Hiya,
Happy new year!
January is almost over and I’m back. I hope you had a great festive season. Mine was filled with family, candles, biscuits, knitting and jigsaw puzzles and ended with a massive head cold (present of my wee niece).
Fingers crossed for a bit more light in February so I might have a chance to be properly awake at some point this year.
I am a knitter and a tech editor. I look at a lot of patterns, for fun and for work. I like a lot of them - but I won’t knit them all. I never thought I would need to make that clear because I thought it was logical. There are weeks when I work on more than 10 different patterns - it’s just not possible to knit them all.
But there was someone who was offended I didn’t knit their patterns. Okay, I can understand that you might feel a bit let down by that because nobody thinks about the sheer amount of patterns going over my desk and it would be a nice thing.
They accused me of not being supportive enough. I would only say they were a good designer but I wouldn’t knit their patterns. So obviously I was lying.
We could say a lot about this but today we will stick with one thing: This is not professional behaviour. I’m sure you agree with me.
So lately I thought a lot about what *is* professional, more exactly: What is a professional mindset? How does a professional think?
Here’s what I came up with in my brainstorming session:
+ takes themselves seriously
+ knows what they are doing and why
+ wants the best for their customers
+ is objective and business-like
+ wants to deliver high quality
+ is aware that it’s human (and unavoidable) to make mistakes
+ is good at receiving criticism
+ knows that criticism isn’t directed at them as a person but at the thing criticised
What do you think? Do you disagree with anything? Do you have something to add?
Please brainstorm with me and add your thoughts in the comments!
Thanks for your input in advance,
Frauke xx