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Professionalism is for Amateurs

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Re: Professionalism is for Amateurs

#31
post #30
post #13

Without defining "professionalism", this is a useless discussion. Professionalism, to me, implies a certain standard of conduct: Delivering what you promise, when you promise it. Communicating clearly. Refusing unethical requests. Not flaking out at a critical moment. Keeping your cool even when you're a bit frustrated. Refraining from conduct that will discredit your employer, clients or partners. Being clear about…

The opposite of amateur is expert.

An amateur can be very expert. An amateur is someone who does something because he wants to, for love of the work or subject. It has nothing to do with expertise or competence at the job.

Re: Professionalism is for Amateurs

#33
post #13

Without defining "professionalism", this is a useless discussion. Professionalism, to me, implies a certain standard of conduct: Delivering what you promise, when you promise it. Communicating clearly. Refusing unethical requests. Not flaking out at a critical moment. Keeping your cool even when you're a bit frustrated. Refraining from conduct that will discredit your employer, clients or partners. Being clear about…

There is a different definition of "professional" that is often used however; it's a co-opting of your proper meaning that is often used by large corporations to support the status quo and discourage innovation.

That definition is this: "Professionalism" is the recognized respect that should be given to those individuals, processes and companies labeled as such due to their earned credentials in a particular field.

It's a definition created specifically with the intent of preventing the questioning of the status quo; an overdeveloped argument to authority, basically.

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