Looking our best isn't natural

I've been giving some thought recently as to why companies have to try to look their best. For some time I'd believed that looking your best was simply a matter of the right training and discipline and then eventually it would simply become second nature. When taking a photo of my eldest daughter I had a revelation. I asked her to smile. She duly obliged and I got my photo. She then went back to her more normal expression. In short she looked great for a few seconds. Of course like most people she wants to look her best most of the time. When I asked her why she didn't smile like she did for the camera more often, she said "it's too much like hard work." Of course few, if any, people look their best all the time (I look awful most of the day and especially so in the mornings). So why do we expect companies to be any different? It's also no wonder that like many of us who struggle to smile nicely for the camera, some companes that are trying to look their best, look like they are putting on a false face. I guess the real answer to all this is not to train companies to put on their 'camera' face but instead, teach them to exhibit their real qualities - and of course encourage the people observing them to use the right lense. Now say 'cheese'.