Don’t be fooled by appearances.
As you may recall, I enjoy a front garden. Today I stumbled upon this one, along with its letterbox. It stood out because it wasn’t up to the neighbourhood standard.
Yet this rusty letterbox is doing its job as well as any other. Possibly better than some of those newer designs where it’s harder to get those bigger letters into the slot.
It reminds me of when I was heading up the Research & Evaluation Department at Museums Victoria. I had a tricky project to outsource and briefed some smart suppliers.
The smartest of all looked like the letterbox. Faded black t-shirt with an oil stain centre front, along with what I thought were old track pants to match. I was shocked. This wasn’t the corporate standard.
And yet she was brilliant. She knew exactly how to handle this tricky project. Her thinking was sophisticated and her approach professional. She got the gig.
I bet you’d be just like me. You’d hire her any day, stains and all, over an empty suit.
