Our IT group in the College of Forestry and Conservation is reading "The Checklist Manifesto" by Atul Gawande. Atul had a great segment in the book with his definition of professionalism. I thought it to be excellent and certainly fits the GIS Profession. Here is an excerpt:
"All learned occupations have a definition of professionalism, a code of conduct. It is where they spell out their ideals and duties. The codes are sometimes stated, sometimes just understood. But the all have at least three common elements.
First, is an expectation of selflessness: that we who accept responsibility for others - whether we are doctors, lawyers, teachers, public authorities, soldiers, or pilots [or GIS professionals] - will place the needs and concerns of those who depend on us above our own. Second in an expectation of skill: that we will aim for excellence in our knowledge and expertise. Third is an expectation of trust-worthiness: that we will be responsible for our personal behavior towards our charges.
Aviators, however, add a fourth expectation, discipline; discipline in following prudent procedure and in functioning with others. This is a concept almost entirely outside the lexicon of most professions, including my own. In medicine, we hold up ‘autonomy’ as a professional lodestar, a principle that stands in direct opposition to discipline. But is a world in which success now requires large enterprises, teams of clinicians, high-risk technologies, and knowledge that outstrips any one person's abilities, individual autonomy hardly seems ideal we should aim for. It has the ring of protectionism than of excellence. The closest our professional codes come to articulating the goal [of discipline] is an occasional plea for ‘collegiality.’ What is needed, however, isn’t just that people working together be nice to each other. It is discipline."
