Much business is won as a result of good planning.
and a little guile but sometimes decision makers have to resort to a little subterfuge to stretch their credibility. Is there more to this than meets the eye?
Bring on the clowns.
Chameleons are a good example of this. It is widely supposed that they change colour so that they blend in with the background to keep themselves away from predators such as birds or snakes. But in fact most chameleons change their colour away from the background they are sitting in to a bright red or a blue. Hardly colours that would keep them safe in the jungles of Madagascar.
What makes them take the extraordinary decision to stand out from their surroundings is the simple game of mating. A brightly coloured chameleon is shouting from the rooftops, 'I am here', and 'I'm a good mate' just like the rest of the animal kingdom.
By exaggerating their skin colour the males are more attractive even though their mating prowess may be in question.
Home improvements
Through the whole of my career I have tried, in the things that I do, to improve each time I come across a problem. Even when I wrote software, I would get to the end of a project and then would see a better way of tackling the problem than when I started. There is rarely an opportunity to revisit the code at the end of the project, and in any case there is never any time or budget to undertake a re-design. So whatever the state of the design is when it is delivered, then that is essentially the way it will stay.
That doesn't mean that the solution was a bad one, or that it will stop working. In fact there is every possibility that this software will work for years without any substantial change to it. That doesn't mean that the code should be re-written just because I could see a different, probably clearer way to form a solution, but what it does mean is that there is more than one good way of completing the task.
What it also means is that I, and hopefully other software engineers recognise the limitations of their work and expect to do a better job next time.
Stretching the limits.
The accusation that could be levelled at me, is that I must have overplayed my hand at the time I took on the job, and possibly even exaggerated my ability in an effort to secure the work. If I had, then it was no different to any business transaction that takes place every day, because there has to be a little colour in the presentation to make either the business or the individual to stand out from the crowd.
Exaggerate to win
We all try to exploit the Chameleon effect in out daily lives, whether it's a business owner who is persuading a customer to place an order or an employee who over eggs their skills to get the work that they really want.
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In the final analysis, is there any harm in this behaviour? In my opinion there must certainly is not. Wouldn't you rather have one keen employee who will move heaven and earth to solve your business problems rather than another who is highly qualified but has no motivation?
People who exhibit the Chameleon effect are bigger achievers and have the ability to really benefit your business.
Rob Wendes
Business
Technology Consulting
24th April 2009
