When Did Professionalism Become About Celebrating Bad Taste?
October 3, 2025, 5:15 am
Filed under:
A Bit Of Inspiration,
Advertising,
Agency Culture,
Attitude & Aptitude,
Authenticity,
Comment,
Contribution,
Creativity,
Culture,
Details,
Pretentious Rubbish,
Process,
Professionalism,
Reputation,
Respect,
Systems Over the years, I’ve had people call me ‘unprofessional’.
Never for the work I produced, but for how I have approached the work.
Whether it’s the way I’ve dressed.
Whether it’s the way I’ve proved a point.
Whether it’s the way I’ve asked a question.
Whether it’s the way I’ve countered an objection.
I should point out this never came from people you would think could take exception to it.
Over the years I’ve found myself in the ridiculous situation of presenting to – and working with – some of the World’s toughest and best CEO’s and CMO’s, be it Richard Branson, François-Henri Pinault, Phil Knight, Elizabeth Warren, Myley Cyrus or even James Hetfield.
And not one of them had an issue with me. Not one.
If truth be told, I think they quite liked the fact I was ‘me’ … to the point I presented to Phil Knight wearing Birkenstocks and then I was sent some Nike’s that had been adapted into a ‘birkie’ for me. [which I sadly lost in one of our country moves]
No, the people who labelled me as unprofessional were almost universally ‘middle-men’ … people who thought their position in a company meant they could dictate how people acted, not just presented.
[The exception to this was Anthony Kiedis of RHCP fame, but as I have documented many times – given how much of a prick he is universally acknowledged to be, I take that as a badge-of-honour rather than a personal slight. Plus the others in the band were lovely]
Anyway, the point of this whole rant is that it seems professionalism is becoming more and more about appearance and process adherence than the standard of the work and the rigor that went into it.
Don’t get me wrong, ‘presentation and process’ has a role to play … but when the people who are the most focused on it tend to be the people who’ve never made anything significant with it, you start to think they maybe use professionalism as a label to hide behind rather than a standard of work to live up to.
But here’s the other irony …
Often the companies who claim to bang on about ‘professional standards’ the most, are the ones with the most questionable behaviors.
And while that could lead me to talk about companies like McKinsey …
Or the financial institutions and their complicit, self-serving actions relating to the Sub Prime Mortgage bullshit …
I thought I’d highlight something else …
This.
Seriously Linkedin, why – of all the images you could have created to represent ‘a new job’ – did you choose this?
It makes Google’s logo look like it was designed by Picasso, rather than – arguably – Stevie Wonder.
But at least Google’s has charm and charisma. And represented who they [once] were …
But this?
What the fuck does this represent?
I’ll tell you … a company who loves to talk about professionalism but increasingly behaves in ways that are the antithesis of it.
A dumbing down of standards and behaviors in an attempt to gain increased popularity.
Hell, even Microsoft’s ‘Mr Clippy’ is arguably less offensive given that had an alleged degree of usefulness associated with it.
Empashsis on the word ‘alleged’.
Which is why if anyone ever questions your professionalism in the future, reply with “you’re welcome”, because you’re not only likely doing something right, you’re doing something they never could or that anyone in their right mind would ever aspire to.
What Freddie Mercury Can Teach Strategists About The Importance Of Words, Details And Understanding …
As you all know, I love the band Queen – or should I say Queen up to, and including 1984, when they were still rock stars rather than entertainers.
Anyway, I found an article recently where Freddie talked about the way the band operates behind the scenes … specifically why there is a difference between leading a band on stage and leading the band as the boss.
While it is true Queen was definitely a band – with all 4 consistent members contributing songs/hits to their repertoire as well as each member having a specific role within the bands operations, for example bassist John Deacon was in charge of their financial interests – you do get the impression that while all 4 members may have been equal, Freddie was maybe a little more equal than all the others, ha.
That said, what I love about what he says is that it’s a beautiful reminder words matter, details matter and understanding matters … and given our industry seems to be at a place where every man and their dog has ‘hot takes’ that they spout liberally with all the definitiveness of God – despite many not having had any direct experience or knowledge on the subject matter they’re claiming expertise in – the value of precision has never been so important.
[Case in point: all the people smugly hating on Liquid Death because they’re re-evaluating their roll out into other markets … as if [1] they’ve never made a mistake in their life and [2] they’ve launched a brand that in just a few years is worth over US$1 billion. The delusional, egotistical, condescending imposters]
And just in case someone thinks it, I did not write this post to simply justify showing off my latest tattoo …
Probably.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Comment, Contribution, Creativity, Culture, Details, Pretentious Rubbish, Process, Professionalism, Reputation, Respect, Systems
Over the years, I’ve had people call me ‘unprofessional’.
Never for the work I produced, but for how I have approached the work.
Whether it’s the way I’ve dressed.
Whether it’s the way I’ve proved a point.
Whether it’s the way I’ve asked a question.
Whether it’s the way I’ve countered an objection.
I should point out this never came from people you would think could take exception to it.
Over the years I’ve found myself in the ridiculous situation of presenting to – and working with – some of the World’s toughest and best CEO’s and CMO’s, be it Richard Branson, François-Henri Pinault, Phil Knight, Elizabeth Warren, Myley Cyrus or even James Hetfield.
And not one of them had an issue with me. Not one.
If truth be told, I think they quite liked the fact I was ‘me’ … to the point I presented to Phil Knight wearing Birkenstocks and then I was sent some Nike’s that had been adapted into a ‘birkie’ for me. [which I sadly lost in one of our country moves]
No, the people who labelled me as unprofessional were almost universally ‘middle-men’ … people who thought their position in a company meant they could dictate how people acted, not just presented.
[The exception to this was Anthony Kiedis of RHCP fame, but as I have documented many times – given how much of a prick he is universally acknowledged to be, I take that as a badge-of-honour rather than a personal slight. Plus the others in the band were lovely]
Anyway, the point of this whole rant is that it seems professionalism is becoming more and more about appearance and process adherence than the standard of the work and the rigor that went into it.
Don’t get me wrong, ‘presentation and process’ has a role to play … but when the people who are the most focused on it tend to be the people who’ve never made anything significant with it, you start to think they maybe use professionalism as a label to hide behind rather than a standard of work to live up to.
But here’s the other irony …
Often the companies who claim to bang on about ‘professional standards’ the most, are the ones with the most questionable behaviors.
And while that could lead me to talk about companies like McKinsey …
Or the financial institutions and their complicit, self-serving actions relating to the Sub Prime Mortgage bullshit …
I thought I’d highlight something else …
This.
Seriously Linkedin, why – of all the images you could have created to represent ‘a new job’ – did you choose this?
It makes Google’s logo look like it was designed by Picasso, rather than – arguably – Stevie Wonder.
But at least Google’s has charm and charisma. And represented who they [once] were …
But this?
What the fuck does this represent?
I’ll tell you … a company who loves to talk about professionalism but increasingly behaves in ways that are the antithesis of it.
A dumbing down of standards and behaviors in an attempt to gain increased popularity.
Hell, even Microsoft’s ‘Mr Clippy’ is arguably less offensive given that had an alleged degree of usefulness associated with it.
Empashsis on the word ‘alleged’.
Which is why if anyone ever questions your professionalism in the future, reply with “you’re welcome”, because you’re not only likely doing something right, you’re doing something they never could or that anyone in their right mind would ever aspire to.