| ashu |
Posted
on 03-Apr-01 12:25 AM
Should excellence be PUBLICLY celebrated?
Yes.
If so, then, how do we define 'excellence' in anything?
In the US, I saw one PRACTICAL (and by no means always
PERFECT) way of defining excellence.
By looking at critical judgments by one's PROFESSIONAL peers.
For instance, a software programmer is seen to be an excellent programmer NOT because her parents/relatives/neighbors/friends say so, and not too because she is a nice person, but because,
by and large, her PROFESSIONAL colleagues and others in the same field say so.
Likewise, we can celebrate, say, a Nepali architect's winning a medal -- presented to him by his PROFESSIONAL society, even
when we, members of the general public, may:
a) know little about architecture, or
b) dislike the buidlings/structures he has built.
Ditto for fashion designers (whose creations are often hard to fathom!), urban planners, artists, writers, economists and
so on.
Public recognition from one's PROFESSIONAL peers is the highest
signal of excellence one can get in one's own field of endeavor.
And it's time that the best among us Nepalis -- whether software programmers, scientists, writers, economists, poets --started to nurture serious long-term PROFESSIONAL networks to be exposed to the best in our respective fields, instead of, say, going after
easy words of praise from a few fellow-Nepalis.
Going after the easy words of praise from some fellow-Nepalis is FINE too, but we must remember that often does not lead to growth but to comfort. And comfort is often not good to the pursuit of excellence in one's field.
The Oscars, the Nobels, the Pulitzers, the Emmys and so on are CREDIBLE (even when one may disagree with their selections) precisely because each is decided upon by a jury of
professional peers and NOT by the general public.
And so, let us remember that when we celebrate someone's
'PUBLIC excellence', (even in fields in which we have no formal
expertise), we can often do so, certain in the knowledge that that person's PROFESSIONAL peers have deemed that person
worthy of recognition.
Of course, when that person's assumed professional peers turn out to be less than professional, then the whole notion of that person's excellent (crtified) work becomes -- sadly -- questionable.
And so, excellence -- backed up by legitimate professional
judgment -- NEEDS to be promoted, anytime.
Finally, being a nice person is desirable. But let's face it, being nice as a person is NO substitute for being
professionally competent/respected in one's field.
In fact, if my limited experience is any guide, often professionally competent/respected people put more emphasis on being credible and less on being nice.
oohi
ashu
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