Written by Tangible Triumph’s Team Member: John Grimshaw
Founder & Owner of: LeanintoDesign
Design and manufacturing specialist with a lean outlook on life. Father of 4, and husband of 1.
We all know we should wear a suit for an interview…….. Don’t we? Yes is the answer, just in case you didn’t know, and the reason is proven by science.
A little of my experience of suits.
I wear a suit for mostly one of three reasons, weddings, funerals and job interviews. Why do I select this formal closing for these situations? All of them are because its whats expected of me, not because its what I would select to wear. Now I sometimes break my rules and wear a suit to an event that is not one of the above and why is that? Its because I want to feel good. A suit turns me into a superstar, you know the feeling, shirt, tie, waistcoat, matching pants and jacket, hanker chief in the top pocket a decent set of shoes and your a different person. Your that guy from the cover of GQ or a Hugo Boss advert, you own the world and god help anyone that gets in your way. A legend in a three piece.
On a normal day I’m a jeans and t-shirt guy, any time, any weather, I’m mostly in jeans and t-shirts, if I could go to work this way and still present a professional look I would. but you don’t feel the same, your a little less confident, you question yourself, your the guy that is dishing out dinner for the kids and cleaning up dog poop, not the high flying, professional winner at life..
The Experiment
California State University, created an experiment to check just this and the results are, well a little bit eye opening.
“Putting on formal clothes makes us feel powerful, and that changes the basic way we see the world,” Abraham Rutchick, one of the authors of the study, told the Atlantic.
The experiment, asked a group of people to turn up for some testing in their normal everyday clothes, they completed some task’s then went home. The second experiment followed the same process but the participants were asked to turn up suited and booted.
The results showed that the group in a suit/formally dressed, were better at abstract thinking, so big picture rather than minor details. Wearing a suit makes you better at problem solving, avoiding impulses, long term financial investments, receiving criticism and taking a step back from negativity.
Your suit is now a suit of armour and performance enhancer, proven by science. Break out the formal wear as often as you can, look great and perform to a higher level over longer periods.
What do you think? Does a suit make you better at what you do or does it just feel that way?
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