I would like to suggest that the word unprofessional be struck from the
dictionary and anyone who uses it struck
with a dictionary. It is a
word which conveys no useful information or proposal for action, and is thus
nothing but meaningless noise.
The purpose of communication is to adjust another person s process of
cognition. I ve heard it said that all communication is persuasion , which
is quite true you re trying to persuade someone to change what they
think. We can consider the intention and effectiveness of an attempt to
communicate in this light.
What is someone trying to achieve when they label a person or behaviour
unprofessional ? If we re being charitable, we would probably say that
they re trying to highlight that something is bad, or could be better.
However, just stamping our foot and saying bad! isn t enough it s also
important to provide some information that the recipient can act upon.
The problem with the word unprofessional is that it really isn t specific
enough on the subject of what is wrong . Have you ever had someone say
something like, your behaviour yesterday was really unprofessional ?
They re assuming you know what they re talking about and you might well
have a reasonable guess but what if you guess wrong? Should you never do
anything you did yesterday, just in case that particular thing was
unprofessional?
When I ve caught myself thinking, that was unprofessional , of my own
behaviour, or someone else s, I think about what caused me to think that.
Once I drill down into it, I usually come to the conclusion that what I
really meant was, I don t like that . Since I m not paid to
like things,
that s pretty much irrelevant as a reason to tell someone not to do
something.
On the occasions when I come up with something more concrete, it is
invariably a more useful expression than unprofessional . Things like, it
frustrates the customer , or it pisses off the person sitting in the next
cube are a much better expression of
why something is bad than
unprofessional .
I d encourage everyone to keep a careful watch over themselves and those
around them for use of the word. When you catch yourself saying it (or
thinking it), examine your motives more closely. Whatever the more specific
adjective is, use that instead. If it just comes down to I don t like
that , at the very least say that to the person you re talking to. Don t
try and hang anything grandiose on your personal prejudices. You might come
off as being petty, but at least you ll be honest.