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Professionalism: A Decency Lost?

Posted: July 26, 2005 @ 09:07 PM EST | Filed Under: Projects, Life

Ed.’s Note: Before I get into this, I would like to say that this post is not pointed at anyone in particular, so if you feel like I’m talking about you and singling you out, get over it; this is just a general— albeit disturbing— trend I see in my professional dealings.

Recently, I’ve been involving myself in several projects involving groups of people, both online and offline. In all of these instances, a fair amount of professionalism is an unspoken necessity. However, I’ve found in all of these projects, that many people lack the trait— or that their level of professionalism is lackluster at best.

I find my self sitting there, wondering, then, if that is what the future holds: bickering, instead of making decisions; fighting tooth and nail, instead of compromising; being off-topic, off-color, and flat out rude, instead of focusing, and doing what needs to be done.

And while I know most of these projects don’t have the corporate background where people would typically derive their professionalism (since they need it to make a living, most of the time), it’s still an important asset in any project, I think. Without it, projects quickly go into a nosedive, and— as I, and many others, have encountered first hand— it’s very hard to pull out once you’re in that dive. No one wants to be in that situation, especially with a project they put their heart and soul into.

Being professional, being open-minded, being decent about everything, and willing to compromise— these are all keys things in any project, yet so many people lack the ability to perform in those aspects. Maybe it’s a lack of training, or experience, or know-how, but either way, it should be common to anyone involving themselves in-depth with a project, yet…

So, to address the title of this post: is professionalism a decency lost? Well, not yet. Do I think it’s going to be? Not in a corporate setting, no, too much money is on the line there; small projects, however, and Open Source projects, they, I think, will suffer from this plague of immaturity and closed-mindedness. Those who do it for the love of doing it, with little or no money, but with big dreams— they will suffer, and it will be tragic, and sad, for them. C’est la vie.