01. Peaches and Lemons

Posted on March 4, 2008
Filed Under Culture

from the department of we-can’t-tell-whose-who

The problem with many people is that whenever they have a problem with their lives, work or love they usually ask help from gurus, experts and religions. Not that it is a bad thing but just how many of you are willing to turn to economics for help?

Yes economics. Because economics will tell you who will get what, how and why. Until you realize where your money is going you are bound to make less than satisfactory decisions in life.

Where wondered why working in Singapore is so frustrating? Why do our colleagues always seem to get ahead when we are so much more talented? Why are we all working our socks off to get returns of peas?

Well life in the Singapore company is like a tournament. At a tournament players are rewarded for winning not for trying. But they try anyway. This is something employers have noticed. They know that most of us want to reach the top and catch those glittering prices.

This is why your bosses pay silly money not to encourage him to perform but to encourage you to perform in the hope that one day you could be in his or her shoes.

The problem is that while this worked well for the companies this isn’t great for the workers. Because let’s face it we all can’t be winners and there is only so many top jobs available.

So how can you be a high flying winner? To start you need to know how the game works.

You might think that success at work is all about finding the ideal job and doing it brilliantly. Well I hate to break your heart but it’s dead wrong. And you might think it’s about appearing to do it brilliantly. Well wrong again.

It’s about information. Believe me some bosses don’t know if you are any good. After all you could be faking it. And if your boss is too busy or too far away or too ignorant of your specialty he may take a very long time to find out.

This is what we call Asymmetric Information where a person holds better information than the other. This is not only a problem for your boss it’s a problem but it’s a problem for you.

The common expression Peaches and Lemons is often used to distinguish good bargains from bad ones. The problem is whenever you go to a store to buy something for bargain you always want the best bang for your money.

Unfortunately you don’t know the peaches from the lemons. But the shopkeeper on the other hand knows precisely which of their products are peaches and which are lemons. And this is the problem your bosses face. It may not be obvious which of you is a peach or a lemon.

And this is the problem with Asymmetric information. Since we both don’t have the same information we don’t know for sure if the shopkeeper is telling the truth about his or her products. Because you can never tell if the shopkeeper is telling you the correct information or just bluffing you for his personal gains. And this is not only the shopkeeper’s problem it is yours too because you can just leave and not buy anything at all.

So without having all the information how do we indentify whose smart and whose loyal and whose hardworking and more importantly if you know you are a peach and your boss doesn’t how can you proof it?

Employers always want to know whose hardworking and whose faking it. And if you really want to get ahead you need to demonstrate it. To proof you are a peach and a lemon starts at school. But proof is no easy matter because you need to send the right signals.

Students are in the business of proof. They are collecting evidence that they have the attributes employers are looking for. And that evidence is doing something other job applicants would find lazy or too stupid or unable to do. And this is what called signaling.

A signal is something that proves your ability and can’t be faked. What job you have and where ever you are in that job, signaling is the proof that put you one step ahead.

In a world of asymmetrical information, people can’t see that you are a peach and you need to send creditable signals.