Gracious Professionalism

I'm volunteering to be a mentor for a FIRST Robotics team this year. In one of the communications that came from the team coordinator was a definition:

Gracious Professionalism - Respect for others demonstrated through actions; Responsible use of knowledge; Act with integrity and sensitivity; Give and receive constructive criticism graciously and professionally.

I like this. The team coordinator said the team is adopting it as their credo. I certainly hope to see it while I'm mentoring, and would like to see all the folks involved take it with them once the FIRST competition is over. It's a fine credo to have when working with others, especially if they're trying to follow it, too.

I could wish people would take this idea and apply it outside the field of robotics. I could wish, but I know I'm not likely to have it come true. One of the forums I'm on has a great number of strong personalities on it. Unfortunately, two of them seem to go head-to-head a lot more often than is really necessary. Even more unfortunately, the last time this happened gloves were thrown down and personal attacks were exchanged. Worse than that, the personal attacks didn't come from the two people having this "discussion", but rather from other members of the forum who were chiming in to voice their own viewpoint in what had become a very personal issue.

Gracious professionalism? Nope. Not a bit of it. Closer to kids fighting on the playground about whose toy car was cooler. It made me sick.

In the past I've left forums because of behavior like that. Not in an effort to prove a point, but just because that's not how I choose to spend my time. A wise fella once said there are only so many hours before you reach room temperature: use them wisely. Reading other people's dirty laundry being aired in a forum is just not how I choose to use my hours.

But this time I really don't have a choice. I need the advice of the people on the forum, including the two at the heart of that "discussion". All personal differences aside, they're both far more knowledgeable in the field than I am ever likely to be.

I'm reminded of the disagreement between Sandage and deVacoleurs regarding the Hubble constant. Two experts who knew more about astronomy than I will ever know in my lifetime, both at each other's throats, and neither willing to admit that the other's calculations are well within their own error bars. Personal attacks were the least of the problems, and in one instance I'm led to understand they each literally took a swing at the other. Gracious professionalism? Not in the least.

So I'll stay on, but at a cost. When the cost gets to be too high, I guess I'll choose to spend my hours a different way and live without their expert advice. I just wish it didn't have to be so.

"And if wishes were horses we'd all be eating steak!" -- Jayne Cobb

Tom

P.S. To anyone from that forum who wound up reading this: Before posting any vitriolic comments, please re-read that definition above. Then re-read that quote at the end. If you truly must leave a nasty comment, I'd like a palomino. I won't even eat it.