The Wrong Charlie Chaplin Won

As a child, I was part of a local child/youth organization that brought together children from diverse financial backgrounds. It regularly organized cultural and recreational activities that we all looked forward to. One year, we had a fancy dress competition.

One of my senior friends, Sumit (name changed), was well known for his brilliant impersonation of Charlie Chaplin. In those days, Charlie Chaplin short films were starting to be shown on television and was widely loved. So, when the competition was announced, it surprised no one that Sumit declared he would dress as Charlie Chaplin. We all knew that if he did, he would almost certainly win.

As he began preparing, however, he ran into a problem: he didn’t have a coat like Chaplin’s. He checked with neighbors and friends, but no one had one to lend. In those days, in small towns like ours, owning a suit or coat was uncommon. After an exhausting search, he had to give up on the idea.

On the day of the event, one of the wealthier boys, Pritam (name changed), arrived dressed as Charlie Chaplin. Sumit, who was far better at performing Chaplin’s mannerisms, came instead in a torn jute sack, portraying a “mad” man. While Pritam tried his best, his performance as Charlie Chaplin was underwhelming. But, he won the first prize. Possibly because everyone loved Charlie Chaplin. Many of us quietly felt that Sumit would have done far better had he been able to dress the part.

I often think about that incident when I observe the impact finance ecosystem today.

Sometimes, those with financial resources can win recognition as “impact focussed” by investing heavily in marketing, public relations and expensive third-party auditors who effectively place an impact “coat” over otherwise ordinary work. And, people love it because people love impactful organisations. Meanwhile, organizations doing deeply meaningful, transformative work, but lacking the funds for branding, PR, or third party audits, often go unnoticed. 

Just as we missed out on witnessing Sumit’s true talent that day, the world sometimes misses out on recognizing genuine impact because it lacks the right costume.