarned, the information in it is likely to redirect many of your current efforts and it requires that you read with a willingness to learn! Also... We are looking for articles from locals for this section in the future. Email the Monitor to discuss it!
This page last updated Wednesday, July 08, 2009, at 06:58 PM
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