Friday 23 May 2008

Prejudice in ideas

The worst position to be in is to recognise someone else's problem that causes you problems and be unable to fix the source, and be forced to adapt to a faulty situation. For instance, if you have a relaxed fashion sense but good business ideas, people won't listen to you until you shave your beard, cut your hair and wear closed-toe shoes plus a tie. Your ideas did not change at all, and your appearance has nothing to do with them, so why are your ideas now more credible? Because your audience is prejudiced.

I think it would be fascinating to take two ideas to a room full of venture capitalists, one brilliant and one awful, but have them presented respectively by a shabby, unwashed man and a well-dressed, clean-shaven poster boy. After the presentations, ask them which one they thought was the better idea (not which presentation they liked the most). I'd be prepared to bet that most of them would go with the suit's terrible sink hole rather than the hobo's gold nugget.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - I may be overly cynical about this.
PPS - I don't think anyone should be judged on appearances.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Actually venture capitalists are generally fairly evil bottom line driven people, and unless the idea can be proven to be profitable they simply won't care.

John said...

You know, I don't think that paints them in any better a light.