I recently came across the term 'purple squirrel' and I like it. Have you come across a purple squirrel?

A purple squirrel is the ideal candidate for a job – someone who matches all the requirements in the job description. One interpretation of the rise of the use of 'purple squirrel' (coined around 2000), is that businesses want to do more with fewer workers. Therefore, businesses are seeking purple squirrels who can take on a wide range of tasks. Another take on the use of 'purple squirrels' is that purple squirrels don't exist and people shouldn't bother looking for them. Elon Musk (shortly-to-be prime minister of the USA?) tweeted that people should not look for purple squirrels because it only makes the squirrels want to be more purple. Apparently Musk believes in purple squirrels but doesn't like them.

Purple squirrels remind me of an appointment process  at the Canterbury Museum. We narrowed the field down to three candidates and interviewed them. At the end of the interviews, I told the Director, "Any of these three is employable."

"No," he said. "We must find the best candidate for the job."

"How can we know that without three parallel universes and a time machine?" I said.

I didn't last overly long at the Museum.

I believe, even if you think you have identified a purple squirrel, how well they fulfil purple squirrelosity will depend on many variables outside your, or their, control. For example, how well you described the job, the dynamics between the squirrel and the rest of the staff, and changes in the organisation over time. In short, I don't believe purple squirrels exist.

Except...when you run your own consultancy, or publish books, you want to be a purple squirrel. You have to carry out the many and varied tasks required for success. It isn't enough for me to write grants well; I need to market myself, take potential work through to a contract, deliver on time and within the scope of the contract, communicate with clients, invoice and follow up on unpaid invoices, and provide the necessary information to my tax accountant.

In the same vein, it isn't enough to write a book. You have to edit the book, lots of times. You have to either be persistent in finding someone who will publish your book (requiring much patience in contacting publishers, waiting, recontacting publishers, waiting, contacting more publishers, waiting...) or publish it yourself which means getting it proofed, getting a cover made, getting it printed, managing promotion (which means a lot of emailing people, receiving no response and emailing them again) and sales. The writing seems like the easy part of the author role and you start to feel very purple.

Can I not believe in purple squirrels and want to be one at the same time? I only need two parallel universes for that.