Dear Reader,
At what point are we “Professionals” at what we do? In “Outliers“, Malcolm Gladwell says we have to put in 10,000 hours to master a skill, but does mastery of skill make us a professional?
Albert Einstein tells us “If you can’t explain it to a six year old, you don’t understand it yourself.” Does being able to explain what we do to a child make us a professional?
I believe that we are professionals at a given skill when we can – and are willing to – use it to help others.
Professional does not indicate skill level or competency, it indicates a willingness to use a skill to the benefit other ones self, others, and society in general.
A carpenter who spends their spare time building houses for low-income families, is a Professional, regardless of their skill level.
A developer who spends some of their free time creating and managing an open source project is professional programmer.
Don’t just take the time to master a skill, invest the time to be a professional.
Until next time,
I <3 |<